A Clarity Map is a powerful visual representation of personal success principles that can produce tangible results quickly when combined with focused and consistent action. Paraphrased from Gilles Cote of claritymaps.com
Interestingly, I had never heard of Clarity Maps. While discussing this quote: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” I ran across the idea. The quote is from George Bernard Shaw’s play “Man and Superman” (1903).
Clarity Map
As I researched this quote, I mentally visualized how to apply it. Traditionally, I would create this visual using a program called MindManager. However, my research buddy, ChatGPT, introduced me to the term “Clarity Map,” which I liked.
In my view, a clarity map is a series of questions that you ask yourself that lead to an action targeted toward a specific goal. There are many pieces to that statement. There is a self-interrogation about motives, values, and purpose. The answers to those questions should point you toward an ultimate goal. Then, the clarity map describes the actionable steps to achieving that goal.
I’m always cognizant of a point on the horizon I am navigating toward. Having this visual in my head simplifies decision-making. A decision either moves you closer to the point or deflects you from it. Creating that point on the horizon requires self-honesty, which most of us are uncomfortable with.
Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
The Unreasonable Man
“The purpose of life is not to be happy—but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all.” – author Leo Rosten, 1962, National Book Awards
Back to the quote. Being an unreasonable man seems, well, unreasonable. As a Christian, what does it mean to be unreasonable? I think the Bible is obvious on this subject. We are not to conform to the world but to be transformed by renewing our minds.
Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you can test and approve God’s will—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
We should be bold disruptors of unfulfilled lives. Bold disruptors don’t just see potential; they ignite it. As disruptors, we should not just give people tools and twelve-step programs—we should give them agency, authority, and purpose. George Bernard Shaw believes that progress depends on the unreasonable man. God’s kingdom does not expand by adapting God’s word to worldly circumstances; it expands because we adapt the world to accept God’s word.
James 4:4, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Circling Back Around
Do you have a clarity map to be unreasonable? People worldwide need to start believing in God’s mercy and love. Belief doesn’t just bloom on its own — it needs a crack in the wall, a little light, a voice saying, “You can.” As a disruptor, you are not a savior but a spark — someone who disrupts the inertia just enough for the potential to start moving, becoming. A person with purpose is unstoppable.
“The purpose of life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness.” — Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life
Here are some starting questions for building your clarity map:
- What do you already know? “What have you learned from life, work, school, bible study, or struggle?”
- What do you care about deeply? “What or who keeps you up at night?”
- What must change? “If you could fix one thing, what would it be?”
- What does that change look like? “What would life around you look like if that thing were different?”
- What’s one way you could help move toward that future? “What person could you help today, even in a small way?”
- Forget your limits. Focus on your direction. “Even if you don’t know how to get there, you know where you’re going.”
Create a clarity map for your mission to expand God’s kingdom. I don’t believe you can hit a target you cannot see. Be unreasonable. Save a life.
John 17:14, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.”