Are You Prioritizing Your Priorities Right?

Our language is filled with clever sayings and affirmations concerning "having your priorities in order," and we'd all like to think that we do... but do we really?

Do You Have a Plan?

Because I am self-employed, I am often "planning" things.

And there tends to be a plan, and a plan B and then a backup plan for plan B and before you know it, it becomes an intricately woven layer of plans upon plans.

Most of them are — I'd like to think — pretty good, but one of the ways in which I have to "check myself" on a regular basis is to make sure I have my priorities straight.

What does that mean?

Well, in the past I have had a tendency to put more effort and attention into my backup plans than my primary plans... and I think most of us realize that whatever you give your attention to is also what happens.

By extension, that also means if you are neglecting "Plan A" because you're putting too much time and effort into creating a perfect "Plan B" then odds are you are actually getting in your own way of the success of your Plan A.

Subconscious Messages?

Mrs. Denmarkguy — who's pretty good at the whole "science of emotions" thing — pointed out that if we are spending a lot of time and effort on building a "Plan B" and assroted safety nets "In case Plan A doesn't turn out..." we're actually sending subconscious messages to ourselves that we don't actually have much faith in the workability of Plan A.

Think about it: If Plan A is so marvelous, why would we perceive a need to fabricate a marvelous Plan B, first?

All that energy should be going into Plan A.

Which is not to suggest that we shouldn't at least be aware that we should have a backup plan. Just don't put disproportionately much effort into it!

Ducks on the bay

Cleaning My Desk So I Can Do My Work...

Sometimes our obsessions with safety nets and backup plans are actually a form of procrastination. That procrastination is born out of our fears of a possible failure of the "main event."

Said a little differently, if we keep planning for the main event — and creating "supporting events" — rather than actually launching the main event... we can avoid the possibility of ever having to face potential problems or failures. In the long run, though, it doesn't do us a whole lot of good because we end up with a big pile of regrets because we never "got around to" doing that thing we wanted most to do.

You might think this sounds weird and irrational. Of so, good for you! Maybe you really have your priorities in order. But for a lot of people? It's not so easy and straightforward.

And sometimes we just have to stop and make sure we have our priorities in order...

Thanks for reading!

How about YOU? Is prioritizing an easy and natural process for you? Or do you tend to get caught up in less important details, or even "backup plans?" Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190115 18:35 PST
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