Photo courtesy of andyarthur
In the first article of this series, we explored how an increase in your clarity of understanding is your biggest leverage point for making a difference in your life. In this article we’re going to look at the second leverage point, a factor that has a huge impact on your moment-to-moment experience. It influences everything from focus and motivation to creativity and decision-making. As such, it’s incredibly valuable when it comes to achieving goals and creating results while enjoying each step of the journey.
Leverage Point #2 – Clarity of Mind
Here’s how I describe this leverage point in my forthcoming book, Clarity (being released by Wiley in March, 2013):
***************
DISTINCTION: Clarity of mind vs. Clarity of understanding
We all experience clarity of mind from time to time; present and in the moment, with our heads free from superstitious thinking. While the flow states regularly enjoyed by athletes, musicians and dancers (among others) are a familiar example of clarity of mind, we all experience this in different ways and at various times in our own lives. Clarity of mind is, by its nature, fleeting; no one has it all the time.
Clarity of understanding is the degree to which you insightfully understand the inside-out nature of reality; the realisation that 100% of your felt experience of life is coming from THOUGHT in the moment. The fact that you’re reading this book means that you’re in the process of becoming one of those exceptional people who has clarity of understanding about the inside-out nature of life. Clarity of understanding is permanent. Once you experience an increase in your level of understanding, you never lose it. You’ll lose sight of it from time to time (if you’re anything like me, it’ll be on a daily basis), but your insights into the inside-out nature of life are still there within you; it’s only a matter of time before your wisdom reminds you and guides you back to clarity.
Of course, we all have an innate understanding of the inside-out nature of life at the core of our consciousness; it's what we're 'made of' at the most essential level. So, as you keep looking in this direction, and allowing insight to dissolve the outside-in misunderstanding, it’s inevitable that your increasing clarity of understanding will continue rising. And the higher it rises, the more clarity of mind you’ll find yourself experiencing.
***************
– What do I mean by “THOUGHT” (and why is it capitalised)?This distinction raises a few important questions:
– What do I mean by “superstitious thinking”?
– How does understanding this help you reach your goals, bring your dreams to life and enjoy life more?
– Most importantly, how can you experience more clarity of mind, more of the time?
1) What do I mean by “THOUGHT” (and why is it capitalised)?
You can define THOUGHT as “the reality principle”. Our perceptual experience of life, moment-to-moment, looks like it’s “out there” (and for practical purposes, it often is). But we don’t experience “out there” directly. Instead, we each live in a THOUGHT-generated experiential reality. We each walk around in a unique, individual world that’s “upholstered” with our thinking.
For example: Two people can be watching the same movie, sitting side-by-side, and sharing the same bucket of popcorn. But they each have their own unique perceptual experience of the movie, the seat and the popcorn. Their perceptual reality is THOUGHT-generated.
I capitalise the word “THOUGHT” when I’m referring to the principle of THOUGHT, in order to differentiate it from the more common form of the word “thought” (eg. “I thought I saw a puddy-cat”, “Penny for your thoughts” etc).
2) What do I mean by “superstitious thinking”?
“Superstitious thinking” refers to thoughts that arise from the “outside-in illusion”; the mistaken belief that you’re feeling something other than your thinking in the moment. We’re always feeling our thinking, but it often appears that we’re feeling something other than our thinking. When we believe we’re feeling something other than our thinking in the moment, our heads fill up with superstitious thoughts and we’re at risk of feeling insecure, stressed and agitated. Your “clarity of understanding” is the degree to which you “get” that we’re always feeling our thinking (and nothing else).
3) How does understanding this help you reach your goals, bring your dreams to life and enjoy life more?
Great question. When you’ve got nothing on your mind, you’re free to give your best. Clarity of mind has you deeply connected with life, and seeing “reality” clearly. This allows you to be aware of your environment, make good decisions, trust your intuition, tap into your creativity and take action. When a person’s mind is clogged with superstitious thinking, they often become hesitant, fearful and stuck. But when you’ve got clarity of mind, it often seems like you can’t put a foot wrong. Of course, when it comes to creating what you want to create in the world, this is a powerful place to act from (and to learn from).
4) Most importantly, how can you experience more clarity of mind, more of the time?
I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Bad news first: There’s nothing I recommend you “do” in the moment to restore you to clarity of mind. Your mind is a self-correcting system, and clarity is its set-point. Any externally imposed “mind-clearing methodology” runs the risk of interfering with the natural process of self-correction.
Now the good news: Like I said, your mind is a self-correcting system, and clarity is its set-point. As such, its already and always in the process of returning you to clarity. As your understanding of CLARITY continues increasing (see leverage point number 1), you free this self-correcting system to do what it does best. As a result, you’ll find yourself experiencing more clarity more often, with briefer periods of superstitious thinking in between.
The moment you insightfully realise that you’re feeling your thinking, you’re already being restored to clarity of mind. In the moment, it might occur to you to have a rest / go for a walk / listen to some music or take some specific action, but here’s the thing: It’s not these “things” that clear your mind; they’re just examples of what your wisdom is guiding you to do while your mind’s self-clearing process continues to do its stuff.
You can increase your clarity of understanding of CLARITY at www.JamieSmart.com where you’ll find more great free stuff, including articles, audios and videos. In the next article we’ll be exploring Leverage Point #3 – Clarity of Connection.
Have a wonderful week!
Jamie
Comments
A great article Jamie. I have found that the people with the poorest focus and so many problems are the one with the most self imposed "rules" that cloud their judgement. They could do with reading this.
Hi Jamie, I am indebted to you for your insights on thinking in the moment.
A particular thought that springs to mind was (no longer it seems) my addiction to cigarettes. I used to make up rules around my smoking. And I would like to quote Richard Feynman here, 'The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.'
I used to tell myself when I had a long day at work or travelling, that I deserve to smoke because I work hard. Then if I had a day at home and did all my work and husband/ father stuff, I deserve a smoke because I've been a good boy. And then I would convince myself that I can only enjoy watching the football with a cigarette etc etc. It was all BS.
So I stopped fooling myself at the new year to see if this 'new thinking' works, because I think I get it at an intellectual level but I wanted to access it at a practical level. So far 23.5 days without a cigarette… I haven't had to do anything apart from acknowledge the thought of a cigarette, not invest in the thought and associated feeling and my mind seems to turn to somthing more positive and beneficial. You have so far saved me a couple of hundered pounds and added a year to my life.
Can I also comment on something you said about rapport? Rapport happens when there's nothing else in the way. Probably not the context you intended but it works for me anyway and that is being at home, in the living room, with daughter. When we turn the TV off, put down the iPad or phone, put away my laptop, we just sit there and in a moment my eyes will turn to my daughter and next moment she'll be in my arms. Rapport is the natural state, it's what happens when there's nothing else in the way.
I hope you don't mind my sharing that with you. Regards Vince
Look forward to your book.
I can't seem to see it to pre-order on Amazon,
Is this it?
Think Less, Win More: How to De-clutter Your Mind, Focus Your Energy and Achieve Results
it has a dtae of 15 Feb
I wish you well and great success regarding your book.
From my experience (and as I have learnt from many others I have 'met' of recent times who, upon listening to you across the last two or three years or so and, upon SEEING their inside-out understanding, have begun to ‘self-correct’ and to begin their more grounded journey of insight realized) you give great value.
Specifically regarding this article, one of the things I can say is ‘I like your style’.
As one who freely dove into my experiential learning and development of understanding, I SEE something different each day (which I capture, like capturing an idea yet immediately I ‘real-ease’ it, as if a caterpillar emerging from the chrysalis and, after a final stretch and test-flap, it can take off in flight to become part of the all once again).
Able to spend more time than most ‘running headlong’ into the unknown it has, for me, been and continues to be a journey of joyous overture. As a designer, I have always been one to spot patterns and connections and, equally to seek out the asymmetric, conscious of a balanced world of mixed-up form and formlessness and of negative and positive.
Aware as I am that, in order to ‘sell’ innate understanding to people, that there is a tendency for practitioners to focus upon the positives, I am one who (working in the background) am particularly interested in the balance of a natural state that demands that there be a negative condition, just as once there was nothing or less than nothing and then there became something. However, I don’t and wouldn’t get too carried away with that particular notion other than my perspective of the truth being the truth which is the truth and in understanding that my final view will be off the truth.
Meanwhile, and before that final point, we can begin to better understand the truth NOW … and that is simply a beautiful aspect.
In reflection (and thanks for what follows) I totally get it that ‘clarity of mind’ is of its nature, fleeting. What I point towards is that, in point of fact “every person has, in my terms, ‘clarity of Mind’ all of the time …. it’s simply that we don’t know it …. and cannot hang on to it as our personal stuff tends to get in the way and even point us outside-in once more.
Simply put, busy-minded people have insufficient conscious time for clarity of Mind, or peace of mind.
In ‘clarity of understanding’ people consciously and insightfully understand their natural state of reality as they create it … their real-ability in soft, peripheral focus, as it can be, upon the truth that 100% of the experience that they feel, moment by moment, is their life as they have now come to SEE it and will forever more.
Love And Wellbeing
Hi,
Great posting. Given that we have a self-correcting system this can be equated with the statement that we embody this. Given that we emobdy the self-correct less or more depending on how we are who we are…what is the role of the body/embodiment? Even thought there's nothing to do via one's thinking there's is plenty to do via the silent brain and the embodied learning.
Reflections?
T
Our mind mechanism is such when we don't feel good, we tend to push it away. But feelings are excellent indicators telling us where we are and how we are doing in this moment – This is a way to get clarity with is crucial to our lives. Thanks Jamie.
Jamie,
You were/are very clear in your clarity of mind and clarity of understanding definitions and their roles in our lives. Thank you for that. I look forward to your clarity of connection. It becomes increasingly clear that they can be points of leverage.
I really liked and related to the comment by Vince Stevenson (see above). His example on his past addiction to cigarettes was a real life example of how he used his clarity of understanding to bring him more clarity of mind to leverage his release from cigarettes. Many of us have an addiction to something and his story (along with your 2 articles) have made it something I can use now.
Thank you both,
Steve
great article Jamie, love the small but v important distinction between clarity of mind v. understanding…