Setting Priorities

Action expresses priorities. ~ Gandhi

In order to move ahead, it's sometimes necessary to move backwards from the end. So many of us have a bad habit - procrastination. This problematic mental attitude affects all of us to one degree or another and overcoming procrastination can be a challenge for anyone.

The events in our lives are truly numberless, which is why it's important to start setting priorities. We have memories of many of them, but not all, because of the enormity of their abundance. If you were to categorize every single one of them, you'd find that they fall into several big buckets like:

Disappointments
ExpectationsrnPlans
Wishes
Blockagesr
Satisfactions

This list doesn't begin to cover everything, but it does serve as an example.

Out of all of the events of our lives and out of all the organizing and classifying we do mentally with these events in order to process and retrieve information, surely it's apparent that some of this vast abundance has to be let go in the process of setting priorities.

Some folks call this "Let go of the small stuff!" Or some call it "Drop off what's unimportant!"

If you had to keep track of absolutely everything, you'd suffer from serious overload. The way it looks to me is that you could consciously choose to set aside the things that don't serve you well, and only retain those that do serve you well.

Let's take disappointments in life, for example. If you kept track of all that went wrong, all of the expectations that did not happen, all the plans that circumstances prevented, all your wishes and dreams that just didn't get fulfilled, you'd soon be in a deep dark place filled with despair! Why? Because your thinking causes the next round of experiences! If you are thinking about disappointments, you'll create more disappointment. It's that simple, but it sometimes goes unobserved until it is pointed out.

We would create all manner of moods and attitudes around those disappointments in life, like a sense of hardship; like adrenalin rushes; like anger at being interrupted. These moods and attitudes plus the disappointments themselves won't serve us well at all.

I am recommending that you make a firm decision to let the small stuff in your life go. It's just not important enough to warrant your attention! Once you drop them off, you can return to a stronger sense of peace and be able to focus your energy and your efforts on the things that are truly important - those things you have in the Big Bucket called My Big Dreams.

Those small things are like mosquitoes pecking away at your ankles. They are irritating and they appear to take away our control, but they are there for a good reason: so that you can say "No, not this!" and truly exercise the control that you were given at birth.

You are a conscious, mental being, and your mind controls your destiny. You can spend your life fussing over the small stuff, or you can cast it aside and address those more complex challenges that, if you handled them, would really make you feel powerful!

And just like facing down fears, you will discover that those things that seemed most fearful or most monumental aren't so fearful or difficult at all! And you will truly love the peace of mind you'll get when you begin setting priorities in life.

Take Action Now

1. I promise myself that I will keep the commitments I make.
2. I will keep a list of promises I make and scratch them off as completed.
3. I will not make a promise for something I don't want to do. I will say "I'd prefer not to, thank you."