Reclaiming Your Vision: 5 Steps to Clarity

“Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself.” ~Cicero

“Marie, let’s suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterwards, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. My question is this: which of the two will wash his face?

‘That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face of course,’ says Marie.

No, the one with the dirty face will look at the other man and assume that he looks like him.  And, vice versa, the man with the clean face will see his colleague covered in grime and say to himself: I must be dirty too. I’d better have a wash.

‘What are you trying to say?’ asks Marie

I’m saying that, during the time I spent in the hospital, I came to realize that I was always looking for myself in the women I loved. I looked at their lovely, clean faces and saw myself reflected in them. They, on the other hand, looked at me and saw the dirt on my face and, however intelligent or self-confident they were, they ended up seeing themselves reflected in me thinking that they were worse than they were.

Please, don’t let that happen to you.”

- author Paulo Coelho shows how people are distorted mirrors. What others reflect on you, is not necessarily who you are or what you want.

Clarity and focus are important qualities for success. Deciding what you want and then going after it!

To live an authentic life and achieve your goals you must have clarity in your vision, values, and purpose. With clarity, you will be less overwhelmed and be more consistent.

But what if you don't know what you want?

You may be feeling uncertain and can’t decide what you’d like to do next. You may feel confused.

The confusion feels real but it’s not. It’s an illusion. You have much more clarity than you think. The clarity you seek is there and can be found underneath the mess and noise of the confusing thoughts.

You may find yourself not knowing what you really want because you have not spent enough time thinking of what actually makes YOU happy.

The murkiness can come from years of thinking and providing for the needs of others -  partners, children, family, friends, clients or spending years being driven by other people's thoughts and meeting their expectations and not your own.

Over time this can take away from you focusing on yourself, defining your vision, your wants, and your desires. This can leave you in a fog of confusion and uncertainty.

You forget who you are and end up following a script that was not written for you or by you.  

In times like this it is important to stay grounded and be still. You must allow the noise to quiet down in your mind so that you can hear YOUR voice, YOUR story.

Seeking clarity is a practice. It’s not a one-time thing. Over time this practice gets easier as the confusing thoughts come back from time to time but you allow them to pass because you know what to do.

Your voice will be there. It will be the voice that is constant while the others are not.  

There are several actions you can take and mental practices to help you hear your voice and shift from uncertainty to certainty. Below are 5 steps that lead to clarity:

1. ACCEPT THAT IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

Some people believe clarity is something that is given from the outside in, that it’s something God, the universe, or someone has granted you. These thoughts will not serve you because clarity is not found or given from an external source. Clarity is found within you. Gaining clarity is a decision that you must make for yourself. It’s not going to happen unless you make it happen.

2. IDENTIFY AND REMOVE DISTRACTIONS.

If you want to experience more clarity, you must identify and remove the distractions that are not allowing your voice to be heard. Those distractions may be hanging out with people who are not focused and purposeful in their lives, associating with people whose values are not aligned with yours, wasting excessive time on TV, social media, or video games.

Replace these distractions with hanging out with people who are clear, focused and can tell you their purpose and direction, associating with people whose values are in alignment with yours, and feeding your mind, body, and spirit with inspirational and motivational information.

If you start to find yourself surrounded by people and circumstances that leave you dazed and confused, let these things go from your life!  Give yourself the space to create and enjoy the clarity you seek. Going in circles is unproductive and not healthy.

3. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS AND REVIEW THEM DAILY.

Writing down your goals and reviewing them daily increases clarity. This is a proven habit of success.

Goals can become fuzzy in the mind. At this point, they are merely conceptual. Putting pen to paper forces you to think deeper about the goal making it more precise.

Reviewing your goals daily will keep them in your subconscious mind making them less of a fantasy and more of a reality. It takes a while to condition the subconscious through repetition, but if you persist with this habit, you’ll begin to notice subtle shifts that bring your goals to reality.

4. USE VISUALIZATION TO CONNECT WITH YOUR VOICE.

Your external reality does not have to be a certain way in order for you to feel clear and focused. You can use your imagination to create a feeling of clarity. Visualizing clarity brings your mind and emotions into alignment. Imagining how you would feel in a state of clarity is very powerful and provides motivation to achieve the goal.  

5. FOCUS ON THE JOURNEY, NOT JUST THE DESTINATION.

Achieving your goals is very important, however focusing only on the end result can sometimes become overwhelming and demotivating.

The process of achieving the goal is also important and where the learning and growing take place. You can find excitement along the way.  Focusing on the process also brings you back to the present moment which reduces anxiety and angst.

Using these steps will help you to recognize your own voice and distinguish it from the loud, repetitive, back and forth doubts that cause confusion.

Hearing your voice clearly will allow you to do what you already know to do.

Which is to become the author of YOUR story.