How do you get clarity? What do you do when you feel stuck and need direction?
I recently wrote about how confusion can lead to chaos so this has me thinking about one of the best questions I know for developing more clarity in any area of life.
It’s a question so simple we often overlook it.
We don’t ask this question as often as we should possibly out of fear of getting an answer we don’t want to face. But what I love about this question is that you can apply it to your marriage, career, business, health, or any area of life you feel stuck and want more clarity.
You ready for the question now?
Here it goes.
What do you really really want?
It’s that simple, but I suspect most people don’t know what they really really want. Even for me; I don’t always automatically know what I really want but when I invest some time into asking and then thinking about it things become clearer.
The problem is we are so busy we don’t stop long enough to listen to what we really want.
For example:
What do you really want your marriage to be like?
What do you really want your career to be like in 5 years?
What do you really want to be known for?
What types of people do you really want to associate with?
For my business goals, I can ask myself: What do I really want my business to be like in 3 years? Let me answer my own question.
I want to have build a business and brand based on the following:
- Solving an actual problem (practical)
- Helping and inspiring people to become better (aspirational/impactful)
- I don’t want to exchange time for money so it should be scalable.
- I should be able to step away from the business and it continue running.
- It should be location independent.
Can I attain these goals immediately? No. But knowing what I want is like a compass. It’s giving me a direction to focus on.
The next step is creating a plan to get there. But in order to get there, I first have to identify and develop a few specific soft and hard skills to master over time. In terms of soft skills I’m focusing on:
- Communication
- Leadership
- Influence
- Problem-solving
And for hard skills, I have to work on these:
- Writing
- email marketing and marketing in general
- Web design
Despite being more comfortable with public speaking, the medium I’m thinking of using consistently is blogging.
Why am I considering blogging?:
- Free.
- Easy to learn.
- Helps me document my journey.
- I can do it from anywhere.
- It gives me a chance to build a platform on my home base (my website) first versus other websites or social media sites.
I’m not 100% certain right now if blogging will be my preferred medium. The other options include vlogging and podcasting which I’m really curious about. But I want to start with ONE thing now and do it consistently.
Writing is like a filter that clarifies my thoughts before sharing them with the world.
And the only way to find out which is the “right” medium is to experiment for a dedicated amount of time and do it consistently. Regardless of the medium, it seems like what I want to do is start building my own personal brand as some type of inspirational/leadership/personal development thought leader.
I want to add value to the lives of others while providing inspiration, having fun, and not thinking about getting Facebook “likes” or going viral. In the words of Pastor TD Jakes,
“I want to be effective and not famous”.
Based on my work schedule, finances, and family commitments I have to be realistic about what I can actually commit to in this season of my life. While I love public speaking and presenting the constant traveling is not something I can do right now nor something I enjoyed. And I don’t want to start a Youtube channel.
So I feel like writing, or to be more exact blogging, is the best medium for me to focus on right now.
Every medium has its pros and cons. There are millions of blogs out there so standing out will be difficult. But my goal for this blog is to be useful, practice storytelling, connect with others, and like David Goggins likes to say.
“Do something that sucks everyday”
So what area in your life could you use more clarity and apply the clarity question?