There is a big difference between defining your priorities and taking the necessary steps to actually accomplish your goals. The more congruent your priorities actually are, the more likely you are to accomplish your goals. Amazing people clearly define their priorities and have actions that are congruent with their goals. There are people who say, “one day I am going to open a company” or “on Monday I’m going on a diet.”

The first step is actually sitting down and defining what you want to accomplish professionally, personally, spiritually, financially, and beyond. This is not a wish list or a “someday I will get to my goals” list. This is a list to start today.

After you define what you want in the four buckets of priorities- professional, personal, growth, and miscellaneous- what are the critical tasks that need to be done on a consistent basis? For the professional goals, write down the tasks that need to be accomplished. Under the personal bucket, define who needs your love and attention. Furthermore, what activities do you need to engage in? Is it date night with your spouse? Is it a camping trip with your son? Is it going to a recital? Is it eating breakfast or dinner together? With regards to your friends, who inspires you? Who gets you out of your head? Who says “you are working so hard, let’s get a drink”? Who makes you have a belly laugh? Are there hobbies that you enjoy, but neglect? With regards to personal growth, what skills do you need to build? What spiritual connections do you need to engage in? What do you need for your body to be at peak performance? Diet, exercise, meditations, morning rituals, etc. can help your body be ready to perform.

For every goal, these activities need to be crystal clear. They need to be defined and executed at a high level. After you define the activities, it is important to give each priority its own dedicated time, energy, focus, and money. Your day should consist of these tasks, which will help you focus on your priorities and, more importantly, accomplish your goals.

Scheduling Your Priorities

The main way that you focus on your priorities is to define them clearly and schedule them out. True priorities take time and we spend our time on what matters to us most. Oftentimes, we spend time on activities that don’t further our goals. We spend time worrying about what other people think about us. We spend time on indulging on what feels good in the moment. It’s easier to pick up the remote than a book. It’s easy to indulge in other people’s drama than to think about what is going to get us on the path to amazing. During the day, we have the opportunity to become amazing. However, if you want to become amazing you have to schedule time to become amazing. You need time to become amazing at your job. You need time to become an amazing parent, an amazing spouse, and an amazing friend. You need to schedule time to learn, grow your mind, grow your spirit, and grow as a human being. Lastly, you need to schedule time to perform activities that need to be done.

The bottom line is that priorities need to be executed. The clearer you are as to what these priorities are and the better you execute them, the more amazing you are.