Clear as Mud

Clear as Mud 150 150 Ben Coker

Clear as Mud

An old saying but very true.

It’s how most of us see things.

We have an idea about what we want to do but we’re not quite sure . . .

We see an advert or read an article but we’re not quite sure what they are getting at.

We have a feeling about someone but we’re not quite certain . . .

We think we know what it is we want, or don’t want, but we’re not quite clear.

We struggle to understand what people are saying to us, we struggle to understand what people want us to do – or not do.

So what do we do?

We resist.

And in the same way other people resist when they are not clear about what we’d like them to do or not do.

“Resistance is created through lack of clarity” *

So to ensure that people understand what we might want them to do, or not do, you and I must be really clear about what we mean.

To make sure we ourselves understand what we want (or don’t want) we must also be really clear.

The subconscious mind obeys all commands and forms our underlying beliefs based on what it is told by our conscious mind and on the input provided by other people through our senses (reading, hearing, watching etc.) – so if these messages are not clear then we may be in trouble, and certainly things won’t turn out as we expected or hoped.

If we want people to buy our products or services, adopt or even just understand our ideas, or behave in a particular way we must be clear in how we communicate.

Don’t give the conscious mind an opportunity to misunderstand or get confused about our objective but give the subconscious mind a clear call to action.

This may all sound terribly direct and obviously we don’t all go round giving people direct commands all the time (although there are some emergencies in which it is appropriate).

So we have to be a bit ‘clever’ about how we put things.

But not too clever – or the clarity will disappear and resistance will ensue.

First, we need to be clear with ourselves.

What is it that we do want?

What is it that we don’t want?

The second is possibly the more important.

We’ve all had at one time or another a vague idea about something we ‘wanted’ only to find that sooner or later it has actually come about – but not in the way we might have expected and probably not quite ‘matching’ the vague idea we had in the first place

Believe me, this happens – think about it . . . you’ll remember something.

So when you have an ‘idea’ about something you want to happen be really clear – write it down in detail and then write down what you really don’t want to happen.

Remember those old fairy tales about the three wishes?

they never worked out quite ‘right’ – they weren’t clear in the first place and there were often some adverse ‘side effects’!

Check back at your goals and targets. Are they clear? Are there any potential outcomes you don’t want?

I’m off to make sure my subconscious is quite clear what I don’t want – how about you?

 

*I borrowed this phrase from Peter Thomson, earliest mention on Google is 2012 but I’m sure he said it before then. You can find out more about Peter at peterthomson.com.