I don’t know how you feel, but to me, it felt like this new year, and decade, just came running over me like a train with no stopping. I felt overwhelmed by all the goal-setting prompts that flooded my social media streams and found it hard to find the focus to choose my goals.
I think I felt like a regular type of goal setting indeed wasn’t what I needed right now. Like if I were to set some goals, they would just be caught from thin air. Like they would have no solid ground to stand on.
Then, the other day, I stumbled on this exercise in getting your priorities straight. The famous investor Warren Buffet is said to have invented it, and I heard about it from my mental trainer.
It brought me clarity and put me on the right track. I hope it will do the same for you.
The exercise took me about half an hour and consists of three steps.
To reap most of the benefits and gain the most clarity I urge you to do them one step at the time. No reading ahead until you have finished the step you are at.
If you’re up for it, get a pen and paper out and start!
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The Warren Buffett Priority Exercise
- Make a list of twenty-five things that you want to accomplish within the next two years. It can be within your work, business, or personal life. Or a combination of them altogether.
- After you’ve done this, you determine which one is the number one top priority out of all of these. Then you go on choosing the number two in priority, and then number three, and down to number five in priority. You highlight, underline, or circle these five top priorities.
- The twenty things left on your list now automatically go on to a directory called ”AVOID AT ALL COST.” You can not get on these until you have accomplished your top five priorities.
I believe the reason for this being a successful method for getting things done is that we, as humans, often get scattered. We gladly lose focus, myself included 😃, with something that is not our top priorities when we feel like things get tough, we hit a roadblock or get bored with what we’re doing.
When we then have started on other projects, it’s hard to get back on track with the things that matter. We end up spreading ourselves to thin and not getting anywhere with it.
To instead formulate what our top priorities are, and put our blinders on for the things we don’t deem as important. Well, it puts our eyes on the target and sets us up for success.
I felt somewhat of a relief actually, after having completed this exercise, realizing that I can’t go after it all at the same time. And some kind of thrill also. It would be so cool to be able to pull my top priorities off, nothing could beat that feeling.
I hope you find this exercise as clarifying as I did.
Much Joy
Linnea