Direction and Clarity

With the deep and wide impact of the pandemic, we have collectively been experiencing what it’s like to have our work and life’s compass go haywire with the needle bouncing between true north and other random directions. It can be like finding yourself lost in the fog of personal and professional experiences and needing to once again find the best direction.

What is going on? Where have we come from? Where are we going? Who are we? Who am I? What am I doing? What do I want to do? Who do I want to be?  What's worth doing? These questions represent a classic crisis of orientation that people are finding themselves working through as personal and professional life have been pushed and pulled like taffy.

If you are a leader, a creator, a community builder or even a great friend to someone, here are five enablers that will help inform your direction and gain clarity about where you are going, why you are going there, and who you want to become along the way. 

Allow for Autonomy

You are you. We all have a need to be recognized and be empowered in our own journeys, standing at the controls. Being engaged with the context and the power of choice along the way is essential for establishing a sense of significance and trust in ourselves and with others. 

Allow for Community

You belong. A high rate of change and disruption can really strain our connectivity to where we sense we belong. Make room for reestablishing or strengthening connections to how you live and work as well as who you live and work with. Life is a community event and experience so don’t settle for isolation. 

Allow for Purpose

You have a role to play. You belong in the stories that you participate in. You are not only central to your own narrative but you are also beautifully and intricately weaved into the stories of many others. Be intentional with how you think about and engage the stories you are connected to. Consider your larger contribution in the bigger picture. Determine what is important to you and how you want to grow related to your purpose. 

Allow for Well Being

You deserve to be well. There is an abundance of loss, burnout, confusion, stress, anxiety, lack of security, and emotional and physical exhaustion. “Self-care” has certainly become a bit of a buzzword but the age-old concept of taking care of yourself so you can keep going and be of help to others is a true theme. The growing research connects our sleeping patterns, stress level, activity level, and nutrient intake as drivers of our health or un-health. You are not a machine, you are human and that is absolutely a better thing. We all need to own and care for our physical and mental form responsibly.

Allow for Identity

Humans are amazing. We are each unique and at the same time inevitably designed for change. Though we sometimes hold tightly to fixed positions, definitions and patterns for stability, we also crave adaptation and movement. It’s important to allow and design for your own evolution. Keep adding, expanding and iterating on how you define who you are and who you want to become. Have a vision for yourself but also allow it to flow and adapt when change, challenges, surprises and opportunities intersect with that vision. 

Sometimes you end up going to great places that you would otherwise not have planned on going. Life is dynamic, not static. Surprise, the same goes for you! We are all naturally drawn to the “doing” of life and business which, alone, can leave you directionless. But when you consider these anchoring enablers, you gain a sharper awareness of where you are going and why. You’ll likely find yourself holding a valuable map.

Get Unstuck

At one time or another most of us have experienced being stuck. Maybe stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire or stuck on a waiting list for tickets to a concert. More importantly, maybe you have been stuck in a personal or professional work pattern that feels as unpleasant as the sound of a needle stuck in the scratch on a vinyl record. You desperately want to break out of it and move towards something new, something better. The truth is, we all get stuck at some point. It’s a very human experience. Growth and learning comes from the journey of working to become “unstuck.” But how exactly do you do that? Here are four principles that can help.

Expand your perspective. There are times when you are limited by short-sighted narratives. It’s easy to see a current experience as a short story with a single meaning or message. But the reality is that it’s part of a larger composition, like a book is made up of chapters containing paragraphs of detailed thoughts, ideas and happenings. In order to see the full landscape, leverage a broader perspective and gain visibility of the bigger story.

Walk with someone. Nothing elevates and broadens your perspective like walking with another person or community. Walking with others can provide additional presence. Think about what it means to be on a quest. Quests inherently carry an emphasis on the journey as opposed to the destination. You are a traveler and finding others to travel with is important for becoming unstuck. The presence of others along the way decreases the negative effects of isolation and increases the capacity of your own emotional reservoir and imagination to sustain and navigate the journey. 

Recognize there can be many stops along the way. For example, when you are on a journey it’s not all about leaving location A and arriving at location B. A journey has stops along the way, making for a full-on adventure between where you start and where you arrive. It’s the in-between where the best stories and learning actually live. There’s value in each stop and that’s where insights, growth and true opportunity come from.

Create your story, leveraging those who can help you craft it. The stories we tell ourselves and others profoundly shape us and your story is important. Be intentional about creating and engaging your own personal network of those who can offer specific expertise, guidance, and knowledge gained through their own experiences.

You are uniquely qualified as the author of your own story. When you find your needle is stuck in a groove, use these tools to keep the journey moving. Remember your story is of value, so go ahead and “unstuck yourself” and start that forward movement again.