Self Improvement Articles

 

Getting Clear on Your Priorities and Life Purpose
By Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified Life Coach

As I move through life and speak with people around me, I'm aware
that many of us feel something is lacking in our lives, and yet we
are uncertain what that is. Our lives have become full of tasks to
do, responsibilities to shoulder, promises to keep. And a cacophony
of information is thrown at us! It's hard to get clear on our own
priorities. It's harder still to hear our own inner voice amidst the
turmoil.

Most of us want to have a clear sense of what matters most to us, yet
searching for purpose doesn't seem like an easy task, does it? It
would be great if we could just wake up one morning and have an 'ah
ah!' moment and be set for life. But I think knowing who we are and
what we want is actually a long-term process. I think too, that our
purposes - naturally -morph with us over time.

A while ago I watched a program on personal finance, and the
gentleman said that if your goal is to save or invest, you should
always pay yourself first. I began to think that perhaps one of the
ways we can invest in our life purpose is to pay ourselves first - in
time. Studies have shown that those who make time for themselves
have more peace and serenity in their lives and a better quality of
living.

In order to get clear on your purpose, you must be willing to find a
way spend time alone on an ongoing basis. That means you need to
schedule time for yourself and make keeping that commitment a
priority in your life. Perhaps that should be the first thing you do
every day. You could go for a walk, jog, meditate, garden, write in
your journal, or just sit and breathe - whatever works.

Time alone gives you perspective. It gives you a regular place to
work through the issues in your life and make decisions. It gives
you space and quiet and allows your inner voice to be heard. It
brings clarity to your visioning and goal-setting.

In order to achieve the goal of more time for yourself, you may need
to be ruthless in dealing with some of the things that are taking up
your time now. You may have to sacrifice a little income to gain
time. Perhaps choose to live a simpler life, downsize your home and
rid yourself of unneeded material things. Giving away the television
might be enough to free you! Or maybe it's time to delegate or
outsource some responsibilities - hire a maid, an assistant, or
someone else to help with routine tasks.

Clarifying what really matters to you will set you free to live life
to its fullest potential. Knowing what you stand for allows you to
proactively seek the people, situations and things that support your
core values. If you know your priorities, you can assess every demand
on your time against them.

This year, give yourself the gift of time by yourself, with yourself,
doing things that you enjoy. Take a long term view of your life to
make sure that how you are spending your days now is in line with
your overall vision and a true reflection of what you really want.
Make the choice to pay yourself first. It will pay dividends both in
the present, and in the future.

Here is a simple exercise to get you started on the path to living a
life focused on your top priorities.

On a blank piece of paper, write down everything you most want for
yourself from your life-- the things you say are most important to
you. Some examples would be close family relationships, health and
well-being, meaningful work, long term friendships, supportive
community, creative pursuits, travel and adventure, financial
freedom, spiritual life, beautiful home environment, recreation and
fun, community service, or personal growth. Add your own examples to
this list.

Choose five of the most significant of these items, and list them in
order of what's most important to you. Then, next to each item on the
right hand side, put a number on a scale of zero to five that
represents the priority you have given this item in the past three
months, with zero being no attention at all, and five being full
attention.

Your list might look like this:

1. Family - 2

2. Meaningful work - 4

3. Health and well-being - 5

4. Financial freedom - 0

5. Travel and adventure - 0

Note: Your list might have no #5's and some 0's on the right if you
have not been giving attention to what truly matters to you.

Does your list indicate you're not spending you time doing what you
say is most important to you?

Are you spending time accomplishing other people's priorities, but
not your own?

Memorize your list of priorities, and use it as a guideline for every
demand that is made on your time.

Don't let anything come between you and what truly matters most to
you!

Recommended Resources

Here are some suggested books if you want to read more about getting
clear on your priorities and life purpose:

i. 'The Path' by Laurie Beth Jones

ii. 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen Covey

iii. 'Callings' by Gregg Levoy

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This article is written by Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified
Life Coach, Speaker and Writer. She has been a practitioner and, more
recently, a teacher of yoga and meditation for more than 20 years.
She incorporates the practices of wellness, centering, breath,
mindfulness, creative alertness, self reflection, cultivating
awareness of the now, and creative "time out" into her coaching and
speaking philosophy. She aspires to show others ways to access their
deeper selves, find the deeper underlying reality of who they really
are, and design their lives from the inside out. For free resources
and programs on work-life balance and living your best life, visit
Jan's website at http://www.janmariedore.com

(c) 2005 Jan Marie Dore. All Rights Reserved.

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