Prioritising Changed Me

My life has improved dramatically over the past year.

At the start of 2023 I had very little idea of who I was, what I wanted or how I could serve the world.

Directionless, clueless and confused.

Fast forward 12 months and I’ve:

• Healed a lot of emotional and mental scars

• Cultivated a better relationship with self

• Gained confidence and self assurance

• Spend more time on what is important

One of the main contributing factors to this level of growth has come from prioritising.

Prioritising is choosing what is important and focusing resources (time, energy and money) on said things.

Each of us has priorities, but most have not consciously decided them.

Priorities can stem from many places:

Emotional wounds, needs, wants, society and family.

The actions we take, highlight what we prioritise.

Tony Robbins says there are 6 human needs:

• Certainty

• Uncertainty

• Connection

• Significance

• Growth

• Contribution

I’ve wanted to share my self development journey for years. But there was too much uncertainty around doing that and I needed the opposite.

So I would find certainty in consumption, in drugs and youtube.

My intention was to create but my actions were rooted in consumption.

Intention is worthless without action.

You don’t shoot, you don’t score.

Prioritising what mattered increased the certainty in myself and fostered growth. Leading me away from self destructive habits and toward positive mental and emotional state.

Framework - What, Why, When, How

I’ve condensed how I managed to prioritise over months of trial and error into a 4 step framework.

This tasks is most effective by writing down.

What:

Gaining clarity on what you find important to focus attention.

e.g. Showing up for myself of a daily basis by writing 500 words.

Use this 1 minute tool to establish scores for each of the main areas of your life.

Now determine what area(s) you’d like to prioritise and what specifically in those areas.

Equally as important as knowing what you find important is what you do not.

You only have so much time, energy and attention. Increasing focus on one area will reduce it in another.

A.k.a choose your suck.

e.g. my priority is to build consistency with writing and spend as much free time as possible on creating. So, my relationships may suffer in the meantime.

Why:

Knowing why you do something is crucial in making positive change.

The stronger and more why’s you can create behind what your chosen priority is, the greater chance of success in that area.

e.g. Showing up for myself of a daily basis with consistent habits of writing 500 words

Why’s:

• I am the type of person who is consistent

• I want to know what i am capable off

• Creation helps me express

• Others may benefit from my experience

• If I don’t show up for myself how can i show up for the world

• I gain clarity on thoughts and feelings

• Small wins daily lead to massive results

• This is living in alignment with my best self

You get the point.

Cultivate your own list of why’s to root the what into your identity.

When:

How many times do you not put something in your calendar and A, forget to do it or B, forget about it completely

When trying to create new habits, having routines reduces the friction from thought to action.

e.g.

Meditation - Straight after waking up. Between 8:00-8:30pm.

Reading - last thing before bed. Between 11:00-11:30pm.

Creating routines and scheduling in time for priorities increases the likelihood you’ll do the task.

Clarity and specificity.

If you are vague around any part of this framework, you are setting yourself up too fail.

How:

What are the actionable steps you can take to get from A to B

e.g. Write 500 words per day

Read one page

Meditate for 1 minute

Knowing how is the lever mover, without action intention is pointless.

Make the steps simple, repeatable and impactful.

Increasing Likelihood of Success

Energy:

Energy fluctuates throughout the days. Tasks require different amounts of mental and physical energy. Syncing tasks with your energy levels will improve focus, effectiveness and chance of completion.

i.e. I Write first thing on the morning when my energy is high. Mid afternoon I take a break (dip in energy)

If this concept is new to you, take note every hour or so throughout a few days and get a feel for when you have more energy. schedule tasks around your energy.

Consistency:

Consistency is crucial part of success. Consistency is my priority. Therefore I have low barriers to success

i.e Meditate 1 minute

Read 1 page

Write 1 sentence

I make being consistent easy, making habit formation easier and improve overall satisfaction. I’ve always had high expectation but this has resulted in low self esteem and constant let down.

Lower expectation means I can win on the daily and feeling good leads to more success.

Prioritising happens whether you like it or not. Don’t fall victim to your unconscious needs.

Choose what is important and take the wheel of your life.

All you need to know is what is Important right now and decide what the very next step is.

So, what will it be?

Stay Curious

Morgan Bedford