INSPIRATION

This 20-Minute Writing Exercise Will Provide Immediate Focus (and Clarity) On Your Life Goals

January 5, 2022 | Posted at 7:16 am | by Anthony (Follow User)

Photo Credit: Giphy

Clarity is a rare, elusive gift.

Most people don’t have clarity. They are unfocused and unsure on many of the most important areas of life — health, relationships, career, spirituality, passion, or the future.

This was me for most of my life.

In the past decade, I’ve wanted to be:

A Navy SEAL
A chef
An SEO expert
A CEO of…something
A novelist
A pastor
An entrepreneur
A digital nomad
A blogger

In the midst of these and a dozen other fleeting interests, I was in a constant state of dissatisfaction for years. It was terrible. I had no direction, and was often filled with self-loathing for my indecisiveness.

One time, I bluntly actually asked a career coach: “Will I ever find a job I don’t hate?” A string of dead-end odd jobs over the years had left me jaded and angry.

She said I would.

I didn’t believe her.

It’s taken me years to find clarity for my goals. Sometimes, things still seem hazy and directionless. I still have panicky moments where I feel completely lost.

The other day, fellow writer Zak Slayback wrote an illuminating article about clarity. It contained some of the most concise, best-worded questions about clarity I’ve ever come across (where were you 10 years ago, Zak!).

I know what you’re thinking; you’ve seen these click-bait listicles before. They offer a brief buzz of entertainment which fizzles into nothingness a minute later.

This is not one of those articles.

Stick with me here. Because after I spent 20 minutes answering these simple questions, my clarity and focus for my huge life goals skyrocketed.

If you’re someone who wants more clarity and focus with their big goals, find 20 minutes. Get a pen and paper, and answer these 6 simple questions as honestly as you can.

(I’ve included some of my answers below to kickstart some inspiration).

Here are the questions:

I feel most unhappy when I…

2. I dread …

3. I am good at but do not particularly enjoy…

4. I cannot imagine doing … every day for the rest of my life.

5. I don’t understand why anybody would…

6. … does not appeal to me.

1. I feel most unhappy when I…

am forced to work with frustrating people that force me to do busy work that doesn’t accomplish anything
when I have to listen to uninformed bosses that don’t know how to lead me
can’t write and do what I want to do with my time
am forced to work long hours doing things I hate doing
am forced to follow someone else’s silly schedule
can’t do things the way I want to do them

2. I dread …

going to work at a job I hate
dealing with rude and mean people
confrontation with difficult, assertive people
having to work on things I don’t want to do
having to spend time on tasks I don’t care at all about

3. I am good at but do not particularly enjoy…

Data entry
Empathizing with angry customers
Putting out fires made by other people

4. I cannot imagine doing … every day for the rest of my life.

working at a boring 9–5 job
busywork
data entry
working with people I don’t like or respect
staying in one city
a job where someone has total control over my career progression
phone sales
commuting more than 30 minutes each way

5. I don’t understand why anybody would…

want to work at a boring job that crushes their spirit
work with rude, annoying, stupid people
not travel the world
not make passive income
let one person dictate their career success
be content to simply “survive” then they could thrive
let others bully and intimidate them

6. … does not appeal to me.

Anything I can’t control and create myself
Following orders from people I don’t trust
Living by someone else’s rules

These questions helped me to some critical insights about my career and life’s work.

I’ve discovered I love working for myself, and dislike working in constricting, limits environments. Therefore, entrepreneurial and self-led endeavors are an excellent fit for me.
I don’t like busywork like data entry or email responses. I would do well to avoid those tasks and conserve energy for what I really love — writing, creating, and being with loved ones.
Settling into an environment where others control my actions kills my soul. I need to avoid those environments in order to thrive.
If I want to achieve my enormous goals — owning a lucrative business, working from home, developing a huge online following — I need to put in some serious work. I need to say no to anything that will distract me from that.

I hope this 20-minute exercise gave you as much clarity as it gave me.