What we could do to bring clarity in our lives

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Gaining mental clarity is incredibly important, especially if you’re interested in finding your purpose or feeling significant

By Shilpa Bhasin Mehra

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Published: Sun 10 Oct 2021, 10:39 PM

One thing I really like about legal documents is that they are written in clear, unambiguous and certain terms. They may have a notorious reputation for jargon and some terms are in Latin, but clarity is something they don’t lack.

Don’t you wish we had that clarity in our life? As Jack Canfield explains, we are all born with a unique purpose. The key to living a full life with happiness and abundance “is to discover that purpose and use it like a compass to guide you in the direction of your passions and dreams”.


When you do a search on Google for the definition of “clarity”, a few different results show up. From “the quality or state of being clear” brought to you by Merriam-Webster to “freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity” on Dictionary.com to “clarity means clearness” as defined by Vocabulary.com.

You know how sometimes you feel like you’re living in a fog? Brain fog is something one hears often after Covid 19 took over our lives. You can’t seem to concentrate, make decisions, or stop your mind from racing? All of those are the opposite of having mental clarity. However, when the fog lifts, your mind is calm, and you feel empowered to make decisions you feel good about, you are experiencing mental clarity.


With so many distractions floating around us, our minds seem to be running at full speed at all times. But gaining mental clarity is incredibly important, especially if you’re interested in finding your purpose or feeling significant.

Management gurus have developed the following theory of what, why and how.

The What?

Gaining total clarity means that you have arrived at the what.

• What is it that you really want?

• What is your purpose?

The Why?

If you’re searching for what’s next or trying to find your purpose, you must figure out why. The why that you can immediately recite off the top of your head is likely not telling the full story. For example, if your what is “I want to be healthy”, you may initially think your why is “because I want to live a fulfilling life”. The why goes much deeper. Keep asking yourself “why” several times to identify what’s at your core.

The How?

Once you figure out your “why”, decide how you’re going to get there. This is where you get to create a plan, set goals, and achieve them. When and where come into play here as well.

The most important way to gain clarity is to unplug. Set technology aside and get back to your roots the simple way by trying these:

• Simply sit: This exercise is so simple yet poses some challenges for a lot of people. Have you ever just sat in one place for at least 30 minutes with no distractions? Simply sitting— without the phone, TV, computer, other people, etc — is probably one of the fastest ways to get really clear. In fact, a yoga teacher told me the simplest asanas of all, just lying down, called shav asana, can be the most difficult one for some people who are fidgety and distracted.

• Go on a vacation: Traveling opens up your mind to new possibilities and can inspire change. Just be sure to unplug from technology as much as possible. Focus less on posting your adventures on Instagram/Facebook and more on the experience.

• Take a tech sabbatical: Taking a break from technology can be extremely rewarding. The clarity you will find is well worth the social media notification you’ll miss.

Sometimes all you need to find total clarity is to take action and move forward.

• Try new things: Be willing to open yourself up to new experiences to see how they make you feel. If you think you want to become a dancer, try taking up dance classes for a few weeks and gain clarity on if it’s worth pursuing.

• Be courageous: Don’t dream about writing a book but then fall back on the excuse that you don’t have time. Find a few minutes each day to write a few hundred wods. It will help you get clear on if you really want to write it.

• Converse: Talking to family and friends is a sure way of finding yourself (when you need some help to find yourselves).

Finding clarity is one of the most rewarding experiences you can give yourself. And the best part is you can continue giving yourself the gift of clarity each time you feel a little lost. This precious gift is free of cost, at your beck and call and with no expiry date.

Many people don’t even know what their dreams are. I agree with Hal Elrod in The Miracle Morning when he says; “Sadly, so few people ever come close to living the life of their dreams that the phrase itself has become cliché.”

“Everyone must have a voice, and everyone deserves clarity,” says Kevin Plank, so rightly.

(Shilpa Bhasin Mehra is a legal consultant based in Dubai and the founder of SBM Consultancy (formerly Legal Connect).


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