Everyone’s had the experience of struggling to drag themselves out of bed and off to work on a cold winter’s morning. But you can also probably remember some of the times when you woke up feeling fresh, then bounced into work and couldn’t put a foot wrong. People usually attribute this second kind of day to to a change in circumstances, to a good night’s sleep, or to luck. But it turns out that there are simple principles which govern the kind of day you’re going to have, how productive you’ll be, and what kind of results you’re going to get. In this article, you’re going to be discovering the principles behind mental clarity; the unexpected source of your most productive and enjoyable year so far!
Clarity Key #1 – Clear Mind, Less Stress
Few people realise that the mind is a self-correcting system; mental clarity is the ‘default state’ the mind is always endeavouring to return to. So what gets in the way? The ‘outside-in’ misunderstanding; the mistaken belief that our feelings are telling us about our circumstances, our future or our past. Your feelings are actually telling you about your thinking in the moment. Feeling stressed? You’ve got stressful thinking. Feeling peaceful? You’ve got peaceful thinking. Feeling angry? That’s angry thinking. Feeling motivated? You’ve got motivated thinking. We’re always living in the feeling of the principle of Thought taking form in the moment, but it often looks like we’re feeling our circumstances. The moment you wake up to the fact that you’re feeling Thought in the moment, stress diminishes, your mind starts clearing and you become more fully present.
Clarity Key #2 – Better Ideas, Solutions and Decisions
A survey of senior executives asking, “When do you get your best ideas?” yielded surprising results. The top 3 answers were: 1) On holiday, 2) In the shower and 3) Travelling to and from work. We get our most creative ideas, insights and solutions when we’ve got nothing on our minds. Yet how often have we been told to “think about it”; to grind away at our problems and hammer out solutions. That feeling of tension or agitation is a signal that a person’s got tense agitated thinking – the last place they’re likely to find an innovative solution! We each have an innate ability to come up with fresh new thinking that’s relevant and useful to the matter at hand, and it tends to arrive when you’re not caught up in the outside-in misunderstanding. As you get more comfortable with relying on this innate ability, you’ll benefit from the better decisions, innovative ideas and elegant solutions that emerge as a result.
Clarity Key #3 – Smoother Relationships and Less Conflict
The outside-in misunderstanding is one of the main causes of unnecessary conflict in relationships. Your response to a colleague’s insensitive remark or obstructive behaviour will be entirely dependant on your state of mind at the time. If a person is feeling stressed or insecure, they’ll often feel like a victim, as if their feelings are telling them about their colleague’s behaviour (they’re not – your feelings are always telling you about Thought in the moment.) On the other hand, when you’ve got clarity, you’ll realise that your colleague’s words and actions are coming from their thinking in the moment, too. With a clear mind, you’re more able to listen deeply to others, and feel the sense of connection that’s the conduit for impactful communication and strengthening relationships.
Clarity Key #4 – Higher Performance and Productivity
World champion sprinter Usain Bolt says he thinks about anything but running before a race. When the starter’s pistol fires, his mind clears and he delivers gold-medal results. He intuitively knows that his mind is a self-clearing system, and that he’ll have what he needs at the moment he needs it. This is true for all of us, but our misunderstanding about where our feelings come from often has us inadvertently ‘stirring up’ our thinking in an attempt to get the clarity we need. The more deeply you understand the ‘inside-out’ nature of experience (the fact that we’re always feeling our thinking), the more you can relax and trust your innate intelligence to bring you what you need. After scoring a match-winning hat-trick against Fulham, Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge showed up at his post-match interview clutching a copy of my book CLARITY: Clear Mind, Better Performance, Bigger Results. He’s been on blistering form ever since, a clear indicator of the link between clarity and high performance.
Clarity Key #5 – Insightful Understanding Yields Bigger Results
The level of clarity you bring to work on a day-to-day basis will determine your levels of motivation, performance, enjoyment and results. So how can you massively increase the amount of clarity you experience? Deepen your understanding of the principles behind clarity and the ‘inside-out’ nature of life. If you keep looking in this direction, you’ll have insights and a-has that will make a profound difference to you and your work. Clarity may just be the biggest contributor to 2015 being your most fulfilling and productive year yet!
To your increasing clarity,
Jamie
PS We’ve had tons of applications for Project Glasswing, and I’ve managed to select 36 great candidates who are a good fit for the programme (and it for them). I have high hopes for this project, so if it goes according to plan, we’ll be running “Glasswing 2.0” later in the year.
Comments
CLARITY: Clear Mind, Better Performance, Bigger Results is a really empowering piece of work. Thank you Jamie. Bless, Anne.