How do I Discover my Top 5 priorities?
Why Defining your Top Priorities is Important:
Defining your true top priorities can be life changing. You may be wondering “Why?” When you become aware of what truly matters to you, it helps you make important decisions, shows you why you are unhappy in certain areas of your life, and empowers you with self-knowledge and deeper insight. This self- knowledge reveals where you need to change to find more fulfillment.
In article 2, you uncovered your top 5 priorities. Now let’s continue to gain insight into how you use this new found information to achieve self-fulfillment.
Why are these your Top Priorities?
Think about why these are your top priorities and what they mean to you. One of my top priorities is family. I am a relationship person. I like being with people and being close to people. I enjoy getting hugs and family dinners. Being surrounded in the evening with family to talk to, share my day with, or just watch TV makes me happy. This grounds me as a person, gives me deep personal satisfaction, a sense of belonging, harmony and balance. I can truly say with pride that I have been a good wife, Mom, and Grandmother. Because I have such a deep sense of desire for this in my life, I have never regretted making it a priority. It helps make me the person I am. The situation helps me feel satisfaction in a deep place in my soul. This is what a true priority should do for you.
Step #3: Comparing your priorities to where you are putting your time, spirit and energy.
Now that you have your list of priorities, have put them in order of importance, and have defined why these particular priorities have made it into your top 5; it is time to examine your life.
Does the way you are living your life reflect these top 5 priorities?
If not, you are not in balance with your true nature. It is time to decide if your list is incorrect or if your life is headed in the wrong direction. Are their changes can you make so that your life becomes in balance with your priorities? You must factor in that sometimes we need to buckle down and work hard to achieve a goal in the short-term to continue to live with our priorities. Here is an example of what I mean. When I was 35, I decided to go back to school to get my Master in Counseling Psychology. That meant I had to set aside some of my priorities for about 4 years (like time with family) to reach the goal of a satisfying career. This career has blessed me for over 20 years, so it was worth the sacrifice. But I was aware of the sacrifice and felt it was a worthwhile trade for four years of my life. I did not forget my priority of family; I just had to minimize it for a while to reach my true potential as a human being.
In this 3 part series, you have read why priorities are important, a method for uncovering your top 5 and how to use this knowledge to change your life. Empower yourself with this new Awareness!
Resources:
If you find you need someone to help you in this process, you can go to my website at www.supporttalk.com and make an appointment to have me help you. If you would like more information on this subject, you can check into books like Priorities by Elizabeth Stuart-Grimes or The Priority List by David Menasche found on Amazon.com
If you have found this article helpful, check out other articles by this author, Define your Values, Focus your Life!; Empower Yourself to Move Forward in Life…..Starting Today, Empowerment, Discover your Potential; by Vicki Langemo, LPC, MA.