Every leader I’ve ever met agrees on one thing — clarity is critical.
You’ve got to know where you’re heading. You’ve got to have a solid idea of how to get there. And ideally, you should be able to articulate both clearly and confidently to your team, your clients, your stakeholders, and to yourself. Without that clarity, everything else gets harder, decisions take longer, priorities become fuzzy, and progress stalls.
So if we all know this, why is clarity of thought so elusive?
Why do so many business owners and leaders, even the most experienced and capable, still find themselves struggling to articulate where they’re going, or what the next step should be?
I think about this a lot. In fact, I live in this space. The work I do with TAB is all about helping business owners cut through the noise, focus on what really matters, and move forward with confidence. I’ve seen it time and time again when a breakthrough in clarity unlocks momentum. And yet, I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t always have it nailed in my own business.
There are days when everything feels sharp, focused, and well-aligned. And then there are times when things are a bit more blurred. The path feels murky. The signal’s getting lost in the static.
So, what do I do when that happens? How do I find my way back to clarity?
For me, it starts with recognising that clarity rarely arrives by accident. You have to create the space for it.
That means quality time on my own. And quality time with my team. Both are essential, and both take discipline. Not just in how I manage my diary, but in how I manage my headspace. Time alone isn’t valuable if it’s constantly interrupted by phone calls, alerts, or low-priority admin tasks. Team time doesn’t yield insight if it’s rushed, reactive, or squeezed between back-to-back meetings.
This is where the tough choices come in. Sometimes, it means being selfish. Saying no. Blocking out hours, even days, and refusing to give them away, no matter how tempting it is to squeeze in “just one quick call.”
And here’s something else I’ve learned the hard way. Stress and clarity don’t mix. When I’m under pressure, juggling too many balls, clarity is the first thing to disappear. My thinking gets narrower, not sharper. So, it’s not just about managing the work. It’s about managing myself. Prioritising rest. Permitting myself to switch off properly — not just physically, but mentally.
Then there’s the question of where and how I think best. For me, it’s never in front of a screen. It’s not in a meeting room, or over a rushed coffee, or while scanning my inbox. My best thinking happens when I’m disconnected. Properly disconnected.
For me, that’s often on a plane. Headphones on. Sat next to a stranger—no Wi-Fi. No notifications. Just me and my thoughts. There’s something about that enforced disconnection, the sense of being between places, that lets the fog clear. That’s when ideas surface. Patterns emerge. Decisions feel obvious.
That’s my version. Yours might be totally different. A long walk. A quiet room. A whiteboard session with someone you trust to challenge your thinking. Whatever it is, the point is the same.
Clarity doesn’t just show up. You have to go looking for it. And when you find it, everything else starts to shift.
So here’s my question: What conditions do you need to create in your own world to think clearly?
Because when you get that part right, everything else becomes that little bit easier.
