The Paradox of Clarity

The Paradox of Clarity

Phase 1: When we really have clarity of purpose, it leads to success.
Phase 2: When we have success, it leads to more options and opportunities.
Phase 3: When we have increased options and opportunities, it leads to diffused efforts.
Phase 4: Diffused efforts undermine the very clarity that led to our success in the first place.

If not overstated:  success is a catalyst for failure.
The above is an interesting read from HBR review.

I was reflecting on childhood days and student life with one of my friends. We were discussing that as a student we had more time to focus on what is essential and thus were very successful in what ever pursuits we had. As we grew older and after some amount of success we are finding difficult to get time to focus on what really matters. 
The suggestions to avoid falling prey to above paradox:

• First, use more extreme criteria - Do I really love this? Am I passionate about this?
• Ask “What is essential?” and eliminate the rest: Ruthlessly remove time fillers and focus on the primary passionate motive that one has
• Beware of the endowment effect: Refers to our tendency to value an item more once we own it.

The phrase "Declutter Life" was occupying my office board for sometime now but the importance of that phrase becomes obvious with the above paradox.

Urs,
Vish

Further references: "How the Mighty Fall", Jim Collins