Twenty years ago, I ran a restaurant. On one occasion, there was a food server who was frantically bouncing through the kitchen. Like a pinball, he was hitting every station in the kitchen without doing anything but change direction. He was in the weeds with no idea how to get out. So, I walked over to him, told him to go in the walk in refrigerator, scream at the top of his lungs, then not come out until he had a plan. It didn’t take him long to get a plan together as his uniform was not very thick.

Entrepreneurs hit these same moments. We get overrun by everything we need to do and completely lose sight of what needs to happen right now. Especially when we start out, when idea and strategy development to production and sales, all falls on us.

The easiest way to make sure you stay level-headed when the walls start caving in is to make sure you are level-headed before they do with daily disciplines that bring you clarity and focus the work.

Here are 3 simple steps you can practice daily to help your thinking stay clear:
 

1. Prepare Physically

Take 1 minute. Close your eyes, breathe slowly and deeply and concentrate on clearing your mind of your thoughts by actually thinking about your breathing and relaxing your body.
 

2. Pray

Ask God to show you your priorities. It’s a simple request. He cares about you and knows you. He will give you clarity when you need it.
 

3. Plan

You know your long goal. What are the tactics that need to happen to get you to it? What is the order of the tactics? Which tactic is next? Now choose the next 3 things you have to do today to get to that mile marker.

Clarity, not chaos, delivers results. If you find your life becoming more chaotic as you are moving on your idea, you are not moving in the right direction. The more effort you put into something, the more clear the picture should become.