Hi, I'm Manuel Saez, 2x Founder, Award-Winning Designer, and Emotional Intelligence Coach 🌻 Here I Share the advice I wish I had while building my businesses ➜ I love fixing old motorcycles 🛵🏍️
I’ve been thinking…
There are no lazy people.
Only unmotivated people.
…and motivation comes with clarity and purpose.
There’s a story I heard once about two competitive lumberjacks.
They were racing to see who could chop down a tree the fastest.
The first one grabbed his axe and started swinging with everything he had.
The second one didn’t swing at all.
He sat down, pulled out a sharpening stone, and started honing his blade.
When he finally began chopping, he made quick work of it.
He won easily.
Not because he swung harder, but because he took the time to sharpen his axe.
I think about that story all the time.
In my life, sharpening the axe has always meant getting clear.
Not just moving for the sake of moving.
Not just doing things because I felt like I needed to stay busy.
But taking the time to ask myself:
Where am I going?
What do I want?
And why?
When I know what I want with 100% conviction, I am unstoppable.
When I have that clarity, everything else flows more naturally.
I’m less stressed.
I don’t have to force things.
Opportunities seem to show up at the right time because I’m already pointed in the right direction.
My dad once told me something that stuck:
“Be like the mountain stream, son. No mountain can stop it on its way to the ocean.”
The stream doesn’t worry about how many rocks or cliffs it’ll face.
It just keeps moving.
Because it knows where it’s going.
The further it travels, the stronger it gets.
The more it overcomes, the more unstoppable it becomes.
I think about that too.
Especially when I feel stuck, or tired, or unsure.
The strength isn’t in being big, tough, rich, or smart.
Strength is in having clarity.
The stream doesn’t waste time wondering how big the mountains are or if it should keep going.
It just flows.
The same is true for our dreams, businesses, careers.
When you know where you’re going, when you’re really clear about it, almost no obstacle can stop you.
When Doubt Creeps In
I’ve noticed something over the years.
Whenever I’m unclear, I start overthinking everything.
Should I turn left or right?
Should I call this person or wait?
Should I push forward or rethink my whole plan?
Doubt eats energy.
It drains you without you even noticing.
It makes small problems feel bigger than they are.
When you don’t know what you want, every little thing feels like a major decision.
When you do know what you want, those same decisions are just steps on the path.
What Clarity Feels Like
When I know what I want — and I know it with 100 percent conviction —
I feel unstoppable.
It’s not about forcing things.
It’s not about being aggressive.
It’s more like an inner calm.
Like a river that just keeps moving forward, no matter what.
There’s no second-guessing.
There’s no need to check with everyone else.
There’s no getting stuck in the weeds.
It’s just:
This is where I’m going.
This is why it matters to me.
Now let’s go.
How I Find Clarity
For me, clarity doesn’t just appear out of nowhere.
It’s something I work on all the time.
The biggest tool I use is writing.
Simple, honest writing.
Nothing fancy.
I sit down and write my goals. Not once a year.
I do it over and over, especially when doubt creeps in, when I feel lost or unmotivated.
I write what I want.
I write why I want it.
Sometimes I realize I don’t actually want the thing I thought I wanted.
Sometimes the same goal shows up again and again — that’s when I know it’s real.
The act of writing forces me to confront my real desires.
Not what I think I should want.
Not what other people want for me.
What I want.
And the more I do it, the sharper my axe gets.
A Simple Way to Start
If you’re feeling stuck, here’s something that’s helped me:
Take a blank piece of paper.
At the top, write one question:
“What do I want right now?”
And then answer it, without judgment.
No editing.
No trying to sound smart or ambitious.
Just write.
Then do it again tomorrow.
And the day after that.
Eventually, a pattern will emerge.
You’ll see what really matters to you.
And once you have that clarity, moving forward gets a lot easier.
You don’t have to be the strongest.
You don’t have to have all the answers.
You just have to know where you’re going.
Like the mountain stream.
Sending you good vibes 🌻
Manuel
manuelsaez.com
This is an interesting share, Manuel! I've taken your father's wise words to my journal. A perspective to always remember by! <3
Needed this one today, thank you so much. I feel like I'm very focused and have clarity and it's amazing the way distractions come from every angle to try to attack me. Really appreciate these powerful, beautiful insights.