Living with Clarity; Seven steps to a new and improved you

Often within our lives, we are distracted by the huge demands for time placed upon us. The pace of life in current times is possibly faster than any other point in history and the multi-media barrage we are subjected to on a daily basis means that we can’t deal with everything at once. Emails, telephone calls, mobile calls, faxes, television broadcasts, instant messages, the Internet, voicemails, SMS messages, video conferences, tele-conferences, radio, billboard and magazine communications all contribute to the modern ailment known as information overload.

How can we cope with so many of these competing demands? Often we don’t. The pressures imposed upon us with work, our families, society and our expectations of our self are seldom well balanced and complimentary. In paying too much attention to one aspect of our life, we often neglect the others. It is, in fact, a little like spinning plates. If we spend too long spinning just one plate, before long some, and then all of the others will come crashing down.

Many people learn to live with competing demands. They are satisfied in coping from day-to-day with all that life throws at them. There is a better way though. Living with clarity puts us in charge of our lives, makes us realise our potential and work towards fulfilling our goals and life objectives. To live with clarity takes great effort and persistence; but as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. The first step in your transition to a clearer life is to work towards “clearing the clutter”.

Step 1-Clear the Clutter.

Wikipedia defines clutter as: “A confusing or disorderly state or collection; or the creation thereof”. To clear the clutter from our lives allows us to remove all of our extraneous distractions. Removing it ends confusion and brings order, in turn allowing us to concentrate on the important issues affecting us. There are many tools available to assist us in clearing out our clutter allowing us to focus on the things that are important to our growth and personal development. SWOT analysis, personal balance sheets, life coaching, hypnotherapy and time-line therapy are just some of the tools that can help to clear the clutter from your life. Starting out though, a simple realisation that enough is enough can be the breakthrough that you need to get rid of the distractions that are hampering your goals.

Step 2-Little bits; break it down.

Sometimes in life we can bite off a little bit more than we can chew. We believe we can handle it, that it is within our capability. Quickly though, something that seemed small and manageable from a distance can suddenly become intimidating close up. The key is to take smaller bites. Dissect your tasks and think about footsteps rather than entire journeys. Breaking things down can make you significantly more effective and help battle inaction and procrastination.

Step 3-Aspire; focus on your goals.

Those that succeed in life, more often than not, have failed more than they have succeeded. What has brought them ultimate success is a combination of tenacity, hard work, vision, and an aspiration to achieve their goal. Aspiring to reach a goal involves your commitment to work towards a decided outcome; to channel your efforts into realising a dream whatever the hurdles that are thrown in the way. Many people go through life just making do and reacting to the day-to-day things that happen to them. It’s a little like sailing a boat. Without a destination in mind you will either remain in the harbour, under used and redundant, or be subject to the ongoing ravages of the sea. With a destination in mind, you can be certain that the efforts you make and the pain that you endure, will all contribute to you reaching your final destination.

Step 4-Reinvent your life

Someone once told me that the definition of madness was to continue doing the same thing day in and day out, under the same conditions, and expect to get a different result. It would be like using the same ingredients to make a cake, mixing them together in the same way and then baking them in the same oven, at the same temperature for the same amount of time and expect to get a different cake. To make a positive change, you need to mix up the ingredients. Rearrange your life by mixing up your daily ingredients. Decide on what isn’t working for you and replace them with something else that will. You may need to make a gamble and try new things and remember, if it doesn’t work you can easily try something else! Continually reinvent yourself until you get a recipe that works.

Step 5-Inspiration

Every day we are subjected to challenges. For some, these challenges are more serious than the norm and I am continually inspired by the people around me that overcome great challenges in their lives. I often think that if they can do it, why can’t I? Reading inspirational books, working with charities, watching motivational films, listening to uplifting music, and listening to the experience of others can all be inspirational as can turning to one’s faith and religion. It is easy to give up on a goal when the challenges and sacrifices become too much. It’s at times like these where we need to be inspired; to be given examples of how others have overcame adversity to accomplish their dreams and to believe that we too can achieve great things.

Step 6-Time Management

You have a finite amount of minutes at your disposal. Each minute is spent largely on one of four areas; sleep and rest, productive time, non-productive time and downtime. We all need sleep and rest to regenerate and recoup. In the right amount, sleep can keep us relaxed and ready for what the next day offers. Productive time is time spent on following our goals and objectives while non-productive time is wasted on watching TV or procrastinating. Finally downtime is time spent unexpectedly away from our goals. If you currently imagine your daily time as a freshly backed apple pie, how big would the proportionate slice be for sleep & rest? How big would it be for productive or non-productive? Would any of it be for downtime? Too often we get our priorities out of sync. Our ‘slices’ of time are imbalanced and disproportionate to what we are hoping to achieve. A determined effort to manage our time better can free up the opportunities we need to pursue our dreams and reach our goals.

Step 7-Yes to life

As individuals, we can all be self-limiting. We can stay within areas of familiarity, our comfort zones, and remain exposed to the predictable and safe. Saying Yes to life breaks these self-imposed boundaries and opens up opportunities for growth and development. Whatever steps you have taken to improve your life, without opening up to opportunity and saying yes to more of the unknown, we will never be able to progress our goals.

Living with Clarity is a gradual process that helps to overcome all the noise and interference that distracts us from reaching our maximum potential. To find out more about any of the principles of living with clarity and about how it can be applied to individuals and organisations, please get in touch with Leigh through the contact page or by requesting a call back.