Clarity is “the quality of coherence and intelligibility” and it's the key to. It's a holistic approach to content that leaves you clear and confident – with the added benefit of bringing in more business. When you crack the code to create content with clarity you don't just come up with a cool alliteration, but you:
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Become more meaningful
As Stephen King states in one of the best books on writing, appropriately called On Writing:
“This business of meaning is a very big deal…The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning.”
If Stephen King believes that writing “almost always falls short of full meaning,” then how can we assume that the platforms that hold our words have meaning?
Tip: Remember that the relationship that we have with our iOS devices is not as meaningful as you may want to believe (hard truth, I know). Use technology as a tool to create meaningful experiences. We'll fall short otherwise.
Note: I interview a super fascinating media theorist and futurist about this very concept in an upcoming episode of The Art of Humanity. Subscribe to learn more here!)
2. Continue to evolve
Sometimes we can get so stuck in our ways that we forget to do the important things in life, like grow and learn. As much as it's hard to admit, you probably want to learn from your mistakes (instead of avoiding reality). The problem is that if you're a leader in a big company or you run your own, it gets harder to see the big picture as you grow.
Much of this is caused by the wrong focus. If you're like many industry leaders, you focus on technology, which makes it harder to see what makes you the most human. Or maybe you only focus on profits, which makes it challenging to look your customers in the digital eye.
The key to evolving is in incorporating the trifecta: technology, profit, and meaning so that you can evolve.
Look at Twitter as an example of what not to do. You see, I love Twitter. And still continue to meet a lot of smart, inspiring people there. But instead of evolving with the Internet of things, they're devolving into the…TV of things?! This suddenly makes you feel not so human (and maybe like you're smoking bath salts):
Their “hard decision” memo explains their reasoning behind no longer showing social share counts. If you have an established presence on Twitter, this decision hits you right in the gut. We're obsessed with growth hacking through technology and tools. But how can you truly know that you want to grow if you're endlessly “hacking” your way into someone else's house?
A platform is only a platitude – especially when there's no passionate people who thrive off of connection. Real connection. Twitter took away that mutually shared feeling of connection among its favorite humans. That's like bringing pizza and beer over to a friend's house, sitting down to chat, and suddenly bolting (and taking the food with you).
Companies say that they want “connection” but when they take away the tools to truly connect, what are we left with (besides a hunger for more?)
Tip: When ego metrics are taken away, it's an important reminder to truly connect with people off-line. Sure, social connections are fun and lighthearted when times are good. But real connection is needed to evolve as a human. And for better or worse, you won't know how to get that connection if you're only relying on superficial stuff.
3. Speak Your Truth
If all of this technology talk makes you feel disconnected, you're not alone. Maybe we're meant to suffer from an existential crisis at this point in time. Maybe it'll help us maintain more meaning as we move forward.
But what about the “social” kind of existentialism?
Is it ok to crack as long as you post that perfectly cropped photo before your breakdown? Is it ok to crack after you scream to the Universe to take you higher, higher – away from the superficiality of the streams of today?
Is it ever ok to crack, really?
The Truth is that we only want to see your cracks – after you clean up the glass shards and superglue your stuff back together. We want honesty without the mess. Realness without any awkwardness. Texts without context.
Is this even possible?
Here's where Albert Camus comes in: Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.
When you're not posting some inspirational caption paired with a perfect photo and a filter, do you still exist?
I don't know these days.
But I do know that I want to walk through the woods with alive, bare feet. And I'll skip the act of documenting it just to live inside the experience a bit longer. Then I'll surrender into the Earth's ecstasy, tasting real life like it's absinthe everyday. I'll hallucinate on my imperfections, coupled with a heaping sides of beauty and madness. I'll scream “fuck yes!” to the Universe as it breathes light into the cracks where the darkness resides.
Then I'll see you in the light. And I'll smile because your broken pieces are slowly transforming into the big, blissful picture of possibility (you just may not notice it yet).
Tip: Stop refusing to be unclear of what you are. Feel seen. Be sure. Speak your new, beautiful Truth to break through to more business. And open yourself up to the process (not the praise), so that humanity can benefit from what you (and your content) is about.
