I’ve been wanting to clarify my thoughts around this concept for a little while, and a few recent conversations with friends and clients pushed me to just sit down and do it.
I often talk to people who are trying to “figure it out” before they DO anything. Whether it’s about the ideal partner or the perfect job, they already have several ideas but instead of acting upon them, they get caught up in trying to zero in on THE person or THE job title which will somehow solve everything.
They’re hoping for THE big revelation. THE big moment. THAT special person.
It’s the typical “Ready, Aim, Fire” idea, in which you never end up firing because you’re taking ages aiming, never quite satisfied with what the target should be.
The mistake we tend to make in this situation is to sit around in our imagination, thinking, conceptualising, imagining, and swimming in our thoughts endlessly. We start getting trapped in repeating thinking loops over, and over, and over, and over…
With time, this usually tends to get pretty ugly and VERY overwhelming. And the worst part is, it does not yield further clarity. Hence the equation.
IMAGINATION + ACTION = CLARITY
Imagination can only take us so far. It can create SOME clarity, obviously. We can think about what we like and what we dislike, we can look back and assess what worked and what didn’t, we can reflect and plan forward in the direction that seems fulfilling.
Whether it’s about our career or about our relationships, imagination can prove to be a very useful tool to reflect and move forward.
But more often than not, you won’t know for CERTAIN until you get to DOING. Why?
Simply because you will use that very same imagination to question and second-guess yourself. If I go there, will this be the “right” thing? Is spending time with this person going to be a waste? I’m not 100% sure about this, how can I know this path is right for me?
Familiar with these thoughts? Of course, we all are! Until you get direct feedback from LIFE, you won’t have full clarity. We need to experience stuff, make mistakes and try all the things we’ve been thinking about to really KNOW what we’re about and what the direction we truly want to take is…
THIS is the only true, real feedback that matters. Your own mind and body will let you know what’s going on when you do this ‘thing’.
And little by little you’ll get full clarity as to what it is that you actually would love to devote yourself to.
BEN DEPRAZ-BRENNINKMEIJER 
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