In recent posts, I’ve talked about the good things that happen when you have clarity and focus.  I’ve described how one small business owner realized inspired action from her clarity and focus – and I’ve drawn parallels between Cirque du Soleil (masters at clarity, focus, and inspiration) and your business. 

But what happens when there’s failure to focus?

When you’re not focused, your audience is confused. 

It’s as simple as that.  Your lack of clarity and focus immediately causes your audience to be confused. 

And we all know what confused means. 

It means they’re not signing up as clients.  In fact, they’re probably not even signing up for your give-aways.  Why should they?  They’re confused about who you are and whether you’re really talking to them!

Lack of focus appears to come in different flavours. 

Sometimes it looks like a desire for certainty.  You think, what if I’m wrong?  What if this isn’t the right direction?  How can I be sure I’ll get clients?  If I just wait a little longer, I’ll have a better idea of what I’m really doing.

Other times it looks like a desire to help more people.  You think, if I narrow my focus too far, I’ll limit the people who know about what I do.  And I can help lots of people – I don’t want to make myself seem unavailable.

It can even look like being busy.  You think, I don’t have the time to get focused.  It needs space and effort that I just can’t afford to give right now.

It’s really all the same thing

When you’re dealing with a lack of focus, it all starts in the same place:  you don’t know.  And that can be very hard to admit.

You may think you’ve admitted it.  You might point to times you’ve made a joke out of it, times you’ve thrown your hands in the air and said, “I don’t know who my market is!” or perhaps “I don’t know where to find my clients!”

But until you really stop, stop and allow yourself to be not knowing, you can’t start to gain clarity.

It’s not an easy step to take.  Really deeply acknowledging not knowing equates to failure in our society.  Willingly stepping into that place feels a lot like stepping off a cliff without a parachute or even a bungee cord to stop your fall.

But if you really want to gain the clarity you need in order to focus – and experience inspired action – you’ve got to start where you are.

There’s great freedom to be found in not knowing.