Clarity of Purpose Comes from Action

If you’ve ever spent time trying to figure out what to do next in your life and how to do it, you’ve likely heard some variation of the following:

Before you can achieve it, you need to see it and believe it.

It’s well-meaning advice, and it’s not wrong… but it can also set us back.

Without realizing, we can spend too much time trying to “see it” in our heads. Too much time debating what we should be aiming at, and not enough time firing and iterating.

We say to ourselves “I just want to nail the vision first. I need to know where I’m going. Then I can get started.” Or similar, “Once I have a plan, I’ll know if this change is right for me.”

The problem is, we’re wrong.

Real clarity on your next step in life rarely comes from thinking. It comes from doing and striving. In other words, actually trying it out and doing the work.

For example, say you’re trying to decide if you’d like to pursue your casual hobby of stand-up comedy more seriously. Write sketches every evening and perform at an open mic once a week, for a month. That will give you clarity on that decision, not hypothetical mental scenarios.

When we spend time thinking, creating the perfect vision, and flip-flopping on different directions, we tell ourselves we’re being strategic. The truth is, what we’re doing is much closer to procrastination. We need to be comfortable with plans that are “good enough for now” and move on to the action phase as fast as possible.

Because, after all, most decisions and strategies are iterative. It’s not “ready, aim, fire” done. It’s “ready, aim, fire” and then adjust and repeat a thousand more times.

Attempting to “think your way” to what to do next your life is like trying to pound in a nail with a screwdriver. It may be possible, but at best it’s extremely inefficient.
When you stop overthinking and actually do the work, decisions become refreshingly clear.

The tool you need for clarity on your direction, above all, is action.