When we use a GPS in unfamiliar territory, we don’t get lost easily. Instead, we arrive at our destination much quicker. It’s the same with our lives. It is easier to get what you want when we know exactly how we will achieve it. Sometimes, however, people underestimate the power that clarity can have. Our world is filled with noise, competition and overload of information. We all get easily distracted by this environment. We quickly lose our direction in life. These times are when we lose our direction and make decisions without any clarity. We end up in an undesirable place. Sometimes it takes many years before we get to where we wanted. We waste a lot of time trying to correct our mistakes. Our lives are slowed down because we don’t have the time to accomplish our goals.
Easier to make insane choices
At the height of the tech boom, I was an electronics engineer. Google just had its incorporation. In those days, being an electronic engineer was a guaranteed ticket to go overseas or find a job in a multi-national or public service company.
My family was low-income and we couldn’t afford even to purchase school books. My dad worked long hours hoping that one day I would find a great job. In those conditions, I was desperate for work and should have tried every possible job.
For campus interviews, we had the opportunity to have some very good companies visit the school. To many people’s surprise, I did not appear in any campus job interview. Many bright and talented students were invited to take part in the nationwide exam for jobs at well-established, influential public companies. That was also not the path I chose. Some of my fellow classmates chose to participate in exams for admission to the top US universities. This is something I didn’t do.
As others packed their bags and flew out to pursue their new careers, my small backpack was in the bag. I headed for $50/month to an underdeveloped training center. Why would I make such an unorthodox, irrational, or ‘career suicide’ decision? Am I unsure? Did I get lost?
Are you a crazy looking person? Do you think you have made such an insanely difficult decision? These incomprehensible decisions are made by your inner clarity, which is greater than everything else. You are able to deal with the worst crisis from others around you because of that clarity.
“Lack of clarity is the primary reason for failure in business and personal life.” – Brian Tracy
CLARITY IS ABOUT DEFINING MOMENTS
This was my first, and most important, decision.
When I was just six months old, I contracted polio. My ability to walk was lost before I reached the age where I can start walking again. My only option to walk was with calipers that weighed about 20kg. The only way I could walk was by wearing calipers that weighed around 20 kg. Most popularOne-legged man. My feelings of worthlessness and inability to help myself grew the more bullied I became or was made fun of.
I wanted to be more than just a disability. I wanted to be something else. It was important to me that I could be different from others. When I thought about it, I realized the only way to make my mark in this world was by gaining “more” differentiating capabilities than others.
Isaac Newton’s biography was one of the things I learned in eighth grade. His genius as a scientist was evident. Most of us remember him for discovering Newton’s three laws of physics. Did you also know that he had a disability? He was also affected by epilepsy and stuttering. Yet, he still managed to discover the foundational laws in physics. Then I read about Thomas Edison – he was deaf. Albert Einstein also had learning disabilities. According to legend, Leonardo da Vinci had dyslexia.
That struck me deeply. I thought if Newton and all these guys can, why can’t I? One day in school, I remember once, my teacher asked me, “What do you want to be?” “I want to be a scientist,” I replied. Every single person in the class gave me an ‘eye rolling’ reaction with an open jaw. Prior to this I had been ridiculed as a one-legged man. I was convinced by the eyerolling responses of my classmates. Sometimes you can see everything in your life.
CLARITY IS THE KEY TO GET YOU TO ANY PLACE YOU WANT
This clarity helped me to find a way that I could achieve my goals. Despite being rejected by many colleges and my circumstances, I was able to graduate at 21 as an electronic engineer.
My head was a map that led me to the things I desired, their reasons, how they should be done, where it would take place, and when it would happen. Instead of following the obvious paths to a bright future as engineers, I chose a job that paid $50 per month. A year later, I became a scientist at 22 for one of India’s premier research labs.
This clarity served as my fuel and allowed me to go faster than my peers.
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CLARITY IS AVAILABLE TO ELEVATE YOUR SUCCESS
Are you familiar with a time in your life when it seemed like you couldn’t move fast enough? It turns out that lack of clarity can be the biggest obstacle to many people’s progress in both their professional and personal lives. These are the moments most people look for inspiration and motivation. Regardless of what trigger it was, motivation and inspiration are usually temporary.
It was my observation that you must have constant, unending inspiration to keep your life on track. Clarity is a key ingredient to getting a headstart. Therefore, motivation or inspiration should be replaced by two-dimensional clarity. The first dimension is about “Why,” which is your emotional drive for doing something you want to do.
The second dimension is about “What for,” which is your drive that moves you towards a purpose that you hope to achieve. Each dimension must be mastery. More often, people focus on clarifying the dimension of their “why” motives or the dimension of their goals. To accelerate your life’s progress, however, it is important to have clarity in both of these dimensions.
This two-dimensional clarity allowed me to use all my resources while others struggled to find the right way. Despite my permanent disability, all my subsequent career achievements that included earning 2 doctorates, receiving over 100 international credentials, traveling around the world, and writing 20 books – all were grounded in the clarity that I had sought in my early years.
CLARITY IS THE NEW SUPERPOWER
To get your life back on track, you don’t need to be the best in the class or insanely mad after your goals. Do not expect to achieve stardom in the shortest time possible if you don’t already have your map. You are the map.
You can move forward with clarity. Unmatched speed will result in both your professional and personal life. In a short time, you will achieve amazing results.
This clarity is our new superpower in a chaotic and noisy world.