A fresh piece of white A4 bond paper curls in the breeze. Pen poised.
I blink my eyes closed with the hope that I’ll muster the courage.
Several deep breaths, exhaling the final deep breath but it never comes.
I’ve been here before, the scenario all too familiar now. Words attempt to spill out onto the page but there’s little meaning in them.
Frustratingly the playbook is stuck on loop.
Fast forward a few years, there’s authenticity to my purpose, there’s a unique kinda flow. The striving over and over for clarity is no longer like wading through muddy waters.
Do you often feel like you are endlessly searching hoping you’ll find clarity amongst the muddy waters? If you are stuck on a decision or an aspect of your life, chances are the story I painted above may bring a smile of familiarity.
Personally speaking, the bittersweet truth (and I mean raw chocolate kinda bittersweet) is that clarity is invited in through daily practices. It is a strengthening of awareness of those things unique to your being that help decipher your North point. There is a subtle opening that occurs through this practice. Yes, there will moments in life where clarity will come thundering down while knee-deep in sorrow or in fits of extreme ecstasy but for many of us those moments may be rare – although it may feel as though the conditions – loss, anger and resentment are common.
If clarity comes through practice, then you may find something in these 9 simple ways you can invite clarity into your life – starting today.
1. Create a daily mindfulness practice – this is all about cultivating awareness around your thoughts. I put this one first, because for most this where they become more stuck and frustrated, being mindful is a challenge. What if you started out simple and easy? like 10 mins of deep breathing, slowly building up every week. If you calm the body and the mind will follow.
2. Anchor yourself by repeating your yearly intentions. In 2016 I intend to be…adventurous, bold, radiant, open, love. Use these intentions to guide your choices.
3. Rinse, repeat. Take one action (even if roughly in the direction you want to go) and do it over and over again. Not only does this create consistency (it helps to schedule the actions), you experience it and learn from it. Take action again. Like exercise, our body responds and become healthier, so too does our mind and we learn what truly resonates with us.
4. Be prepared to fail and get back up again. This will likely happen if you follow No.3. and requires that you trust the process and learn from it.
5. Practice gratitude. You’ve probably said to yourself before ‘I’m lacking clarity right now’, and what is the opposite of lack? Abundance. To invite abundance into your life, practice gratitude for what you already have. This is a great practice you can add on to No.1.
6. PAUSE often. I can’t recommend this step enough. Go offline – seek out nature, fresh clean oxygen, feel the wind in your hair and the salt on your skin, leave your phone at home, take a walk, move your body, release some tension and open your perspective.
7. Sometimes you might have to burn the dream. Once and a while do your best to let go of what you think the future picture looks like.
8. Clarity and the way you want to feel are a match made in heaven. Vision exercise are powerful, but it is just as important to think about how you want to feel when you get there. Get curious, experiment. Do things that make you feel alive. Notice how you feel when you ‘rinse & repeat’ that same action over and over again.
9. Exercise a little compassion. Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing the answer, this will often get you further from you answer. When you soften and surrender this creates a release which will tell you what you need in that moment.
