PRIORITIES: Make Them YOURS

(be sure to check out the podcast on iTunes or on the RSS feed)

We actually began this journey in last week's podcast and blog when I began talking about our use of time and the need for us to "re-purpose" some of our time so that we can use it for what is really important to us. I even had you make a list of all the things that you would do IF you only had the time and, we all discovered that the time was actually there all along.

Along with that I had you make a list of your daily activities and encouraged you to carry that out for at least a week so that you could get a pretty good picture of what was really important to you in your life and to also find those "time bandits" that most of us have in our schedules. By finding those "time bandits" and "re-purposing" that time for something more important and of more value we can actually "get more" out of the same 24 hours that we all have.

The natural connection is this: we FIND the time or TAKE the time to do what is important to us and, that being so, we FIND the time or TAKE the time for those things that are PRIORITIES in our lives.

So, this week, as I have been discussing priorities, I've asked that you go back and use that same daily schedule to pinpoint what your priorities actually are. What are they? The things that we have found that we spend most of our time doing in a day. I also asked that you make a heading on a piece of paper that read, "What I WANT My Priorities to Be" and then to list all of the things that you WANT to be of importance or a priority in your life.

Most - if not all of us - will find that what we WANT and what we HAVE are not always the same thing...even in this area of priorities. So, here's where the real work begins...we have the tools before us to discover what our priorities actually ARE (and we may discover that they are not even OUR priorities!) and how to compare them to what we WISH they were.

WHAT NOW?

As usual, that is up to you. Oh, wouldn't it be easy if I could just fix it for you or if you could go to bed and, in the morning it be all corrected? We know better than that yet, many of us still expect it to happen without us actually having to DO anything or make any decisions that require action on our part.

But that, my friend, is NOT reality. Now that we have been able to take a look and see what IS as opposed to what we wish WAS, it's now time to get busy and decide how important (how much of a PRIORITY) it is to get our PRIORITIES straight!

It's easy to talk about and even exciting to SEE what CAN be but, friend, if you don't TAKE ACTION then you will stay right where you are. It is IMPOSSIBLE to move forward by standing still.

So, YOU decide. Re-purpose whatever time you need to in order to start getting these PRIORITIES at the top (uh, that's what MAKES them a priority, right?) and stop making excuses.

Be sure to listen to the podcast for some more insight on this...you'll be glad you did!

Get on with this thing called life and make it YOUR life with YOUR priorities. Again, you'll be glad you did! Until next time, be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

PRIORITIES: What's Yours?

(be sure to check out the podcast on iTunes or on the RSS feed)

PRIORITIES...some have them, some don't, all should! However, if the truth is to be known on this matter, we ALL have priorities whether we realize it or not. Even if you don't think you have them, take a moment and think about choices you made today that would indicate otherwise. Or, just take a look at your bills and ask yourself why you pay them in the order that you do. Or, if money is tight, how do you decide which bill to pay and which one to wait on until later? PRIORITIES!

The word "priority" is defined (as a noun) in the following way as found on www.dictionary.com ... 1. the state or quality of being earlier in time, occurrence, etc. 2. the right to precede others in order, rank, privilege, etc.; precedence.  3. the right to take precedence in obtaining certain supplies, services, facilities, etc., especially during a shortage. 4. something given special attention.

When you look at the adjective definition you will find the following... "highest or higher in importance, rank, privilege, etc.".

As a matter of fact, you made reading this blog a priority over doing something else, right? Sure you did!

Here's something to think about: PRIORITIES and PROCRASTINATION have a very close - but not healthy - relationship with each other. Many of our PRIORITIES fall to the wayside due to PROCRASTINATION. Again, to continue this thought, even procrastination is a way of prioritizing what actually IS important to us in our lives.

Here's a couple of things to get you started for this week as we prepare to go through this series...

     1. Get a new sheet of paper and write this across the top: "WHAT I WANT MY PRIORITIES TO BE IN MY LIFE"

     2. Just like last week, brainstorm - NO WRONG ANSWERS - and honestly write down what you really want to have in your life as far as priorities.

     3. Now, go back and get that list that shows your schedule (what you actually DID during the day - not what you PLANNED to do) and try to carry that out for at least a week if you haven't done so already

     4. If you carry this out for a week it should give you a pretty good idea of what your priorities actually have been over this time period. EVEN IF you haven't done it but for a day or two it will still give you an idea of what your PRIORITY was for those couple of days.

    5. Now, on the back of the sheet you started in #1 (or on a new sheet), based on what you have discovered from looking over your "daily activities/schedule sheet"...write this heading: "WHAT MY PRIORITIES CURRENTLY ARE IN MY LIFE" and write down what you have found to be true.

Don't beat yourself up over this, o.k.? You may discover that, out of necessity, one of your main priorities right now is your young child(ren). That's not a bad thing at all and, by doing this exercise, you will actually discover if that actually IS a priority or if it's what SHOULD be (but it's not) a priority in your life right now.

Please take the time to do this - it will mean so much more to you and FOR you if you will!

PRIORITIES..we all have them whether we think we do or not and they are not always what we want them to be. Join me again tomorrow as we delve into this topic a bit more. But, until then...

"Be sure to make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike