365 Ways To Wellbeing – 253rd Way
We have tons of ideas how we should live our life. What is important and what’s not, what we want, what things to avoid, what to do tomorrow, etc. Ideas turn into plans and plans, especially good ones, should turn to actions. It just that our memory is very short and we are easily distracted. What was important yesterday doesn’t feel that important today. That when a priority list comes in rescue.
Take a seat, relax and think. What is really important at the moment? Is it important still tomorrow? What about next month? You will find at least a dozen very important things. Write them all down. Then start thinking again. Can you remove any of them? Probably yes. Then cut your list down to three or four REALLY important things. Things that help you lead the kind of a life you have always wanted. For example “always look at the bright side of life”.
I think it’s a good idea to have two priority lists. The one I just mentioned helps you to plan your life in general, to plan those big changes and draw guidelines. The other should be simpler. It could be about everyday things. Things that help you to keep in together so to speak. Things that make your everyday life run smoother and save your precious energy. It could be something like “start your day with a newspaper” or “go out before dark”. Something very simple and almost naive.
Finally take both of your lists and compare them. Are there any contradictions? Is there some things that doesn’t go together or are somehow competing with each other? If yes, change the list.
Finally put your lists somewhere you can see them, for example on the fridge door. This is very important since you really have to see your lists in order to remember. Make it a daily habit to go through your list in a morning and you will find it easier to implement those things in your daily life.
Remember that you should question your lists occasionally. Is there something that doesn’t work out for me? Should I change something? Change is integral part of life and a list that doesn’t need changing is a bad list. Over the time you will find some things that stay though. Some things that are so important that you wanna keep them on your list. Keep them.
Making a good list really takes some thinking but it’s worth it. It can really help you to separate important from waste of time. Don’t be disappointed if you can’t always do what’s on your list, that’s just life. It doesn’t always go how we want it to go.
This day we took pictures of Unna. It helped me to remember again what’s on my priority list. The family 🙂
Read more about my “Wellbeing Challenge 2013 – 365 ways to wellbeing”.
