Today we’re not going in-depth.
Because you can gain true mental clarity in an instant:
Clean your goddamn room.
You may have heard it from Jordan B. Peterson in one of his speeches. Or, you read it in The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield. Don’t leave now, hang on. It’s only one of many ways to gain true mental clarity. (Mayhaps cleaning your room isn’t the right solution for you.)
The professional cannot live like that. He is on a mission. He will not tolerate disorder. He eliminates chaos from his world in order to banish it from his mind.”
–STEVEN PRESSFIELD, The Art Of War (p. 77)
Still, your room is a mess.
If you’re like me, you’re an idealist.
Someone who’s stuck in his head 99% of the time. And whenever you head for school, work, or other social activities… you appear to have your shit together.
- Others see you as conscientious
- They value you for your ability to organize and to plan ahead
- They may even look up to you as a role model
Back home, it’s a different story.
Your room is still a mess and that’s why you still lack mental clarity.
(Or so you’re told.)
Cleaning your room is just one of many ways to gaining true mental clarity.
I’ve publicly talked about (and posted pics of) my numerous notes lying all over the floor, my boxes full of books that I haven’t even opened yet after my move (over a year ago, *cough*), et cetera.
I’m not the expert here.
I’m still struggling to gain clarity—scratch that—to clean my room.
Because, in the meantime, I gained enough clarity—to move forward in the right direction—without cleaning my room on the regular (don’t follow my example; clean your room!).
True mental clarity comes from eliminating confusion and overthinking.
Duh.
However, most people have it backward.
They believe that—in order to gain mental clarity—they need to clear their mind.
Which is only partly true.
They go on meditation retreats, they join yoga classes, they practice pilates, they do QiGong…
…Wondering why they’re getting the same results.
They still haven’t found mental clarity.
And if you asked them, their priority in life is “to find myself.”
Good luck with that.
What has helped me:
I can’t leave you hanging, tho. Here’s what has helped me go from directionless and suicidal a few years ago to now being fully aware of where I’m heading.
I took a closer look at my Immediate Environment (IE).
In other words, I reflected and asked myself, “What actions do I control in my life that will instantly give me more clarity and long-term results?”
What I can control:
- The time I get up and when I go asleep
- How many times a week I practice a skill
- How (and when) I do sports
- How I deal with setbacks, emotional baggage, failure, and the most recent global pandemic (2020/2021)
- What I eat
- If I meditate, or not
- How I treat other people
- Et cetera.
And, yes, whether I want to clean my room or not.
Then, I asked myself, “How can I make my IE a little bit better today?”
One step at a time, I improved.
Slow is the new fast.
On some days, it was to write an article and hit “publish.”
On other days, it was to write an article and hit “draft.”
Other days, I procrastinated.
Only to burn the midnight oil the next few days in a row.
Eventually, I overcame my morning depression. But that’s a topic for another day. The key for you is to act; not to judge. To keep going, especially when the going gets tough. You don’t need any more motivational pep talk. Deep down inside, you know what to do. Go out and execute.
P. S. This is what has helped *me*. Please don’t blindly follow my lead. Try it out, see what works for you. If going on a 7-day meditation retreat does the job for you… more power to you! I wish you success.
