In the journey of life, clarity stands as a foundational pillar. Without it, we often find ourselves lost, overwhelmed, and unfulfilled. But what exactly do we mean by clarity, and why is it so important?
What is Clarity?
Clarity is the ability to see things clearly, to understand your goals, values, and the steps needed to achieve them. It’s about having a clear vision of what you want in life and how to get there. Think of it as having a well-defined roadmap that guides you through the complexities of life.
Often, if we are stressed, or overwhelmed, or if we are facing changes in direction in our lives whether professionally, or in relationships, we can experience so many thoughts and emotions that we are left we a murky brain! Or we might just feel indecisive or start to make poor decisions.
Why Clarity Matters:
- Direction and Purpose: Clarity provides a clear sense of direction and purpose. It helps you understand your goals and the steps needed to achieve them, leading to a more focused and fulfilling life. Clarity helps you to get in touch with your needs and to do what needs to be done to fulfill them.
- Effective Decision-Making: With clarity, decision-making becomes more straightforward. You can weigh options more effectively and choose paths that align with your values and objectives. Decision making is actually made emotionally more than rationally – so often we get stuck because we are mulling things round in our head over and over.
- Personal Fulfillment: Clarity helps you identify what truly matters to you, leading to greater personal satisfaction and happiness. Sometimes we drift through life not quite knowing what we really want, not fulfilling our true potential and putting up with a less than amazing life. Clarity helps to turn that around.
- Mental Health: Poor clarity can even lead to mental health problems, especially anxiety and depression. Without clarity inertia can set in resulting in failure to take action and a consequential sense of disempowerment or lack of engagement with the world.
Examples of Clarity in Action:
- Career Choices: Knowing exactly what you want in your career can help you make informed decisions about job opportunities, professional development, and career changes.
- Relationships: Understanding your values and what you want in relationships can lead to healthier and more fulfilling connections with others.
- Personal Goals: Whether it’s health, hobbies, or personal growth, having clear goals helps you stay motivated and focused on what truly matters to you.
- Life in General: Knowing who you are, what you are capable of and what is truly meaningful and fulfilling to you can change how you approach life.
- Emotions: Some people, often due to trauma or adverse childhood circumstances are disconnected from their emotions or sometimes have difficulty knowing exactly what they are feeling. They may have vague or even numb feelings.
How to Achieve Clarity:
- Self-Reflection: Taking time to reflect on your values, goals, and priorities helps in gaining clarity. Journaling, meditation, and mindfulness practices can be beneficial. This may include using specific tools. For example, if you are seeking to find your ideal self employed work and purpose, using the tool of the Ikigai can be useful (what am I good at, what do I love doing, Will people pay money for it? Does the world need it?) Other tools if you are having relationship problem could be to look at your attachment type via an online questionnaire (check out psychcentral.com)
- Heart-Centred Inquiry: Getting out of your head, connecting to your heart, and then asking deep questions and giving yourself space and time to allow those questions to be authentically answered. Questions might include, What do I really want, what is wanting to happen, what would make my heart sing etc. ?
- Slowing Down: If you are sped up or stressed, you cannot be truly in touch with yourself, and a lack of clarity will surely follow. Take time to take time out! Slow down and relax for a whole weekend practicing mindfulness, yoga, going for walks. In this slowed down state your own wisdom will gradually emerge.
- Setting Clear Goals: Define your short-term and long-term goals. Break them down into actionable steps to create a roadmap for success.
- Talking to People: Engage with friends, mentors, peers, or trusted individuals to gain different perspectives and insights. But also remember, you need to own your life, and wisdom is ultimately within you.
The Role of Life Coaching:
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we struggle to gain clarity on our own. This is where life coaching comes in. A life coach can provide the guidance and support needed to navigate through confusion and uncertainty. They help you to deeply get in touch with yourself identify your goals, eliminate obstacles such as self-doubt or procrastination. create a clear action plan, and hold you accountable, ensuring you stay on track and make consistent progress towards a happy, successful life.
Steven Lane is a highly experienced transformational life coach with more than 20 years of experience and many thousands of hours of one-to-one sessions. He offers coaching online via Zoom or Teams.