Your Personal Clarity Checklist

I have a little imagination exercise for you today.  Here goes…

Close your eyes and picture a garden in your backyard.  Picture this garden clogged with too many plants, overgrown bushes and overrun with weeds, A garden like this will look chaotic and unclear, everything will be jumbled, choked and unkempt.  Nothing will stand out and shine.  A mess, right?  Now imagine pulling out the weeds, paring down the plants, and trimming everything up…the essence of the garden will appear, it will look organized, neat and purposeful.  The plants will be able to breath, there will be room for growth and change.  And this is a beautiful garden.

Clarity is like that beautiful garden with its essential beauty revealed and lots of room to grow.

Clarity is a state of mind that is sharp, focused, clear and calm so that you can think clearly, make decisions confidently, move purposefully through your life.  Clarity helps you to feel less stressed and more resilient in the face of complexity and chaos.  With clarity, you avoid those exhausting feelings of brain fog and overwhelm. 

Clarity brings light to what is most importantand allows you to let go of anything that does not nurture and support you on our journey towards a vibrant, purposeful and authentic life…one that brings you joy, peace, fulfillment.

So how do we find clarity?  

Finding clarity for an authentic, vibrant, purposeful life starts with getting to the essential, identifying what is truly important to you. It means defining the foundations and the driving forces of everything you do.  You can start by asking yourself fundamental questions like these:

• What are my core values (authenticity, generosity, integrity, compassion, courage, joy…)?
  
• What are my top priorities in life (relationships, health, career, personal growth…)?
  
• What are my main goals and aspirations?
  
• What will truly bring joy to my life?
  
• Are my actions and my relationships supporting and nurturing my authentic self and my true desires?
  
• What fears and limiting beliefs could hold me back from living my purposeful and fulfilling life, and am I willing to let them go?

Getting this clarity can be the work of a lifetime. This is deep and intentional soul work…and absolutely essential if you wish to live authentically and feel fulfilled in everything you do.  And a lot of it will change as your journey unfolds.  So it’s important to stay connected with these fundamental questions and to revisit them as necessary.  Practices such as journaling, vision boards, mind maps and meditation can help you to work through these questions.  Mindfulness helps you to be aware of your thoughts, emotions, feelings, of your actions and reactions.  Awareness is the foundation of clarity.
 
Finding the right habits and practices can help you to remain aligned with your values and with what is truly important to you.

Here is a tip to help you stay clear and focused on a daily basis.  Ask yourself these 10 questions everyday.  It’s like your personal clarity checklist; you can journal, make notes or simply reflect quietly.

1. What is the most import thing I want to focus on today, my top priority?
   
2. Does this align with my core values and my true purpose?
   
3. Am I being honest with myself abut what I truly want or need?
   
4. What concrete steps can I take to make it happen/accomplish this one important thing?
   
5. What can I do to be more mindful while I’m doing it?
   
6. What worries or emotions are clouding my mind right now and how can I let them go?
   
7. What distractions can I eliminate or minimize in order to stay focused today?
   
8. What 3 things am I grateful for today that bring me peace, joy and inspiration?
   
9. How do I want to feel today?
   
10. What 3 things can I do today to help me feel that way?

You can take just a few minutes at the start of your day to think about the questions, you can make notes or journal or meditate on it.  It’s up to you to create the habits and practices that work for you.  And if these particular questions don’t fully resonate with you, simply create your own 10 questions to help you to stay clear and focused on what is most important to you each day.