Читать книгу The Little Book of Clarity - Smart Jamie - Страница 6

“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients.”

Herbert Simon, Economist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1978

“If a pond is clouded with mud, there's nothing you can do to make the water clear. But when you allow the mud to settle, it will clear on its own, because clarity is the water's natural state…”

Clarity is your mind's natural state.

For many years, I've been sharing this simple metaphor in workshops and seminars with business leaders, entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, therapists and private individuals. As people allow their mud to settle, clarity emerges, and they discover they have what they need for the job at hand.

So what is clarity, and why does it matter? How does clarity work, and why do so many people struggle to find it? Most importantly, how can you find the clarity you need and start benefiting from it?

It's well known that outstanding leaders in every field, from Olympic medal-winners to visionary entrepreneurs, profit from the flow-states that a clear mind brings. With clarity of mind comes the qualities that drive sustainable results. These qualities and results are what individuals and organizations are searching for. But, due to a simple misunderstanding, we've been looking in the wrong place until now.

The purpose of this book is to correct the misunderstanding and help you experience greater and greater clarity, with all the benefits it provides. The book asks and answers the following questions:

1. What is clarity? It turns out that clarity is a kind of “universal resource”. When we have a clear head, we have everything we need for the job at hand. Ask a nervous speaker what's going through their mind when they're onstage, and they'll explain their fears, worries and anxieties. Ask a confident speaker what they're thinking about onstage and the answer's almost always consistent: “Nothing!” This is the case in every field of high performance, from the classroom to the playing field, from the boardroom to the bedroom; when you've got nothing on your mind, you're free to give your best.

2. Why is clarity essential? You're going to discover why clarity is so important for living a life that's successful on the inside as well as on the outside. It turns out that many of the most desirable qualities people struggle to “develop” (such as intuition, resilience, creativity, motivation, confidence and even leadership) are actually expressions of an innate capacity; they're emergent properties of an uncluttered mind. These qualities drive the results people desire. Clarity is the source of authentic leadership and high performance. It allows us to be present in the moment, and have an enjoyable experience of life. A sense of purpose, direction and entrepreneurial spirit are natural for people with a clear head. So are happiness, freedom, security, love, confidence and peace of mind.

3. How does clarity work, and how can you get it to work for you? You're going to be introduced to the principles behind the natural capacity for experience – thinking, feeling and perceiving – that every person is born with. This innate capacity generates 100 % of our experience of life, moment to moment.

Clarity is a naturally emergent property of this capacity – it isn't something you do; it's something you already have. The mind has its own “self-clearing” function, capable of guiding you back to clarity, regardless of what state (or circumstances) you're in. While this is extremely evident in small children, all but a fortunate few have it conditioned out of them by the time they reach adulthood.

As you start to deepen your understanding of the principles behind clarity, you're going to reconnect with your mind's natural self-clearing function. As a result, you'll find that you start having a) an effortlessly clear mind, b) more time for what's important, c) improved decision making, d) better performance where it counts and e) more of the results that matter to you. Some of the “side effects” you may notice include improving relationships, reducing stress levels, more passion and an increasing engagement with life.

4. Why do we need clarity now, more than ever? We're living at a pivotal point in history; millions of people are faced with uncertainty, complexity and increasing chaos. As individuals, as organizations and as an entire species, clarity is the key to solving the big issues that face us, if we want to create a sustainable future for ourselves, and the generations that follow us.

You see, without even realizing it, we've been using an industrial-age misunderstanding of how the mind works to try to deal with the challenges of a digital world. This misunderstanding gives rise to the contaminated thinking (e.g., worry, anxiety, overthinking, etc.) that obscures our innate capacity for peace, presence, high performance, creativity, security, love and the like. As you start to “see through” the misunderstanding, clarity will emerge more and more frequently and reliably. To put it succinctly: Clarity equals capacity minus contamination.

As you continue reading this book, you're going to start undoing the conditioning that's been keeping you from clarity until now, and notice yourself experiencing a clear mind more and more frequently (with all the benefits it brings). At the times when your mind is clouded, you'll know what to do (and more importantly, what not to do). The conditioning is based in three main areas:

1. Contaminated thinking arising from the outside-in misunderstanding. A widespread piece of conditioning mistakenly attributes clarity (and the lack of it) to a variety of circumstances. While this can easily be shown not to be the case, the misunderstanding is extremely persistent when it goes unchallenged. You're going to be introduced to a relaxing and enjoyable way of reading that will help you to “see through” this misunderstanding, and begin having insights and realizations that will make a difference to you immediately. As you deepen your understanding of the principles behind clarity, you'll find stale habits of contaminated thinking dropping away, and clarity emerging to take their place.

2. The move from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy. Just as factory workers need to keep their machines clean and well oiled, knowledge workers, coaches, creatives, managers and leaders need to take similar care of their minds. Individuals and businesses are paying the price as time-scarcity, attention-poverty and information-saturation clog the “mental machinery” we rely on. But there's good news. People are born with a powerful immune system that protects us from disease and illness. The immune system reflects an innate tendency towards health and wellness that also shows up in the body's ability to repair wounds, breaks and other injuries. It is a little-known fact, however, that people also have a “psychological immune system,” able to quickly restore even an extremely perturbed mind to clarity and well-being. As your understanding of the principles behind clarity continues to deepen, you'll find that you have what you need to prosper in times of uncertainty, complexity and change.

3. Attempting to find clarity using outside-in methods. The mind is a self-correcting system. The primary condition needed for a self-correcting system to find its way back to balance is simple: an absence of external interference. Outside-in methods such as positive thinking, affirmations and other techniques are examples of external interference. Other examples include smoking, drinking too much and Internet addiction. While they can be used to clear the mind in the short term, they are not sustainable. In the long run, they often make matters worse if they give the busy-minded person even more to think about and do (I'm assuming that the last thing you need is more on your mind).

This book is designed to effortlessly activate your innate capacity for clarity. As you'll find out, the principles you're going to be discovering will take care of the implementation for you.

DISTINCTION: Acting it vs. Catching it

• Acting it: Acting like you have a cold is neither easy nor convincing. Most business and personal development books aim at giving you the things to think, change and do so you can “act” in a certain way to get the results you want.

• Catching it: When you catch a cold, the symptoms emerge effortlessly because they're real. This book is designed so that you can “catch” an understanding that results in the “symptoms” of increasing clarity, resilience and peace of mind.

I want to assure you that you have the capacity for sustainable clarity, and all the benefits it brings. But first, a question:

• Q: If you're caught in a trap, what's the one thing you have to do before you can escape?

• A: You have to realize that you've been caught in a trap.

Until you realize you've been caught in a trap, you're very unlikely to get out of it. But once you know about the trap, and you can see how it works, then escape is pretty straightforward. Especially if other people have escaped from the same trap, and can show you how.

So please allow me to reveal the trap that's ensnared millions of people, including me…

keep exploring connect with others share your discoveries deepen your understanding

At the end of each chapter, you'll find a section containing a “thought experiment”. This is a statement or question for reflection to help you integrate what you are learning even more deeply. For example:

Thought experiment: We each experience greater clarity from time to time. As you look back now, what are some of the more memorable occasions when you've found yourself experiencing an unexpected increase in clarity?

When you reach a thought experiment, pause for a moment. You don't have to figure out the question or “get it right”. You don't even have to answer it. Just reading the question and reflecting on it for a moment is enough to continue your process of integration.

This section will also contain a website URL to enter into your browser and a QR code that you can scan using your smartphone. These will take you to web pages containing material relating to the chapter you've just read, ranging from videos and audio recordings to shareable articles, photos and infographics. In addition to the resources, you'll find features that allow you to post your comments and share what you're learning with others.

Experience shows that sharing your discoveries is a simple but powerful way for you to continue integrating what you're learning, as your understanding of the principles behind clarity continues to deepen. I encourage you to explore, comment on and share these resources as you make your way through the book. You can start now…