Every day you have the opportunity to prioritize what you claim is important to you. Yet, you put other things before the one you say truly matters. That makes what you say is important less important than something else.

What matters to you?

Getting healthy?
Writing a book?
Increasing your income?
Starting a side hustle or entrepreneurial venture?
Getting your art into a gallery?
Pursuing a music career?
Buying a new home?
Having more freedom?
Spending quality time with your family?

If you’re clear on what matters, you can determine what actions you need to take to create it. And if you make taking such actions your priority, you will move toward your goal.

If something is important to you, you act on it. And you don’t let other things take precedence.

Stop Making Other Things Important

If you let other things be more important, what matters to you gets pushed down the priority list…until it comes last. That means you don’t take steps to create what matters until nothing else is more important.

I realize that life can hand you all sorts of situations and circumstances that seem important. And then, those become your priority.

You focus on changing the circumstance. You attempt to find a solution to the problem. Your energy goes to attending to or fixing the situation. Someone else’s challenge takes precedence.

Again, sometimes that’s necessary…for a while, at least.

But at some point, you need to refocus on what matters to you.

You are Just as Important

Unfortunately, many people believe they are unimportant. That means what matters to them is also unimportant.

You may fall into this category.

You believe you aren’t worthy of focusing on what you value.
You believe what other people want and need is more important than what you want and need.
You believe you should or are supposed to always put others first.
You believe you don’t deserve what you desire.

If that’s the case, you will never become someone who prioritizes what’s important to you. Instead, you will prioritize what’s important to others.

Here’s the truth: You are just as important…even more important.

And you are worthy and deserving of whatever you desire.

What others have to say or think about what you do or where you focus your attention is none of your business. Their reactions say more about them than about you.

It’s time to put yourself and what is important to you first.

Priority is a Singular Word

Many people don’t truly understand the original meaning of the word “priority.” This fact contributes to the difficulty they have keeping what’s important at the forefront. When you understand the word’s original usage, you will likely find it easier to prioritize what matters to you.

Priority was strictly a singular word for about 500 years after entering the English language. It meant “the single most important thing” or “the absolute first or most prior task.”

In the 1900s, society pluralized the word into “priorities.” Thus, during the Industrial Revolution, the word came to mean “to juggle multiple demands.”

Here’s the thing.

By definition, only one item can be first at any given moment. Treating everything as a top priority means nothing is truly most important.

And if you constantly shift your priority based on whatever life throws your way on a given day, you’ll never make progress on what you say is important to you. In fact, what you say is important may continually move its way down your list of priorities.

To keep what you say is important at the top of your list, make it “the priority,” not one of many.

5 Ways to Prioritize What is Important to You

Here are a few more ways to keep what’s important to you as your only priority.

1. Follow Your Spiritual Guidance

Pay attention to intuitive messages, inspiration, and what sparks passion. These activities are the ones your soul is pushing you toward. They are most important.

Your soul wants you to grow and evolve. It wants you to pursue activities that help you fulfill your potential and purpose. When you feel inspired or passionate, or you get intuitive messages, that’s your soul talking to you. It’s saying, “This is important!”

If messages show up repeatedly, pay attention, trust them, and act on them. Make doing so your priority.

2. Change Your Identity

If you wait until nothing is more important than what you claim is important, you will never become someone who prioritizes what you say is important to you. You have to step into that identity; be someone who prioritizes what matters.

Someone who prioritizes what matters doesn’t question if or when they will act on that priority. They do it consistently—maybe even daily—because it is important to them. It is the most important thing.

Such a person has the mindset and habits of someone who prioritizes what’s important.

Shifting your identity this way isn’t hard. And it doesn’t take long.

Decide…choose…to be someone who prioritizes what’s important. Remind yourself often that this is who you are now.

As a result, you will focus your attention on what you value. And you will take consistent action to create it. You will be a person who prioritizes what matters.

3. Don’t Shift Your Priorities

If you make what you say is important a priority, keep it first in line for action and attention. Don’t let other things take precedence and push it down the list of priorities.

Have one priority.

If you have to move what matters most to you down the list, make it a very temporary placement. Leave it in second or third place only briefly. Move it back up as fast as you can; set a deadline for it.

Someone who prioritizes what is important knows how to make time for it. So, even when life seems too complicated or busy to focus on your priority, make time for it.

Even 15 to 30 minutes focused on what you value still counts as progress. If you allow your priority to sit on the back burner for too long, it will burn. You might also lose interest and stop listening to spiritual guidance related to it.

Restarting a project after putting it down for any length of time makes it harder to get going again. Plus, it lengthens the time it takes to achieve your goal.

4. Schedule What You Want To Do

Instead of doing what you feel you should or must do, do what you want.

Get out a planner. Schedule all the things you need to do, are committed to doing, feel obligated to do, and should do. Also, add all the activities you want to do, especially those that relate to your priority—the thing you say is important to you.

Then, cross off anything you don’t want to do, or that takes time and energy away from what matters most.

Decide not to spend time, attention, or energy on the things that don’t float your boat or have some benefit.

You might want to spend time with family…or not.

You might want to work out because health is important to you…or prefer to hike with the dog instead.

But if you look at an item on your calendar and feel yourself cringe, that’s a firm “no.” Cross it off.

One of my Inspired Creator Community members said he was going to cross off anything that was a “Hell no. No way. Never.” I’d also delete anything that makes you feel bad in any way, or that you don’t want to do anymore.

And know that some people will be disappointed in you. They might even be angry. But that’s okay.

5. Have Self-Integrity

You might feel out of integrity with others when you decline to be involved in an activity that impacts them in some way. You might have committed or promised to do something in the past.

But your past doesn’t have to keep shaping your present or future. You have changed. You want different things.

So have self-integrity instead. If you tell yourself you will focus on your priority above other things, do that. Keep your promises to yourself. Stay committed to what matters to you.

That doesn’t mean leaving anyone in the lurch. Give them warning. “Hey, I don’t plan to serve on this committee after X date.” Or “I’m so sorry, but my priorities have changed, and I need to focus my attention elsewhere starting on X date.”

You’ll set a good example for others. And you’ll feel so much better when you release yourself from things that don’t matter to you (and that you don’t want to do).

Tomorrow is Not Promised

Finally, create necessity and urgency around what matters to you. Feel as if you need to take action now.

Tomorrow is promised to no one.

If what you say is important to you right now…today, prioritize that. Take action on it. Create what really matters to you.

Why don’t you prioritize what’s important to you? Tell me in a comment below. Please share this post with those who may benefit from reading it.

And if you are ready to prioritize what matters to you, click here.

Image courtesy of pavel1964.