Focus: Clarity and Direction

"Clarity affords focus." ~~Thomas Leonard ~~

Have you ever noticed that when you’re introduced to something you had never noticed before, that you notice it all the time? (If not, you will now! ) In all seriousness… it happens to me a lot. I’ll not have ever heard of something, and then I’ll hear it referenced five or six times in relatively rapid succession. Or, I’ll never have seen something, and then all of a sudden it’s all around me… I feel like it’s a message. I choose to believe that when this happens, it’s happening for a reason, and it’s something I need to pay attention to. Well, the thing that has been coming up a lot for me lately is “clarity”. I wrote recently about clearing the clutter. A number of people told me I was making room for new things (figuratively speaking, of course… who needs more clutter???) And a surprisingly large number of people told me that I was “clearing” to get ready for “clarity”; to be completely clear on where I was going, why I was going there, and possibly even more importantly, on how I was going to get there. “Clarity”, as a term, was not one I had used often, and was not one I frankly had heard often until recently. Very shortly after my clearing clutter conversations, a colleague was talking to me about how they really needed clarity, and how they needed to understand on which direction they should focus. That felt familiar to me. I’ve been saying for no less than two years that I really needed to understand more about who my target audience was and how to market to them. The very next day a client was asking me about how to get clarity (and used the word!) in their job search and again, figure out who to target as a prospective employer. I found myself coaching around clarity. And I found I was pretty right on… It was kind of ironic... I was right back to my “physician, heal thyself” post. So I did. Thanks in part to my amazing accountability group, and thanks in part to a few other great listeners and advisors, I feel like I really got clarity. I have a renewed focus. I even redrafted my LinkedIn profile! (Check it out here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferscott) It was quite the accomplishment, and I feel really good about it! Then yesterday I had yet another conversation on getting clear on direction. This time it was with another entrepreneur who was working on choosing a line of business on which to direct her focus first… It could have been me talking. This time I could really give some great, step-by-step tips on getting clarity. And, I am so happy that I chose to focus on that! I am committed to listening to what the Universe is telling me. When these things come up, I will pay attention to them. I know I have lessons to learn, and I am once again excited by the possibilities!