On the Road Again… Seeking the Clarity I Left Behind
This week finds me on the road again. I’m headed to northern California to spend time with some friends and family members. As I drive along the highway, alone with my thoughts and excited to arrive at my destination in a few hours, I ponder the big question in my mind…
Is it too soon to think we’ve gone back to normal? Is the pandemic over? Will I and others continue to feel like we have only just begun to understand this new way of being?
I’m giving these questions a Yes. No! and Unfortunately, yes. This didn’t take much thought on my part, but I will explain my answers and how I came to these conclusions.
Thinking back to simpler times, specifically the fall of 2019, I realize that I was seeking clarity in many areas of my life. Perhaps I needed to be hit over the head with a situation that would propel me forward with this quest. I believe the pandemic came at just the right time in my life for me to sit up, take notice, and seek the clarity I had been unaware I was searching for all along.
Seeking Clarity in Life
Many people wake up without a clear idea of what they need to do or achieve. When you walk around the street, you’ll see many people walking around looking busy. However, the truth is that many are only wandering around aimlessly. They have no clue about the direction they are heading in life. Many go out wandering like a goat and come back wanting something, anything other than the life they’ve created for themselves. The aimless journey begins all over again the next day.
Such people have empty lives that they want to fill. Some individuals turn to social media to find something they can be engaged in to forget about their miserable life. That is why we have many people on online platforms that troll others at any slight chance. Many of them don’t have a life in the real world. They are giants and monstrous online, but their lives count for nothing in reality.
One of the worst things that can happen to a person is to go through life without a direction. Such a person will not be able to measure his or her progress. He or she will always depend on the affirmation and acceptance of others to feel good, which is dangerous. In this short but promising journey, we’ll explore how you can live a meaningful and purposeful life. You’ll learn tips that will enable you to enhance clarity and have clarity in your daily endeavor.
Starting with the End in Mind
Nothing is more beautiful than doing something with a clear purpose. Therefore, you should always ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” Procrastination experts have discovered that one of the reasons people waste time on a task is when they cannot understand its purpose. In this section, we’ll explore how you can start a journey with clarity by having the end in mind.
What Do You Really Want?
Don’t wait until someone asks you this question before you answer it. This is a crucial question you need to answer at the early stage of your life. I ask people this question a couple of times, and their answer is often shocking. I discovered that many people have never taken time to ask themselves what they want to do with their lives. Many people are hoping that some powers out there will align the stars in their favor without a clear plan.
There are many reasons people have this approach to life. Some people don’t decide what they want to do with their lives because they believe that whatever will be will be. A deterministic approach to life will limit you because this mindset will not make you put in the necessary hard work to succeed in any task. It doesn’t make you take responsibility for your life and make you leave things to chance. This simplistic perception will not give you reasons to be passionate about anything.
Another reason some people don’t make plans is that they believe that life is too full of uncertainties. Of course, it’s true that life doesn’t always give us what we deserve. Still, you can increase your chances of achieving success in life when you have something specific you are thinking about. If you want to live life with clarity, you need to start with the end in mind. If you haven’t decided what you want to do with your life, close this book now and think about it before you continue reading.
Clear Direction
When you start with clarity, you know where you are heading. Apart from knowing the direction of where you want to go, you’ll also be able to give details of how you’ll get there and the sacrifices you will need to pay to reach the target. When you don’t have a clue about what it takes to achieve a goal, you’ll be surprised somewhere along the line and will realize that you have not prepared ahead. Being mentally prepared is the most important readiness you need to scale through potential challenges. Just as we use a road map when we’re on the road again, we must seek clarity to keep us moving forward.
Confidence Comes From Clarity
Confidence is often a product of a clear plan. When you know what you want and how you can make it happen, it builds your self-esteem. You already know what it takes to be a success, and you will be fighting tooth and nail to ensure that your dream comes to pass. The reverse is the case when you have no idea what to expect. You will be hoping that a force out there helps you, which affects your level of confidence.
Finding Clarity with Mentors
The importance of a mentor cannot be overemphasized. A mentor has the experience and has gone through the path you are about to tread. So, the person knows the potential pitfalls and the likely challenges you might face. You’ll be able to trust the judgment of the person because he or she has been through thick and thin in the field and has a better understanding of what works and what wouldn’t. When you have a mentor, you’ll not go through life experimenting with different approaches.
In most cases, your mentor will be able to give you a breakdown of the pros and cons of the different methods you can use to solve a problem. It’s more effective when your mentor is also your sponsor, especially in a career path. A sponsor is a notch higher than a mentor. A mentor will give you the tips you can use to get to the top while a sponsor will hold your hand and take you there. He or she will vouch for you in his or her sphere of influence so that the people that trust him or her will give you opportunities to show what you can do. Now that I’m on the road again, I can visit the people I mentor and help them in their quest for success. Seeking clarity is at the top of the priorities for this goal.
Purpose, Plan, and Pursuit
The three words above define what it means and how to live a meaningful life. Purpose describes your reason for living. It is crucial that you discover the reason for your existence as soon as possible because it will affect other areas of your life. It is when you know what you want to do with your life that you can know the kind of things you should put in your plans and the kind of things that shouldn’t be found there. You’re different from other people, and you need to recognize your uniqueness as soon as possible. Being on the road again helps me to remember this.
Once you have recognized your strengths and gifts, the next stage is to create a plan that can help you to maximize them. Your plan is the map that will lead you to your destination. It begins in your head, but it’s in your best interest that you don’t leave it there. Write it out somewhere. Writing out your plans and targets has many benefits. One of them is that the writing process helps you to retain something more.
Also, it will help you to be able to look at the plan and think about it again. Sometimes, due to different reasons, we lose the positive emotions we had when we were drafting a plan over time. It might be that you started feeling that your plans aren’t feasible in the light of new realities. Therefore, you need to keep your focus by putting your plans into a written form. Checking them will remind you about the reasons the targets were important in the first place. After making your plans, you are ready to pursue your targets.
Living during the pandemic is hardest for me when I think about friends and family in far away places. This is my grandson, Sam. What I wouldn’t give to be at the lake fishing beside him. Once I’m on the road again to locations outside of the States, this village in Finland will be one of my first stops.
It’s way too soon for our world to get back to normal, and that may never transpire. The pandemic forces us to be clear and focused and intentional with every step we take. Understanding where we fit in the chaos brings the stability and routine to our lives on a moment to moment basis.
I’m Connie Ragen Green, on the road again and loving every moment. Clarity allows me to think two moves ahead at all times, and to create my life by design. Come along with me, if you will so we may explore the hills and valleys, the nooks and crannies, and everything in between. And when you’re on the road again, perhaps you’ll attend one of my marketing conferences in Los Angeles, or one of my Retreats in Santa Barbara, California.
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