Clarity = Action
High performers have many things in common. During interviews one of the most notable, and usually one of the first points mentioned, is what they are aiming for and why. I often remind people that “clarity = action”. I realised how often I must say it when my wife jokingly responded to the title of this blog saying, “That’s a little cliche for you!”
As cliche as it might be, clarity is a primary requirement for any person wanting to achieve something meaningful with their life. Three thoughts around clarity which you can take action on.
Ensure you are clear on your why. As Allen Raine cautioned back in 1915, “You may get to the very top of the ladder, and then find it has not been leaning against the right wall.” Stephen Covey used this quote a lot, saying that it is one of the saddest things to experience - a lifetime climbing your ladder of success, only to find you had climbed the wrong wall. To be a high performer you need to be clear why you are pursuing the goal you have set your sights on. Knowing why you are doing something gives additional resilience when the inevitable obstacles appear. The clearer you are the easier it also becomes to map a ‘flexible’ route to your end destination. A ‘flexible route’ is one where you have planned your ideal pathway without making the pathway the priority. Plans need to change as obstacles arise. Clarity helps prioritise what can be compromised and what is non negotiable while still retaining the forward momentum.
Following on from being clear on your why, it is important to have clarity on your primary goals. This ensures you determine what is important. Many people underperform purely because they lack clarity (& with that they also lack conviction) and therefore fail to prioritise. This makes it easy to lose time & energy in the whirlwind of the mundane. You want to ensure you keep the main thing the main thing. HP people get stuff done. More than that they get the right things done. Clarity allows you to prioritise. The reason many people do not set clear goals is that it would then require them to act - such is the power and pull of clarity. Once clear, it invites and demands action.
Progress happens in stages. Know your next step. People who plan their months, weeks and days are more focused. Knowing what you need to do in the moment helps you to win. (WIN makes the great acronym for clarity by asking “What's Important Now?” & “What’s Important Next?”). Having a clear to-do list stops me wasting time between tasks by removing the decision on where I should next focus.
We are what we repeatedly do. Do you know who you want to become? This personal mental picture of your best version of your future self is a powerful starting point from which the above three points more readily flow. Knowing who you want to become feeds your “why”; helps set your goals; and focuses your days. Trial this for a month and measure the positive results for yourself!
