The 4 Components of Clarity Developing a Superpower

Are you lacking Clarity?

Do you find yourself wondering why you are doing what you are doing?  How about starting new projects only to find yourself quitting before their completion? Do your New Year’s resolutions fall short each year? If so, a lack of clarity is likely at the root of your problem.

Lacking clarity is like trying to navigate a foggy forest with a map drawn by a child. You may have a general idea of where you’re going, but the path is obscured, the landmarks are hidden, and the directions… well they just don’t make sense. Following such a map at the least would be frustrating, if not impossible.

Defining Clarity

According to the Oxford Dictionary, clarity is defined as “the quality of being coherent and intelligible”.  If we deconstruct this further and also take into consideration the definitions of coherent (defined as: logical and consistent) and intelligible (defined as: comprehensible) we can construct a new definition as such:

Getting Logical

Of note in this expanded construction of the definition, is the quality of being  “logical”, as logic is tied to experience.  Now, we are not talking about logic as it pertains to the likes of mathematics or computer science. Rather, logic as it applies to our understanding of the grand question “Why?”  That’s right, the reason we do things, really anything, is because of our experiences.  Our experiences and the resulting emotions they evoke become the building blocks of our logic.

An Understanding

On the other end of our definition we have the quality of being “comprehensible”, or in other words, the ability to understand. Consider this the “Who”, “What”, “When”, Where”, and “How”.  Keeping with our map analogy, imagine you have invited a friend over to your house who has never been there before. Upon accepting the invitation, they ask for directions (imagine Google Maps does not exist). “Who” and “What” have been established, your friend is coming over!  But how are they coming?  Are they walking, riding a bike, or driving? When are they coming?  Is it during rush hour when highways will be backed up and taking back roads might be quicker?  Where are they coming from?  A critical piece that we will discuss in more detail shortly.  

Continuing with our analogy above… If we know our friend has a strong aversion to dirt roads (required if taking back roads to avoid rush hour), then we may suggest they simply take the highway route regardless.  Such a  suggestion may be born out of fear, the fear that they will arrive annoyed or even angry.  Point being, there is a “Why” behind the recommendation.  The real question is, are we consciously aware of what it is?  

If we were to consolidate the “Who”, “What”, “When”, and “Where”, we might refer to them as the “Goal”.  Which would leave the “How” to be our “Plan”.

Being consistent

The final quality of clarity is that of being “consistent”.  In essence, given our experiences and the awareness of “Why” we do things, do we consistently arrive at the same “Goal” and derive the same “Plan”.  If our goals are constantly changing, it is a direct result of not having a clearly defined “Why”.  After all, why would you continue to do anything challenging if you don’t know why you’re doing it in the first place?  In similar fashion, “Plans” should not be radically nor frequently changing either, however with new experience and insight it may be warranted to pivot considering the new information.  If we fail the consistency test, then we lack clarity.

Where are you coming from?

Remember when I said we would talk about “Where” shortly? When developing clarity (and giving directions), where you are coming from is equally as important as where you are going.  

When it comes to creating a vision and setting big goals.  A common mistake is to solely focus on the latter, where you want to be in life. However, in order to create goals that are realistic (a tenet of SMART goals, more on those in the future), you must have a firm grip on where you are now.

In coaching, this is often referred to as an “Audit” process in which we help clients to audit their lives. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What does your support system look like? Are you organized? Self Motivated? What are your biggest distractors? What do you currently believe about yourself? What beliefs do you have that are empowering and to the contrary self-limiting? What do your daily habits and routines look like?

Clearly, we can keep going and when performing an audit, we would.  For the degree to which we can be fully honest with ourselves, to humble ourselves in comparison to a grand vision, the greater our likelihood of success.  It is also worth noting that this process shouldn’t be rushed. Nor is it ever truly complete. But like any relationship of value, take time and really get to know the person. In this case, it just happens to be the person you spend the most time with… Yourself!

Putting it all together

The greatest leaders are those with clarity.  It’s like a superpower that attracts success.  In our own right, we are all leaders.  Each and every one of us has the distinct honor of captaining our very own ship.  As captains, we will embark on many journeys.  Without clarity, we may get lost along the way or we may get to our destination and wonder why we went there in the first place? 

At this point, I hope you have a clear understanding of what clarity is and its importance.  Further,  I would like to invite and encourage you to take some time for reflection and journal about the clarity or lack thereof in your life.  Need help getting started?  Here are a few prompts:

• What is an area of your life that you lack clarity? When you think about this area, how do you feel?  What emotions come to surface?
• How long have you been in this place lacking clarity?
• Why have you stayed in a place lacking clarity for as long as you have?
• What is stopping you from gaining clarity?
• What is an area of your life that you have clarity? When you think about this area, how do you feel?  What emotions come to surface?
• How can you use the feeling of having clarity to motivate you to gain clarity in areas of your life that you are lacking it?