You Should Only Have 3 Priorities
Any more and you are juggling crystal balls
We are right in the middle of a pandemic.
The beginning of a new year and the future is so uncertain for so many of us. Every day in the news there is a reason for more panic and anxiety. We all wish we could go back to how things were.
We don’t know if this year will be any better. By the looks and sounds of it, nah. We need to brace ourselves once more, for the onslaught of a barrage of uncertainty and changes.
One thing that has made me weather the storm with some ease was that I decided to pull back, reign in and only have a few priorities. Everything else is a distraction.
In no particular order.
Family and personal life
With schools going online and most gatherings cancelled, I had more time to spend with my husband and kids. Initially, it was too much. We were all in each other’s faces.
We gradually got into a routine and things began to flow. I realised that we don’t need to do stuff every weekend, go to friends, arrange playdates, attend birthday parties. You don’t need to attend every dinner invitation. Well, now that we can’t, it was all the more reason to cook and eat at home. The messages and phone calls and invitations dried up. It worked for me.
There is more time to spend alone and do some introspection and reflection. More time to read books, journal and meditate. More time to exercise and select healthier meal options.
I know some people just want the old ways back. It’s too difficult to have to navigate this new world. If you would only try.
Work/professional vocation
Most of us need to work to put food on the table for ourselves and our family. A lot of us have aspirations for early retirement and financial independence. That is certainly within everyone’s reach.
Start early and stay the course in working, saving and investing. It doesn’t happen overnight and you have to say no to a lot of things that you can afford and want right now. It is also a way of building up some resistance to the all empowering need for consumerism and having the latest cars and gadgets. When you’re isolating at home, no one sees your car. No-one cares.
Only you that have another 18 months of car payments to go. It’s a relic of the industrial age. Things have changed. Let’s change with the times. The smart ones look like they’re eating out of the soup kitchen every night, but their earnings are piling up and they sleep soundly at night.
No-one sees you when you are rolling around in bed, waking up in cold sweats and thinking about how you are going to meet all your expenses. And now the rainy day has arrived.
Spirituality and inner world
To try and make sense of the world, one needs to at least try and understand it. That means spending a lot of time alone and thinking. Thinking about where you are in life, how you got there. What fortunes and misfortunes you have met along the way and in what way have they shaped where you are right now. No situation is permanent. If you want to change your life, you can.
All you need is the desire to want to change. To envision your new life. To emulate others who have made it. Whether you get your guidance from mentors, YouTube videos, online courses, just start.
If you don’t start you will be in the same place next year. The hardest step is to actually start. The rest is easy.
What are your 3 priorities?
