How to find clarity when you keep changing your mind
A simple practice to tap into your intuition and find the answers you're looking for
Hi, I’m Saachi!
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If you’re like me, at times you are a confused soul.
On my most important goals I tend to cling and control the outcome.
And in doing so, I flicker from option to option trying to optimize and find the best path to them.
Does that sound familiar? Is that you now?
The problem with flickering between many options is that we spend most of our time thinking rather than doing.
And thinking is completely unproductive.
Not to mention exhausting!
In fact, when you’re thinking, you block your intuition or inner guidance which often can give you wild, creative possibilities outside the logical frame of reference you’ve built over your lifetime.
Your intuition holds the key to break out of the rut you’re in.
So how do you find the right path in a sea of options?
How do we choose which one is right? And god forbid, what if it’s the wrong one?
What if the goal itself is wrong, and you should be selecting a different goal??
First, breathe. If this is you, you’re in the right place…
Second, in this post I’m going to show you how you can tap into your intuition, or inner knowing, to find these answers.
This practice has been life changing for me in not only in finding clarity on what I want to do, but in helping me discover who I truly am and what’s most important for me.
Something that was lost over the years.
You already know what to do
Clarity comes when your intuition speaks freely and you act on it freely.
There’s no friction, internal debate, or commentary, over-rationalization, pros and cons, etc.
The bridge from intent to action is efficient and instantaneous.
You are efficient, in the state of flow.
That is our goal.
In this state, you achieve so much because every idea you have, you take frictionless action on it.
In Taoism, this is known as wu wei or effortless action. It feels effortless because there’s no thinking involved.
Right now, your intuition is blocked completely.
The only thing you can hear is your thinking mind, repeating the same old options with the same old commentary for each of those options, over and over.
In order to find clarity, you need to stop thinking.
You need to empty the mind.
Empty your cup journaling
This practice is inspired from Joseph Nguyen’s Don’t Believe Everything You Think, a book which has genuinely changed my life.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading it. It’s a beautiful, short read.
Back to the point.
In order to stop thinking, and hear the direction your intuition is nudging you towards, you first need to clear your mind.
And this journaling practice will give you the clarity you need.
Here it goes:
Every time you find yourself in a spiraling loop of thoughts, confusion, internal debates, and heavy pros-and-cons chatter, catch yourself doing so.
Then, grab a notebook or your iPhone notes (which I use, and I keep swapping with my physical diary as and when I feel like it). Medium matters less, the practice matters more.
Now give yourself ample time to just let all your thoughts out, fully. In whatever order…all of it.
The most important thing is to not judge these lines as they come out.
Think of yourself as a journalist on a mission to document everything your mind spews out.Once you let it all out… could be 10 lines or 10 pages, you’ll feel a sense of relief.
At this point, you can go in and ask yourself a question that you’re seeking clarity on.
“What should I do next?”
“Should I choose this job or the other one?”
“Should I quit my job yet?”
As soon as you ask the question, just write out the first thing that comes.
Try to catch it before your mind convinces you it’s stupid, or never going to work, or too risky (which it will).
You may not want to accept it rationally, but that first answer is the direction you’ve been seeking.
Now, you may do this exercise and go completely blank when you ask a question.
That’s okay.
Don’t force an answer.
Just go about your day and know that the answer will come to you…
at some point in the day, or the next.
Like a nudge, or an idea, or a subtle flash.
Be attentive and don’t miss it! For that’s how our intuition speaks to us.
I’ve been doing this journaling exercise for over a year and have learned so much more about myself than I have in all the years past.
Whenever you’re lost, overthinking, and exhausted from weighing all the options…
Just remember, that is not the way.
Overthinking is a trap, and it will never give you a clear direction.
Instead, catch yourself.
Empty your cup so you can receive fresh, creative guidance.
And when you do, don’t dismiss it!
Act on it before your mind convinces you otherwise.