Do you have priorities and know what they are?

Do you think about what is important to you and more importantly, are you part of your own priority and importance list?

If you are curious then keep on reading.

Today I would like to shed some light and talk about priorities-priorities in relationship to yourself.

Do you consider yourself to be important?

If your answer is Yes, then how important do you think you are in your life?

Let's take it a step further, what does that look like for you on a day to day basis?

Because if you think you are important, but your life revolves around everybody else, your family, your clients, your work or whatever else, then you might want to reconsider and closely take a look as to why you said yes in the first place.

You know what they say. Or maybe you don't, but let me tell you, "Talk is cheap." It is not what you say, but what you do that determines if you really put yourself as a priority.

If I can throw in my two cents about what I have learned: There are a lot of people who consider themselves to be important in their life, but when it comes to their actions, nothing actually points in that direction.

I know in our society there is a big emphasis on the importance of everybody else, and we are constantly reminded not to think too much of ourselves. I mean, you don't want to take it overboard and have your ego be the size of New York [and I know people like that :)]; however, by the same token, you don't want to hang out at the other end of the spectrum either. The side where you don't think much of yourself and based on that, you end up being the slave of everybody else's importance. Trust me when I say this, neither one is a healthy place to be. There is nothing wrong with a healthy sense of importance. I actually highly encourage it.

It is interesting to me how we became so good at making all kinds of lists, but somehow we forgot that we are part of the equation and that our life revolves around us.

I don't want to belittle the survival list stuff; however, I think there is a bigger picture to consider. Because if you are not an active part of your day-to-day life and if you don't make yourself a priority, then I don't think it's possible to live a great life and feel content with it. You'll always feel like something is missing. Now is actually all we have. Yesterday already happened and tomorrow didn't come yet. The question is: If you don't do it today, when will you?

Please don't wait and become one of those people who do the laundry, clean the house, take care of the kids, take care of the husband/wife or pets and then maybe has time for her/himself or not at all. If someone asks you or points out to you it is time to prioritize yourself, you justify why it is that way. Then the next year of your life you keep doing the same thing. By the time you turn around you are in your 40's or 50's and nothing much has changed. Except early in the game you promised to yourself that once your kids grew up, or once you have more time or more money, you'll start doing something about it. However life got in the way and it never quite actualized. Now you are just kind of taking it as it is.

Do something today that puts you at the top of your priority list, and tomorrow and the day after that, and if you keep taking little steps each day, then by the time you realize it, you will have arrived at your destination and you will be a much happier person as a result of it.

Here is what you can do to start:

Basically, you are going to keep track of all your activities for a period of one week. It is good to keep a log of your activities, unless you have an excellent memory and you can recall everything. :) If that isn't your case, write it down. List the things you are doing on a daily basis. At the end of the week you are going to review it.

Here is what you are going to look for:

How much time have you spent just with yourself?

What activities have you scheduled and participated in that made you feel important?

How many times have you done something to nurture yourself?

How many times have you taken an action to improve the way you feel about yourself?

How many times did you keep a word to yourself?

How many times did you have fun?

How many times did you do something creative?

If the answer to all or almost all of your questions is zero, you can be pretty sure there is some work to be done.

Based on what you get, you decide if you put yourself as a priority or you just in a backseat of your life. Be honest with yourself.

Don't use this exercise to create judgments. The intention is to improve where you are at and get into the driver's seat. It is never too late to start doing something.

The question is: Are you willing to take the action?

Let me know how it goes. If you like, drop me an e-mail with "Worksheet" in the subject line and I will send you a worksheet to help you work on this exercise.

Enjoy and whatever you do, don't forget to have fun!