One day, I was glancing at the Wall Street Journal, when 5 words grabbed my attention. “The survival of the focused.”
I forget what the article was about. But I knew those five words carried a powerful message. A message High Earners live by. But one Underearners have failed to grasp.
Without focus, it’s easy to get sidetracked by multiple distractions fighting for your attention. But with focus, conflicting objectives cease to control you, making it easier (and less stressful) to take decisive action without second guessing.
What’s the trick to getting focused? Getting crystal clear on your priorities, what’s really important to you. All else goes on the back burner.
Sadly, most of us don’t know what our true priorities are. We carry around lengthy to-do lists, then berate ourselves unmercifully when we don’t cross everything off—a sure-fire recipe for failure.
What if, instead, you narrow down everything on your list, all those items you simply must do, to 5 items—the 5 tasks that are really truly essential, that reflect your most cherished values, what’s most important to reaching your goals.
Those 5 are your priorities. They take precedence when scheduling your time. If it’s not a priority, it’s a distraction. Each time you cross one task off, you can add another. [b s1]
Does watering your plants or cleaning the kitchen carry the same weight as working out at the gym or playing with the kids?
There’s no one right answer—only the most truthful one.
Do you think about your priorities, or do you just go through your day on autopilot? How might things change if you did start to really consider what is most important? Leave me a comment below.
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