Why is CLARITY so important?

 

I talk so much on my website about the power of CLARITY and how the coaching process can help people to gain clarity around what they really want.  Being clear about what you want, allows you to focus and take the first steps towards your goals.

Every personal development programme I have undertaken on my own personal development journey, has started by encouraging me to think about establishing either a vision or clear goals.  When I was able to gain true clarity about what it was I was seeking, I could then begin to think about how I could move towards a new way of living my life.  This is also not an exercise you do once and that’s it.  You may have to seek clarity many times and in different areas of your life before being able to move forward – working with a coach is invaluable in doing so.  They will help you identify your own truth.

In our leadership training we also start by thinking about the purpose of an organisation (the mission), our aspirations for the organisation (the vision) and the goals and objectives we will need to set to enable that organisation to achieve their vision and succeed in delivery of the objectives.  As a successful strategic leader, you then put in place a well thought out plan taking into account what resources you have to hand, what new skills you will need to develop within the current workforce, what barriers you might encounter along the way and how you might overcome these – this is what we know as effective strategic leadership.

You can apply the very same principles to your own personal development journey.

You need to establish your purpose (mission), you need to identify who you are; what your values are; what your passions are.  You need to practice self-awareness.  Then you need to set a stretching picture of where you want to be in the future.  What would you really love?  Who do you really want to be one year from now?  What kind of life do you want to be living? – Your vision.

Then you need to break it down into manageable chunks – what are the goals or the main objectives for the next 12 months?

How am I going to start to move towards that vision?  What are my current strengths I take with me?  What knowledge and skills do I need to develop to help me move forward?

But too often people stop right there and just dream of the new existence.  They say things like “when I have more time, when my circumstances are different, next week I will start, when my finances are in better shape …………”

But they fall short of actually putting the plan into operation.  They do not take inspired actions to make is a reality.  Let’s face it we are sometimes just too lazy.

Brendon Burchard in his best-selling book based on evidenced-based research, identifies the six habits of high performing individuals (2017).  He refers to high performers as those individuals who succeed beyond standard norms, consistently over the long term.  His book is fascinating and well worth a read.

Buy a copy at High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way (Audio Download): Brendon Burchard, Brendon Burchard, Hay House: Amazon.co.uk: Books

 The first habit he introduces is seeking CLARITY.

Does the following resonate with you?

I just don’t know what I want anymore, or who I am”?

 

To start a new journey, you need to get clear about:

Who you are?

And

What you want from life moving forward?

If everything happens twice, once in a thought, and then in reality – you must think it first, imagine it first, feel it, see it, believe it is possible to create a powerful vision.

Brendon Burchard (2017) adds to this:

The essential habit of seeking clarity helps high performers keep engaged, growing and fulfilled over the long haul”, pg. 55.

So, you need to be asking yourself the following questions: –

Who am I?  What do I value?  What are my strengths?  What are my current weaknesses?  What do I need to work on to take me to the next level?

I love the following quote from Brendon:

The skills and strengths you have now are probably insufficient to get you to the next level of success” pg. 23.

How often do we seek success but think we can rely on the knowledge and skills we currently have?  We just don’t commit to doing anything different.  Just like we hope we can lose weight without changing our eating or exercise habits.  Well wouldn’t that be great!

What are my goals?  If you can’t define these, you will stay stuck.  It is a fact.

What is the plan?

Who do I want to be in 12 months’ time?  How can I move towards being that person?

Am I interested in these goals or committed to these goals – John Assaraf ( 2018)

Brendon challenges you to imagine your best future self and start acting like that person now.  Mary Morrisey literally says we need to wear the clothes of that future self to realise our new potential.  This can be very difficult but there is much evidence of this working and allowing people to realise their true self through imagination.  This thinking is based on the laws of attraction.

But for now, just remember, NO GOALS, NO CLARITY, NO CHANGE.

SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE, OR YOUR RESULTS WILL STAY THE SAME.

References to other’s work in this article

B Burchard (2017), High Performance Habits, How Extraordinary People Become That Way. USA: Hay House Inc.

Mary Morrissey, Dreambuilder Programme – Mary Morrissey | Life Coach and Personal Development Expert