Clarity is Just Step 1
Pushing for Clarity has long been a cornerstone of my personal learning process. Whether through a lightning flash of insight or the slow creep of a dawning realization, I find great value and satisfaction in seeing finer distinctions and greater resolution emerge in my ideas, thoughts, and concepts. This push for increased clarity is also a central part of my Coaching work with clients. But this Push for Clarity is not just an end to itself, but only the 1st step in an important loop of growth and change.
Step 2 is what I call the Integrity Check. Where can newfound clarity on a situation reveal previously hidden glitches? Or places where one’s actions aren’t in complete alignment with one’s goals? Where is our walk diverging from our talk? Where does our behavior not, in fact, lead to making progress towards our stated goals? Time and time again in my life I’ve seen stark differences in all these things come into sharper contrast with increased clarity regarding my motivations, resistances, and other shadow areas of my psyche. And I see the same things happen in my clients from time to time too.
Step 3 follows almost automatically from the 2nd one above, and that is Setting Intention. The integrity gaps that emerge from increased clarity easily command our attention, but it is up to us as Agents to decide what our intention will be going forward. Will we adjust our talk? Our walk? Or even both? Where do we want to put effort into making change in our lives to create greater alignment in those places that need it? Where do we want to increase harmony and decrease friction in our total energy and effort outputs?
Step 4 is my favorite step. Our actions are where the proverbial rubber hits the road, for without them our insights and intentions are impotent. What are some simple, safe, and immediate steps we can take to close the gaps that our Integrity Checks have revealed? Where can we move the slider a bit in a way that is designed to help us show up in the world as the angels of our better selves demand? And once we start to take some of these actions, how does the world look from the new perspective afforded? What new clarity now emerges, starting the loop over again?
