"The Dog Ate My Homework"

I hear this phrase from clients, prospects, and friends alike, “I just don’t have enough time!” It ranges from reading more-to working out-to prospecting-to saying difficult things-to spending more time with family…we all wish we had more time.

Why is it that some people pack a day’s worth of activity into 2-3 hours and others spend weeks just “getting ready to get ready.” What stops them from taking the next step, while others are sprinting away from them. My belief is that it’s all about our priorities.

The phrase, “I just don’t have time,” is the adult version of, “The dog ate my homework.” It’s an excuse and we are full of them. I can guarantee every one of us has come up with one reason or another as to why we aren’t where we want to be or haven’t completed a task that has been on our to-do list for months. One reason could be because of having a to-do list that will be discussed in a different discussion.

Priority? Or Not?

The first thing is deciding what is a priority and what is not—what is a purpose and what is the vision and goals behind that purpose? Sometimes we have someone else’s purpose, visions and goals for our life and businesses. Which will get in the way of our achievements. We struggle with making someone else’s priorities ours. This in the end stops us from achievement because it’s not really what we desire for ourselves.

Saying “NO”!

Second, because it’s not truly a priority of ours, we struggle with saying, “No.” I know some of you are saying, “Huh?” It comes down to this: if you don’t know your purpose and have a vision and goals surrounding it, you’ll be more tempted to say, “Yes” to things that don’t compliment it. You’ll allow for ancillary things to pull you in different directions. You’ll continue to feel exhausted, uninspired, and frustrated.

Take Action

Next, once you’ve decided on your purpose, vision and goals, it’s setting an action plan into motion. It’s blocking your time weekly and monthly to be purposeful with your time. To understand what you are doing with your time and how it ultimately is pushing you towards your goals. Being diligent and purposeful with your time helps you realize what to say “Yes” and “No” to in your life (they are equally important). It’s establishing the process to get you where you truly want to go—not someone else’s purpose vision and goals for your life.
Understanding your “Why” is essential to formulating a plan about your priorities. You are either part of your plan and your part of someone else’s, but you get to choose. What will you do going forward to find your purpose and live it? Are you living it? How’s that Priority now, for your business and for yourself? Maybe we should be talking…

For more help with your priority management reach out to us today and be our guest at our next Priority Management session on February 16th.