How To Consistently Operate With Extreme Clarity For Your Most Important
Goals PART I
“Most people don’t know
why they’re doing what they’re doing. They imitate others, go with the flow,
and follow paths without making their own.” -Derek Sivers
Most people don’t have much clarity on their life
goals.
Instead of confidently working towards what, deep
down, they know they want, many people are caught up in trying
to simply “be better” than the competition: their colleagues, their friends, even
their family.
As a result, many people feel unconfident and
unsure about the most important areas of their life: their partner, their job,
their behaviors, even their values. Since they let other people (and what other
people think) define much of their lifestyle, they don’t have clarity on
what they want. This is why so many people work at jobs they
hate, stay in toxic relationships, and remain in-debt for decades.
If you want to consistently feel extreme clarity
with your most important goals, you’ll need to stop letting others define you.
The world’s and other people’s definitions of success can have no place in your
mindset. Fear? Pain-avoidance? Attention-seeking? Arrogance? Those all cloud
clarity.
Humility and action bring reveal. Right action
founded on your true values and beliefs bring focus and clarity most people
will never know.
Here’s how you can achieve a level of clarity most
people haven’t felt in many years; and how you can consistently act on that
vision for your life.
What You Truly Believe
About Yourself Determines What You Become
“As a man thinketh, so
he is. As he continues to think, so he remains.” -James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
What I think about myself isn’t necessarily true.
In fact, many times, I’m totally wrong about who I am.
I can be whatever I choose to be — a writer, a guitarist,
a successful food truck owner. I have enormous power over what I become. But that power can also be used to severely limit
myself, and cloud my clarity and focus.
What you truly believe about yourself often
determines how your life will play out. Are you a victim? A loser? A nobody?
Are you not good enough, stupid, and unworthy of love?
I called myself all these things, and that’s what
I became. Years of a severe pornography addiction and avoidance of
responsibility left a strong mental routine in my mind: I convinced myself I
was a stupid, cowardly loser, not good enough for people’s love or attention.
So that’s what I became. I treated myself terribly, I was full of self-loathing
and self-criticism.
Constant internal reinforcement is strong and
lasting. What you tell yourself often becomes true. You see what you look for.
You attract what you are.
Most people don’t realize their beliefs determine
the success or failure of the rest of their life. Your beliefs today have an
enormous effect on the results of tomorrow.
If you believe you can can, odds are you probably
will.
You reap what you sow.
But the opposite is also true — if you know you can’t,
you’re probably right. If you sow disbelief in yourself, no amount of action or
effort will change your end result.
Bruce Lee put it this way: “One will never get
any more than he thinks he can get.” What you truly, deeply believe is true
about yourself and your future is most likely what will happen.
What do you believe about yourself?
What you truly believe about yourself — your ability, income, relationships, self-worth, potential — is what you become. If you’re not seeing the results you want, the problem almost always
lies in your beliefs about yourself.
Fortunately, 100x and even 1000x results don’t
require 100x or 1000x effort. Small changes can lead to big results. You
don’t need to get a PhD, run an Ironman, or change your entire diet to
significantly upgrade your life. The answer is in the small things. Done
consistently, small things become big.
Therefore, start upgrading your belief systems and
neural pathways (more on that in a minute) by focusing on doing small things well. If you can master the small things, you get a little bit of clarity
of vision and focus for the future. This will build as long as you continue
mastering bigger and bigger tasks.
“Small, seemingly
inconsistent steps completed consistently over time will create a radical
difference.” -Darren Hardy, former editor of SUCCESS Magazine
This 20-Minute Writing
Exercise Will Provide Immediate Focus (and Clarity) On Your Life Goals
I didn’t have much clarity for most of my life.
In the past decade, I’ve wanted to be:
·
A Navy SEAL
·
A chef
·
An SEO expert
·
A CEO of…something
·
A novelist
·
A pastor
·
An entrepreneur
·
A digital nomad
·
A blogger
In the midst of these and a dozen other fleeting
interests, I was in a constant state of dissatisfaction for years. It was
terrible. I had no direction, and was often filled with self-loathing for my
indecisiveness.
One time, I bluntly actually asked a career coach:
“Will I ever find a job I don’t hate?” A string of dead-end
odd jobs over the years had left me jaded and angry.
She said I would.
I didn’t believe her.
It’s taken me years to find clarity for my goals.
Sometimes, things still seem hazy and directionless. I still have panicky
moments where I feel completely lost.
The other day, fellow writer Zak Slayback wrote an illuminating article about clarity. It contained some of the most concise, best-worded
questions about clarity I’ve ever come across (where were you 10 years ago,
Zak!).
I know what you’re thinking; you’ve seen these click-bait listicles before.
They offer a brief buzz of entertainment which fizzles into nothingness a
minute later.
This is not one of those articles.
Stick with me here. Because after I spent 20
minutes answering these simple questions, my clarity and focus for my huge life
goals skyrocketed.
If you’re someone who wants more clarity and focus
with their big goals, find 20 minutes. Get a pen and paper, and answer these 6
simple questions as honestly as you can.
CONTINUES IN PART II
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