Clarity: the killer app

Photo courtesy of Sabrina Campagna

This blog post is adapted from the introduction of my forthcoming book, Clarity, due to be published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd in the first half of 2013.

“If a pond is clouded with mud, there’s nothing you can do to make the water clear. But if you allow the mud to settle, it will clear on its own, because clarity is the water’s natural state.”

Clarity is your mind’s natural state.

For many years, I’ve been sharing this simple metaphor in workshops and seminars with business leaders, entrepreneurs, professional change-workers and private individuals. As people allow their mud to settle, clarity emerges, and they discover they have what they need for the job at hand.

So what is clarity, and why does it matter? How does clarity work, and why do so many people struggle to find it? Most importantly, how can you find the clarity you need and start benefitting from it?

It’s well known that outstanding leaders in every field, from Olympic medal-winners to visionary entrepreneurs, profit from the flow-states that a clear mind brings. With clarity of mind comes the qualities that drive sustainable results. These qualities (and the results they bring) are what individuals and organisations are searching for, often frantically. But due to a simple misunderstanding (and years of conditioning), we’ve been looking in the wrong place until now.

The purpose of this blog (and the book) is to put that right; to correct the misunderstanding, start dissolving the conditioning and help you experience greater and greater clarity, with all the benefits it provides.

So what is clarity? It turns out that clarity is a kind of “universal resource”. When we have a clear head, we have everything we need for the job at hand. Ask a nervous speaker what’s going through their mind when they’re onstage, and they’ll explain their fears, worries and anxieties. Ask a confident speaker what they’re thinking about onstage and the answer’s almost always the same; “Nothing!” The same is true in every field of high-performance, from the classroom to the playing field, from the boardroom to the bedroom; when you’ve got nothing on your mind, you’re free to give your best.

In forthcoming posts, I’ll be sharing answers to the questions above and guiding you in the direction of your own clarity. I look forward to reading your comments and responding to your questions as we explore this fascinating and valuable subject.