What helps us maintain the clarity we need to live the life we want?
It can be obvious if someone is going somewhere new for the first time. They may be checking their phone for directions, looking for road signs, or if, like me, they’re easily lost turning around then re-turning around to find the right direction. It makes sense: want to know if we’re going in the right direction, check a map, consult waymarkers, or a compass to ensure we are facing the correct way.
Yet, how often do we stop to check what direction we’re going in life?
While we can be good at setting a course, how often do we check that course, and what helps us know we’re still going in the right direction for us?
Getting clear on getting clear
Recall a time you went from feeing stuck to clear. What was the impact?
Clarity can offer reassurance in direction and conviction about the best course of action.
Yet it can often feel elusive or we can find our actions in the fog of unclarity don’t quite hit the mark.
If we reimagined clarity as always there and something we can return to to reorient ourselves. Then we can focus on the things that increase that clarity and help us to return to it so what we do best fits where we want to get to.
Setting the direction
It goes without saying that it is almost impossible to check our course if we don’t have a destination in mind. Yet, the clarity of the direction and destination are also important in helping us know how we’re progressing.
If we look at an address you’ve often got a building number, a street name, a town, county and postcode. How many layers of precision do we have for where we want to be in life?
What would be the parallel to an address?
Some things we could consider are
When I’m there what will it look like?
When there, what is happening?
What is different?
How do I feel?
What if there is no clear destination?
Sometimes we know we want to be in a neighbourhood but without exploring it or trying out different parts we can’t know which exact spot we want to be in.
Sometimes the destination is finding out where we want to be. What do we do then?
Well, what are the things that will tell us we’ve found it?
Put another way, how will you know you’re actually there?
We may not know until we are there but having as clear an outline as possible will help us to know. For example, like viewing a house, what is the checklist or the indicators we have found what we’re looking for?
We can also revisit the questions above and see what new details we notice.
What will guide us when we’re lost?
Knowing where we want to be and what that looks like is only half the challenge. What helps us reorientate when we feel stuck or lost and what checks how lost (or not) we actually are?
What are the waymarkers that tell us we’re on the right track?
What are the waymarkers for the life we want to live?
They could be metrics or milestones, abstract or tangible: how many pages have I read, how many jobs have I researched, how many people have I shared my work with? How present are the qualities I am looking to have more of? How much joy did I feel today?
Destination. Check. Waymarkers. Check. Where am I? Err…checking…
A destination and milestones give us clarity in the moment. What helps us return to that clarity?
How often do we revisit where we are and check-in on those waymarkers?
Historically milemarkers helped people check where they are on a journey before they go too far off course. What are our equivalent practices that we can metaphorically walk past to check where we are?
To navigate or to celebrate change we first need to acknowledge change. Whether progress towards or away from what we want, it starts with pausing to see what has changed.
Sometimes we’re closer to where we are or can feel dissatisfied because we know where we’re going but don’t know where we are.
What can we do to check-in on where we are?
How often do we need to check-in?
What could that check-in look like?
Some ideas could be journaling, some small daily metrics as reminders, a weekly checklist, a monthly planner, a literal map we’ve drawn for ourselves. It comes down to answering what do we need to keep the level of clarity we want? And what will meet that need?
Coming back to clarity
What is our compass that restores the clarity to navigate life?
What gets in the way of us returning to clarity?
What are the practices that help us remain clear on where we are and where we want to be in life?
If you could be clearer on one thing, what would it be? What would clarity look like? What would be different with that clarity? What do you need to discover that clarity?
What would it be like to have practices that provided us all with consistent clarity in our lives each day?
