“If you don’t set priorities for yourself, life will live you, not the other way around.” No one put this better than Steve Jobs in his commencement speech at Stanford in 2005, after his diagnosis with the pancreatic cancer:
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life…” he said. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life… Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”
Tapping into your subconscious and harnessing its power will help you uncover your deepest desires for your business and your life. It will unleash tremendous power in all that you do–not just in the future but right now. The Six Most and Vital One exercises will allow that, transforming your life as soon as you begin to use them.
In the Six Most exercise, you will identify your six top priorities for each day; the Vital One is the big goal you must accomplish for the week.
Start with your Six Most. At the end of each day, list the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow, in order of importance. Doing this the night before allows your subconscious to work on it in advance.
The next day, start working on number one first, and do not move on to number two until you have finished number one. You may not get through all six items every day, but by focusing on your most important priority and getting it done, you will be surprised by how much more you accomplish overall.
Every week, it is also important to set your Vital One—the top goal you truly need to accomplish. Naming it at the end of the week or on the weekend gives your subconscious the opportunity to work on it so you will have clarity going into the week.
When you are clear on what you really want to get done, it will be a lot easier to say no to distractions. The more focused you become, the more effective you will be; and the more willing your team will be to mobilize behind your latest initiative. That, in turn, will free you to focus on what you’re most passionate about at your business. Suddenly, you will be busy with balance.
Adapted from The Sustainable Edge.
Want to read more? Pre-order your copy of Scott Ford and Ron Carson’s new book, The Sustainable Edge: Fifteen Minutes a Week to a Richer Entrepreneurial Life
