When you struggle, you experience frustration.

The fog is any distraction or division that clouds your vision and threatens your commitment.

The reason we don’t get what we want is we either don’t know what we want or we become distracted.

Gaining clarity will bring you peace, save you time and energy, and can change any negative dynamic in your personal life or professional life.

~Marlene Chism in Stop Workplace Drama.

We’ve all experienced literal fog.

I remember foggy mornings traveling through West Virginia, when my inability to see severely impeded my ability to get where I wanted to go. More recently, I’ve driven my daughters to school on flat roads through dark and fog. They marvel at how little we can see and strain their eyes to identify familiar landmarks.

Fog slows us down; we can get turned around and confused in the fog. We may stop traveling all together.

This kind of fog burns off in the light of day, most often. Clearing the fog doesn’t require any action on our part. During the fog, we take extra care. We wait. The fog, and our memory of it, dissipates quickly.

The kind of fog Marlene Chism describes can be more problematic for us, but she offers three questions to ask. These questions can burn away the fog and shine a light on what’s important in our lives. They can illuminate the path in front of us.

Here are Marlene’s 3 questions:

1. Who am I?
2. What do I want?
3. What am I committed to?

On the surface, these questions seem simple. I don’t think they are, though. If they were, I wouldn’t end up in the fog so often and neither would  you.

If you are feeling frustrated with how things in your life are going, I encourage you to stop for a moment. Take some time with Marlene’s questions. Once you know what you want, you’ll be more likely to get it.

Tell me something! What questions do you ask yourself when you get stuck in the fog? What helps you get (and stay clear) about who you are, what you want, and what you’re committed to?

Note: I’m not finished with Marlene’s book yet, but I am enjoying reflecting on her wisdom this week. I highly recommend the book and all of Marlene’s other work, as well. You can follow Marlene on Twitter, check out her website, and connect on Facebook.

photo credit gmeaders_ch

Becky Robinson

I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.