When people say they need clarity, they sometimes imagine a moment where everything suddenly makes sense.

• The clouds part.
• The answer arrives.
• The uncertainty disappears.

Real clarity is usually much less dramatic.

It often sounds like:

“I still don’t know exactly how this will work, but I know what I need to investigate.”

“I’ve realised I don’t actually want to leave my profession. I want a different environment.”

“I thought I needed another qualification. Now I know I need practical experience.”

“I can’t make this move yet, but I know what needs to happen first.”

“I’ve been trying to solve five problems at once.”

That is clarity.

Clarity is not certainty

You cannot control the economy.

You cannot guarantee that an application will succeed.

You cannot know exactly how an organisation will change.

You cannot predict every effect of technology on your profession.

The World Economic Forum’s workforce research reflects how significant those changes may be: employers anticipate major shifts in skills, reskilling and redeployment through 2030.

Trying to eliminate uncertainty before acting would therefore leave many people waiting indefinitely.

The better question is:

What can I understand well enough to make the next decision wisely?

From overwhelm…

Overwhelm tends to combine everything.

• Money.
• Career.
• Age.
• Family.
• Time.
• Confidence.
• Qualifications.
• The economy.
• Previous mistakes.
• Future fears.

When all those concerns become one giant problem, it is difficult to know where to begin.

One useful part of gaining clarity is separating them.

What is happening now?

What decision needs to be made?

What is within your control?

What isn’t?

What information is missing?

What are you afraid will happen?

What options actually exist?

Which decision needs attention first?

Suddenly one enormous problem becomes several smaller questions.

Questions can be investigated.

…to a plan

A plan doesn’t need fifty steps.

Sometimes the plan after a clarity conversation is only three:

Find out.

Decide.

Act.

Perhaps you need information before making the decision.

Perhaps you already have the information and need to choose.

Perhaps you have already chosen and need to take the first step.

The value of clarity is understanding which stage you are actually in.

It is scary and it can still be done

Career change is scary.

Rebuilding is scary.

Looking honestly at your finances can be scary.

Admitting something is no longer working can be scary.

Making the first move after being stuck for years can be scary.

Clarity doesn’t magically make those things comfortable.

It gives you something else:

a place to stand while you decide what happens next.

The GGJ Clarity Session

GGJ Training hosts free live online Clarity Sessions for working adults who are facing an important decision, transition or next move.

You don’t need to arrive with the answer.

That is rather the point.

Come with the decision, the uncertainty and the questions.

We will help you begin separating the noise from what actually needs your attention.

Join the waitlist and we’ll let you know when the next live online Clarity Session opens.