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In my humble opinion, what’s missing on the way to clarity — and why so many business owners struggle to have it — will surprise you. You must lose your mind. Wouldn’t it be great if you could set your mind aside now and again and be infused with the creativity that created flowers, the sea, life? (Technically you can with psychedelics, but I try to run above board here at BMM.) How else to lose or set aside our minds to get out of the same way of thinking, the rut that limits us from getting to those right words, that clear vision? Start by taking the onus off getting something right and letting all of your personas have a say. We are many versions of the one we think of as us, no? Just the other day a client said, “If I wasn’t worried about being true to my brand I’d say it this way.” Two things are possible here; her brand isn’t really true to whom she is in business or that she hasn’t fully fleshed out her brand to include a part of her that has some strong — and possibly important — ideas. I say let them in. Or in the case of getting to clarity, let them out. Invite all of the don’t-match-my-brand thoughts, crazy ideas, radical rants, and passionate adult language into the conversation. What will this provide you and how the heck does it lead to clarity? It provides you with possibilities you wouldn’t have come up with while trying to get clear on your message. It allows you to release your pent-up not-for-prime-time screed privately. When you see the thoughts you’d rather not air in black and white you may find a gem. When we are in “find the clear message mode” we judge without ceasing. Free to be you and me and say everything we feel, with the judge-o-meter in the off position, empties the mind of the thoughts begging for our attention. Ah, space. And a good bit of laughter if you’ve gone full-out in this exercise. Here’s where all of this is going, or where it all started. The Manifesto. A manifesto makes clear who and what you stand for. It can’t not. The very nature of the word, from the Latin, manifestum, means clear or conspicuous. And the process of getting to one of those cool infographic type manifestos you see online is wayyy fun. Clarity through fun? Sign me up. Let me take the ideas up top and turn them into steps to get you started. If you are in a struggle around who you serve or how you are different, put that aside for now. You may not bring any of those attempts to this party no matter how well dressed they are. Put aside at least 30 minutes for the first round. Yes, I get it, finding that 30 minutes will take some doing but if you watch TV, cat or dog videos, or are serious about being successful in business, you’ve got the time. Look, without a clear message and understanding of who you serve and how they want to be spoken to, you got gots, nada, zip. A manifesto doesn’t have to look a certain way, but to get to what you want you’ll have to start getting pissed off. What pisses you off and who is the victim of it? What makes you want to cry? What makes you light up when you get to do it? Who are you doing it with or for? What’s the truth about you? The answer is found in the very things you most want to hide from the world. What do you want the world to know? Write it ugly. Screw grammar. Let it pour forth. By now I’ll bet you get the process. Next week I’ll be back with what to do with all of this gold. If you’re the impatient type you won’t see gold, just dreck, chaos on a page. For now, chaos is all we want. Let it fester, foment, ferment into what’s next. By all means if you see a thread of something beautiful capture it, separate it from the dross. You’ll use it in the next step. Loosen up your mind or lose it entirely but just for a bit. Clarity is waiting.
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