The Importance of Clarity

Clarity. When you have it, you see and understand things clearly. Also, people understand you. Without clarity, you feel confused or you send mixed message into the world; thus, people may not comprehend what you are saying or wanting.

Clarity relates to thought. If your thoughts are unclear—if you don’t understand something or you can’t express yourself clearly because your thinking is ambiguous—then the world reflects that back to you.

Clear thought create clear responses. Unclear thoughts create unclear responses.

Clear thoughts create clear results. Unclear thoughts create unclear results.

Clarity vs. Ambiguity

Let me tell you a story. I wanted to speak at a conference I had attended. This conference had proved extremely beneficial for me in terms of networking in the past. I sent in a speaking proposal, but they turned me down, offering me a 50 percent discount off admittance. I decided not to go; I didn’t feel I could afford the expense.

I week and a half before the conference I received an offer to attend for free. However, I felt very ambivalent about going. I was concerned about the hotel and airfare expense and the time spent away from my business. I wanted to attend but I didn’t think I should. My ambivalence created ambiguity in my thinking. Should I go or not?  And, if so, how many days should I attend and how should I travel? I struggled with these issues for about five days.

I did have total clarity on what I would get out of attending and what I wanted to accomplish at the conference. I knew I would again have a good networking experience and possibly get some business out of the trip. And I knew there were two people in particular I wanted to talk to if I went: a speaker and the person who ran the conference. The speaker might be able to help me with a book project and the conference director might be able to help me get a speaking gig at a future conference.

After much deliberation, I decided to attend and to arrive the day before the conference started. I had always felt the hotel was affordable, but when I was able to find an even better rate on the room, I booked that without much hesitation. But I hemmed and hawed over the airfare for a few more days. I couldn’t decide if I should use frequent flier miles or pay for a ticket; the latter meant the trip would cost me more than I felt comfortable spending. Finally, I cashed in the miles and booked my ticket, but not without quite a bit of stress over flying times, the total trip expense and the actual decision to go.

Ambiguity Manifest

How do you think my lack of clarity, or ambivalence and ambiguity, manifested? On the way to the conference, my flight was delayed by five hours. Not only that, the plane parked at the wrong terminal, when meant that after I walked to the wrong baggage claim I had to ride a shuttle to a different terminal. When I finally found the correct baggage claim, I discovered my luggage had stayed at my point of departure and would not be delivered until the next evening. That meant I would not have my clothes, make up, books, etc., for the conference—or for meeting that speaker with whom I wanted to connect.

On the trip back, I arrived at the airport to discover I was no longer in the computer system. Because of the delay on my outgoing flight and flight changes, my ticket home was automatically cancelled. However, I was not told this immediately. Instead I had to wait in a line for 35 minutes only to be told by an airline representative—who never bothered to even look in the computer for my ticket record—that I was at the wrong airline. He sent me to a different terminal, and, in the process, I missed my flight. I had to go back to the first terminal and rebook my flight. By the time I arrived back home, I had again been delayed over five hours—not to mention the stress and aggravation I experienced.

Why do you think this happened? Because I lacked clarity about my travel plans at the very start. I was felt unclear about my decision. In fact, I had a hard time deciding if I should even go to the conference. I was ambivalent. And then I couldn’t decide on how to actually book the airline tickets. To be honest, I never felt comfortable about attending the conference. The universe simply reflected back my ambivalence in the form of totally disjointed travel, which also included a variety of forms of miscommunication. Why miscommunication? I couldn’t communicate clearly about what I wanted when it came to going to the conference in the first place, let alone how I should get there.

Clarity Manifest

On the other hand, I had perfect clarity about what I wanted to accomplish once at the conference, and I manifested that without problem. Despite the fact that I was in the same clothes as the day before, had to get up early and purchase make up and hair products for the hotel spa, and generally was not in my best “form,” I did meet the speaker I set out to speak. We had the conversation I wanted to have, and I received as good an outcome as I could have expected.  I also managed to meet the conference director, give him a copy of my book, and arrange to contact him after the conference to discuss speaking opportunities in the future. Not only that, I had four people contact me about working with them once I returned home.

Why did all of this aspect of the conference and trip go so smoothly? I had complete clarity about it. I knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish at the conference. I had no ambivalence. I had no ambiguity.

Do You Have Clarity?

I could apply the idea of clarity to any area of my life. If I am unclear about what I want in my relationships, I won’t create the types of relationships I want. If I am unclear about how I want to spend my free time, I will not create the time or the opportunities to spend my free time doing what I enjoy. If I am unclear about what types of clients I want to attract to my business, I won’t attract any clients or I’ll attract the wrong clients.

It’s so important to have clarity if you want to achieve specific results or manifest specific things or situations in your life. Do you have clarity—about work, relationships, health, free time, friendship, or any other aspect of your life?

How do you see your clarity or lack of clarity manifesting in your life? Tell me in a comment below.

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Image credit: nneirda / 123RF Stock Photo