Knowing our destination is the key to reaching our destination.
Have You lately felt a bit lost or lacking clear direction? The high volume of information and distractions is taking a bit of toll on all of us. It is difficult to have mental clarity and ability to focus when we are constantly bombarded with news and newsletters, text messages, blinking chat windows.
Mental Clutter and Clarity
Mental clutter, the excess of thoughts and ideas crowding your mind and preventing you from thinking clearly and focusing, is one of these things everybody experiences at some point in their life. Besides daily distractions, stress and daily demands, the context of uncertainty of wars, economic and political instability, global climate crises add to the load. It is easy to feel fear and confusion as the future holds so much unknown, so much uncontrollable.
At times you might feel lack of interest and motivation to get things done, to take action or even think deeper as "Who knows anyway what is going to happen?" You might feel tempted to sit still, let it roll and wait it out. Well this is one way to do it. Comfy zone is always comfy!
Lack of clarity can also be related to understanding yourself on a deeper level. Sometimes the daily life gets on the way and you do settle into what you have. There is of course nothing wrong about being grateful and happy with where you are and what you have, rather the contrary - gratitude is one of the most powerful forces, but giving up on understanding better your dreams and deepest desires, and following your heart, comes with a cost.
If you do not listen to yourself and do not give yourself an opportunity to explore your inner desires, sooner or later you will end up dealing with it - either as some sort of life crises or nagging feeling of dissatisfaction. So better sooner than later.
Focus
If clarity is your map telling you where you want to go, then focus is the ability to do what is needed to arrive there. Unfortunately "focus", the ability to concentrate on a task in hand, seems to be a superpower these days.
According to Cal Newport, the author of a book "Deep Work" mastering the skill of deep work, "the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task" is becoming increasingly rare, but does hold the power to bring extraordinary results. Chris Westfall included in his Forbes article besides "deep work" also "stop the busyness" and "finding time to think" among three critical skills one needs to develop for the future of work.
Have you noticed (yourself and) people around you constantly distracted, and as if, almost intentionally seeking for distractions? How often do you see people enjoying their life for longer periods hands-free? How many calm deep conversations have you yourself had lately?
Distractions are a great way to disguise lack of clarity, and going in depth and inward. Sometimes it is easier and more comfortable to keep going than to stop and contemplate and be intentional. It is a defence mechanism. Yet what you plant, you will harvest!
How to Gain Clarity
The easiest would be to choose to stay in the comfy zone and keep going. But what if there is much better way out? What if I say that gaining intentionally clarity can really help you to focus on what matters and invest (your time and effort) into your desired future?
Although clarity and focus are related, then gaining clarity is the first step to take. You do need to know on what to focus on!
In case you have been intentionally avoiding clarity because you are afraid and want to protect yourself from failure and discomfort, then maybe it is time to try again! You do not have to figure it all out at once, understanding WHERE you want to go and WHY is a good start to take the first steps. While having a map is important, then a lot the journey will always be figured out on the way. As they say "clarity comes with engagement" then it is important to start.
You might feel at this moment stuck or bored, or simply know that there is more for you out there but you do not know where to start or how to get there. It is okay, why not to start figuring out where are you now!?
The famous Wheel-Of-Life Exercise is a great start as it allows you to map down your life through the important areas (I always encourage people to choose themselves the areas that matter to them). You will not only be able to have an overview of what matters to you, but also understand how is your level of satisfaction at this moment. Looking at your life in such way allows you to have a different perspective and understand better the patterns. Once this is clear, you can think about your future.
Once you have a better idea about where are you now and what needs to be changed, it is a good time to ask some questions (and write down the answers) about yourself and your desired future. Few examples here:
Who are you without all the labels and roles? What do you value?
What brings you joy and what makes you happy?
Who do you want to become? What is you vision about the best version of yourself?
What would you like to experience and accomplish in your life? Any concrete goals and dreams?
How would you like to feel every morning when starting your day?
Where would you like to be in your life in 5 / 10 / 20 etc years?
How would you like to feel when you look back at your life one day later?
Nobody really knows how the world affairs will go, but you do know WHO YOU ARE and WHAT YOU WANT from your life. You hold the vision and the power for creating your own future.
While many things might change and are not controllable on the way, what if it does not really matter!? What if there are many possible ways for YOU TO BE WHO YOU ARE and build the kind of life you want? Once you gain clarity about what really matters, you have a clear idea about what you need to focus on NOW. When things change, you just need to adapt!
Boosting Focus
Once you get that CLARITY piece in place, you do need to focus on FOCUS. No goals and dreams will be achieved if you do not focus on making them happen. Having clarity about the bigger picture will help you to define your priorities and direct you to focus on what matters most.
Finding ways to reduce your overall stress levels, the major cause of mental fatigue, which makes it harder for you to think clearly and to focus, can significantly help to reduce mental clutter and lack of concentration. Creating healthy daily habits and routines, including intentionally "reducing noise" of distractions and building mechanisms of protection for directing your focus on your priorities will help too.
In case you need to boost your clarity of tougt and focus in the moment, try one or all of these 5 suggestions:
Do a brain dump - declutter your mind and thoughts by writing down every little thing that is floating in your mind.
Meditate - no complex routine is needed, simply calm your mind by sitting still and following your breath for few minutes.
Practice mindfulness - do one thing at a time. Focus really on doing that one thing, be present. (Reading works well for training focus!).
Move - physical activity does boost immediately some brain chemicals that tend to affect focus and attention. Exercise. Walk Dance. Stretch.
Eliminate distractions - put down your smartphone. Take a break from (social) media, silence all notifications
The "Side-Effects" of Improved Clarity and Focus
Imagine setting out of the door without any plan or map or destination, what do you think will happen. Well, probably nothing terrible, you will be wandering around - here and there - and eventually return home again. What about your life? Is this how you want to live it? Kind of wandering here and there?
Gaining clarity is about understanding better your needs, your wants and your deepest desires. It helps you to have a plan, set a direction to move towards it. Clarity helps you to understand who you are and what you want and most importantly - how to get there.
Improved focus on the other hand will helps you to get things done. And if taking the skill of focus to mastery, to the concept of "deep work" level, some extraordinary results will most definitely start showing up.
Improved clarity and focus will change your life - you will know where you are going and you will make it happen!