Setting priorities in life seems daunting, that’s why you’re here. Does your life feel overwhelming at times? Do you feel stressed out by the demands of the people in your life? Do you long to spend time with the people in your life that matter?
Prioritizing is an important practice to learn for working efficiently in a business. We all know that. Often, it’s the purpose of having meetings in large corporations, so that employees can discuss strategies that have worked, strategies that haven’t, and the ones left to try… all so that they can reassess their focus.
BUT… Have you ever done this in your life? Have a meeting with yourself! Setting priorities in life takes consistency and commitment.
Even if you’re still struggling to have a fulfilling, intentional life, it’s not unlikely that you’d say “yes”.
I hate to break it to you, but your to-do list doesn’t count here. I’m talking about living, not surviving.
Setting Priorities In Life: Are you being authentic to who you are or are you getting the things done on “auto-pilot”? Online Coaching can help!
It’s true that it’s becoming and more common for people to take time to plan their day-to-day tasks and their job… but very rarely do we tend to look at the bigger picture.
Important aspects of our lives, outside of work and mundane tasks, often get overlooked. Why? Because we don’t make them more important than the here and now.
“Real” priorities; the ones that scream loudest, and are the most tangible, like providing for our family or paying the bills, often remain at the forefront of our minds.
Just like they should be. Well, for a time. But what do you think about when work is over? What about when the kids are dropped off at school? What goes into the time where you’re not in survival mode?
Do you move from survival mode… straight into distraction mode? Maybe you even find yourself simply moving from acting-in-survival mode to thinking-about-survival mode. Many of us, whether we’re conscious of it or not, are guilty of doing this. I know I have been. This is where online coaching comes in. Life coaching can help with focus, goal-setting, depression, and creating a MASSIVE amount of success!
Setting Priorities In Life: Don’t let the distractions throw you off track!
The problem is that, with these big priorities, a growing to-do list, and all of the distractions we have in-between, we don’t leave any time and brainpower for anything else like setting goals, nurturing our relationships, and even just having fun…
That is, not unless we make the time. That means we have to make them important enough first. To treat them with the urgency they deserve, we need to see them for what they are: Mandatory for our long-term happiness!
Getting lost is nothing new. We all lose focus on what matters in life from time to time; especially when it’s something for our own, personal well-being. This is how we lose the passion for life in everything that we do.
A new mom with a baby does this. A husband who needs to be a dedicated provider does it, too. A professional who is driven to achieve their career goals is often guilty of it, too.
We become robots; an empty shell of flesh and bone. Stuck in doing rather than being… because there’s just so much to DO!
Going through life simply reacting to things as they come and getting stuck in the mundane goes against one of the basic human needs: to have variety.
We can’t forget to add the spice of life that allows us to feel interested in life anymore. Extreme forms of escapism, like obsessive gaming, and even more dangerous habits like alcoholism can evolve from a bland, unfulfilled existence.
Setting Priorities In Life: There’s no time to have passion for life. Really?
We want to enjoy life at its best, but most frequently, we feel like there is just so little time to do everything we set our mind to do. Days seem to become shorter and shorter and time just appears to fly away, becoming out of our reach. Time does indeed pass quickly and, to build yourself a balanced and happy life, you ought to set your priorities straight and focus on what matters. While doing that, you should keep in mind that you are in charge of your own life and you CAN shape it accordingly to your wishes.
Let’s be clear. Dissect your life and gain some clarity.
Setting Priorities In Life: 5 questions to help you learn what matters.
Step One: What do you want?
What Is It That You Want To Change?
Take a moment to analyze the state your life is in. What do you wish to change?
Do you wish to organize your time more efficiently to spend more quality time with your friends and family?
Does it seem like it has been ages since the last time you went out for dinner with your significant other?
Do you feel like your health is suffering from your overcrowded schedule and you feel it is time to set some boundaries?
If you feel like these are the things you have to do for your life to set in place, do them. You have already completed the first step, which is to want it.
Step Two: Be committed to taking action. It is up to you.
Let’s think about your daily routine for a minute.
Think about the things you do daily. Which ones are utterly necessary and which are not? What does your daily routine consist of? What hour do you tend to wake up? Perhaps waking up an hour earlier may significantly enhance your relationship with your spouse. It will get you the chance to talk ahead about each other’s plans and thoughts, thus getting the day off to a right start. What is more important? Getting some extra sleep, or consolidating your relationship by investing your time in it?
“The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you’re the pilot.” ~(Michael Altshuler)
Setting Priorities In Life: What matters? Cut Down on “Urgent” Stuff
Note that “urgent” is in quotes there. That’s because there always seems to be that “urgent” stuff that takes so much of our time, and we barely even notice it.
For instance, the constant obsession with your iPhone is not something you can assume to be urgent. You can refrain from checking your Facebook timeline every 10 minutes.
As a matter of fact, to clear your time effectively, limit your computer time outside work. Many people don’t like to hear that, but we tend to throw our time away by doing all these meaningless activities and then we end up complaining that we are unhappy.
If you are on your phone or PC in FRONT of someone, what message are you sending to them? They’re simply not that important. That’s the message that we are sending out to our loved ones. A child perhaps, growing up and feeling as though work was more important. Balance in life is sometimes elusive for some.
There is no art to it as some might make you believe. No, finding balance in life means setting priorities and focusing on what matters. Above being a productive and healthy way of life, that’s SHOWING a form of love!
When spending the evening with your spouse, be there 100%; leave your cell phone in another room, preferably on silent mode. Be there! Don’t assume that your presence is sufficient. You have to be present body and soul. You must remember that everyone has their love language. Meaning, they “interpret” love in their way. If you don’t understand what your lover or child NEEDS then you are not understanding how to love them. You can read a great book that describes this in detail; “The 5 Love Languages: The Secret To Love That Lasts”.
How do you expect to be loved?
How will you FEEL passion for life if you can’t even SHOW it?
Setting Priorities In Life: Make Time for What Matters
After cutting down on all this insignificant stuff that consumes your free time, you will eventually notice how you do have more free time. Instead of lying on the couch in front of the TV every night, go out with your best friend, set a dinner party with the extended family, and plan a special night with your beloved! The people in your life are the ones who matter.
Be Patient.
It is very important to have patience. Change is possible, but it doesn’t happen overnight. What you have to bear in mind is that you are in charge of your time; you are the pilot of your existence. Keep your mind on the goals you’ve set, and don’t lose grip.
Are you ready to begin setting priorities in life? Enjoy the journey and you WILL gain more passion for life and re-learn what matters. What will you do to bring more passion to your life?
Leave your comments below and continue the conversation.
This really hits home with one of my biggest struggles. I think that for many years I have been my own biggest stumbling block for reaching my potential because of distractions.
To make time for what matters to me, it helped me to sit down at night with a notepad and write down what I wanted to have done by tomorrow night. Setting these immediate goals was a lot easier for me than trying to create a set schedule to follow every day. From there, I can figure out how to work in the “me-time” and silliness.
You’re on the right track Ella! At night is the most ideal time to set these goals into your subconscious mind. It’s taking action on the goals the next day that takes practice. Begin a new practice of identifying your distractions. This is the beginning, you can do so much once you begin to focus on the right things.