• Home
  • Start Here
  • About Mary Blacklock
  • Music
  • Contact
Home
Start Here
About Mary Blacklock
Music
Contact
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About Mary Blacklock
  • Music
  • Contact
Mary Blacklock - Pursue your dreams. One behavior change at a time.
Clarity

How do you gain clarity? | Seeking clarity

how to gain clarity

What to do when you don’t know what to do.

Not knowing what to do can be extremely frustrating. Likewise, it can be frustrating if you know what you want to do, but you don’t know how to get there If gaining clarity is the best way to move forward and accomplish big things, how do you gain clarity? How do you gain clarity when your destination is unknown?

Let go of the lack of clarity

In my journey to understand and gain clarity, I have started to re-frame how I think about the uncertain steps and destinations. I used to get frustrated when I felt a lack of clarity, because I wanted more clarity than I currently had. I focused on the lack of clarity.  

I’m not saying that I never get frustrated or that I always know what to do and where to go next. Clarity is a process. I am still growing clarity in my own life. However, it’s not as frustrating as it once was.

A yearly process of reflection and goal setting has enabled me to re-frame and let go of the lack of clarity. Each year that I’ve gone through the reflection and goal setting process, I set better goals. I set better goals, because each year I gain more clarity by going through the process.

This has led me to re-frame thoughts about clarity that were previously focused on lacking to thoughts that focus on growth.

“It’s not a lack of clarity. It’s a growing clarity.” – Mary Blacklock 

Clarity will grow when you do the work to grow it.

3 ways to gain clarity

Growing in clarity has been a huge relief for me and I want to share what I’m learning. In upcoming posts on clarity I will write in light of the following 3 topics.

Grow your clarity in these 3 ways:

1. Reflection

Articles will share information about intentional reflection processes that will help grow clarity. They will look at ways to reflect and evaluate so that clarity comes with each reflection.

2. Action

It’s that “Do the work.” thing again. Doing the work for growing your clarity means taking actions that aid in your reflection, such as brainstorming. Articles will focus on how we can take action to grow our clarity.

3. Knowing Where You Are (Self-awareness)

This one is the most important of the 3. If you know yourself you are better able to reflect and take action in a meaningful way. There are many emotions and states of being that affect our ability to know ourselves. Articles will focus on learning how different states of being and emotions affect our clarity.

The 3 ways that I highlight here will be the focus of my posts on clarity in the coming year. I am excited to bring you monthly posts that dig into the issue of gaining and growing clarity.

Knowing how to gain more clarity comes from knowing how to grow your clarity.

Be sure to check back at the beginning of each month for posts on clarity. You can also subscribe to my mailing list so you don’t miss a post.

Behavior Challenge: Instead of focusing on how much you lack in knowing what to do, focus on how much you are closing the lack of knowledge gap.

Read these top posts on clarity:

3 Tips to Jump Start Your Personal Reflection Habit

How to Move Forward in Life

Why is Behavior Change Important for Personal Growth?

Negativity Affected My Ability to Gain Clarity

2 Ways to Cope When You Don’t Know the End Goal

Attitude•Clarity

Journal Prompts for the End of the Year

journal prompts for the end of the year

There are only a few days left in the year!  Some scramble to finish goals strong and others wish that they hadn’t given up on a goal. Can you relate? Maybe you are someone that didn’t set goals for the past year. Maybe you are wondering how to make the coming year a more meaningful and focused year.  Journaling is a helpful tool for gathering your end of the year thoughts. Read below for journal prompts for the end of the year.

Did you try the holiday journal prompts?

Before we get to the end of the year journal prompts, did you try any of the holiday journal prompts for the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas? The prompt I had the most success with was the one that encouraged going back through the day to identify where others helped you and where you were helped by others.

If you tried any of the holiday journal prompts, I would love your thoughts on them. Leave me a comment on this page.

End of the Year Journal Prompts on Celebrations

If you missed my post on celebrating your successes you can read it now. It’s important to celebrate your wins from the year. One way to acknowledge your wins and reflect on them is to journal about it.

  1. What is one success that I celebrated well?
  2. Were there any successes that I could have celebrated better? If so, name them. Is there a win that I haven’t celebrated?
  3. How can I improve my process for coming up with ways to celebrate and following through with those celebrations?

End of the Year Journal Prompts on Attitude

  1. What was the most helpful attitude that I embraced this year? (What helped me grow?)
  2. What was the least helpful attitude that I embraced this year? (What held me back?)
  3. How can I begin to change the least helpful attitude?

End of the Year Journal Prompts on Clarity

  1. Am I resisting setting a goal in a particular area or not acting on a desire to change?
  2. If so, am I resisting the goal, or not acting on the desire to change, because I am afraid of either success or failure? Name the fear specifically.
  3. What area in my life causes me the most pain and struggle right now? (There’s so much room to grow!)

Try the journal prompts for the end of the year!

Journaling can seem intimidating, especially if it’s not a habit. However, it is a great tool for processing and gathering thoughts. I hope that the above journal prompts will get the wheels turning for you. Grab a pen, or pencil if you like, and let’s start writing! Write with the intention of reflecting on what went well this year and what needs improvement, so that next year will be even better!

Behavior Challenge: Pick one of the three categories of celebrations, attitude, and clarity to journal about each day of the remaining days of the year.

How do you reflect on your year?

Is there an area of focus that I didn’t mention that you journal about at the end of the year?

For more reading on attitudes that will help you grow:

Develop a Grateful Mind

What is a Limiting Belief and Why Should We Care? 

For more reading on clarity:

2 Ways to Cope When You Don’t Know the End Goal

3 Tips to Jump-Start Your Personal Reflection Habit

Pursue your dreams.

One behavior change at a time.
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About Mary Blacklock
  • Music
  • Contact

Popular Posts

Develop a Grateful Mind

Develop a Grateful Mind

September 24, 2018
How to move forward in life

How to move forward in life

October 29, 2018
Embracing the small changes

Embracing the small changes

September 17, 2018
2 Ways to Cope When You Don’t Know The End Goal

2 Ways to Cope When You Don’t Know The End Goal

August 27, 2018

Topics

  • Attitude
  • Behavior
  • Clarity
  • Faith

Recent Posts

How does the willingness to show up change us?

How does the willingness to show up change us?

June 13, 2019
Shift Your Focus in the Midst of Change

Shift Your Focus in the Midst of Change

May 18, 2019
How Taking the First Step Clears the Way for Clarity

How Taking the First Step Clears the Way for Clarity

April 4, 2019
Our thoughts impact our life | Introduction to Logismoi

Our thoughts impact our life | Introduction to Logismoi

March 28, 2019

Recent Comments

  • John Blacklock on Dare to Gain Clarity through Vulnerability | Read Daring Greatly
  • John Blacklock on Is There a Secret to Confidence? | Growing confidence
  • John Blacklock on How to move forward in life
  • John Blacklock on Develop a Grateful Mind
  • John on Embracing the small changes

Tags

action affirmations attain goals behavioral change behavior change career clarity change Christmas confidence control coping skills courage decision making Eastern Orthodox end of the year faith faith practices fear focus goal setting gratitude grief habit formation habits holidays journal journal prompts life changes limiting beliefs logismoi perseverance personal growth personal reflection progress quotes reflection rewards scientific practices Self-awareness silence thankful Thanksgiving veggies vulnerability year end review

Other Posts

  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018

Search

Take a Step!

Welcome! You took a step forward! Check your e-mail for step number two. Mary

© 2018 Mary Blacklock