I’m finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Not because of illness or fatigue. It’s because of the frenzy being created from rhetoric spouted at both the Republican and Democratic conventions, then whipped up like a California wildfire by the media. It seems like everywhere I turn I’m being told that the sky is falling and begin to run for cover while trying to determine what the future has in store. Confidence to move forward can only be regained by the actions of a leader, not a politician.

As I read my morning email deluge, I stumbled on my Brian Tracy newsletter.

I met Brian as he first began his rise to being recognized as one of America’s Master Motivators and Performance Consultants more than twenty-five years ago. He was invited to be the keynote speaker at a conference where I served on the planning committee. Since then I have had the honor of seeing him a number of times over the past two years at national meetings of the National Speakers Association. He graciously sent a copy of his book Full Engagement when he learned of the research I was doing on the importance of connecting people to the company where they worked and more importantly to the leader they chose to follow. He too believes that we must look for ways to be fully invigorated in our career pursuits, and as leaders be charged with the responsibility to help others become empowered by involvement, accountability and realizing the value they contribute.

His newsletter stressed the importance of clarity in goal setting and pursuit of our dreams. As I hear the politicians and pundits pounding on the potential devastation that is apparently around the corner (I have now learned this is their favorite pass time. They have the unique gift of only seeing the carnage that a banana split can cause with no consideration of the medicinal purposes for which is was created…half full, my friends, I believe in half full). Brian wrote of the power that comes from the focus on goals that are written, specific and clear.

The Three Keys to High Achievement
You could even say that the three keys to high achievement are, “Clarity, Clarity, Clarity,” with regard to your goals. Your success in life will be largely determined by how clear you are about what it is you really, really want.

In times of crisis, leaders are looked to for emotional connection for the future. What is needed in times of confusion, concern or especially chaos is clarity. The focus, though, needs to be on Clarity of the Next Step, with specific short term action. Leaders have to communicate in short term, attainable and measurable actions to enable those who follow to see specifically what needs to be done. This builds belief in small steps that are realized, raising confidence as strides are met. Long range focus of a better future becomes 20/20 only when looked at through the perspective of short range vision.

Steps, taken consistently one after another, will eventually take us to the future, which becomes tomorrow, and finally turns into today. Clarity of the Next Step provides the greatest gift imaginable in troubled times, fuel gained from hope for a better tomorrow and confidence in future dreams.

Let’s pray that our politicians will soon become leaders. It only takes a step.