Balance Brings True Clarity
Today I woke up wanting to write a blog post like I have been over the past month, but I’ve been unable to get the clarity to go through with it.
If this were any other day this month, I’d just close the laptop and go about my day, not wanting to force anything. But today I thought, “This is how I thought of the Moment of Clarity series.” I would have so much going on that I just had to write and sort out my thoughts in order to gain clarity.
Before I knew it, a stream of consciousness was flowing that helped me with my creativity, and most important, —my mindset when facing obstacles that had been stressing me. That’s when I learned the power of seeing different perspectives, and want to share it with everyone.
What has been holding me up this time is trying to be perfect, something I’ve written about before, but old habits die hard. I started to look at the big picture and wanted to delay discussing certain topics so they would come out at the perfect time. The problem with that is that I still wanted to talk about them now, so when I would try writing about something else, my writing was less passionate.
The lesson for me: Don’t get so caught up looking ahead, that you forget why you started in the first place.
For me, Moment of Clarity was something I would do randomly, for myself, when I just needed to flush out ideas. It worked for me, and I saw an opportunity there that could help other people. I was frustrated with the advice I was given, so I made my Moments of Clarity public meant to be shared in real time. But I have to remember that it’s mainly for me to flush ideas, so structure and delaying the discussion of topics “for the right time” can be limiting.
There’s a fine line between being consistent with idea flow and pressuring yourself to come up with new ones. The latter will kill your creativity, so you must find that balance for yourself and what actions typically restore that balance for you. Really puts emphasis on knowing yourself. If you fail to restore this balance, you could end up in a situation where you’re working hard but stressed and further away from your goal. I think stress and creative block are signs to step back and look at the bigger picture.
One of the reasons I’m such a proponent of entrepreneurship, what I call the “The Hustle” is because it’s more of a self-discovery path than anything. You find it’s not about the money quickly. And you really start to define your character and fix your own flaws. You learn self-accountability, because blaming someone else won’t get you out of a situation. In my opinion, the sooner you take this path the better.
Equally I think “The Hustle” teaches you the importance of balance and values. We all have gifts that can be used to do good things, or without discipline, can get us in trouble —the exact same gift. An old rule I go by every day is too much of anything is bad for you. In the situation of trying to control everything in your life, you’re hurting yourself.
I think success is a combination of hard work and luck or randomness. When you try to control everything to have it fit your vision, you’re actually hurting yourself. You’re limiting your randomness, which is a key component of success, thus not allowing your vision to grow and take shape. Action and hard work put you in position to receive random luck.