Exercise 3: Goal Prioritizing.

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.”
H. L. Hunt

This is where the magic starts to take place. Prioritizing is one of the most important exercises in goal setting, and as far as I am concerned in most life activities. The priority you place on your goals and values will determine everything else you do in life. It is the way to be efficient with your time, it is the way you be effective with your resources, meaning your money and skills and it is the surest way to get clear on what matters most to you. It clearly brings you closer and closer to your primary aim or your major definite purpose in life. Allow me to share with you a quick analogy to emphasize this point.

Two people who have the values of health, family and career success.

• Person A places the value of family first then career success and then health.
• Person B places career success first then family and then health.

Do you think you would be able to tell the difference between these two people? Of course, there would be a huge difference, especially in their actions. Both people have the same values but different order and the difference in their actions would be as different as night and day.

Sorting and prioritizing is what produces clarity. The method below is simple, effective and can be applied to any area of life that could use sorting. Time limits us being able to do the many, many things we would like so it becomes critical that you choose the most important ones or the ones that will make the most difference to you now. Completing the goal prioritizing exercises does not mean that you have to do the top one first. It will give you the best objective look at what you were able to come up with at this particular time enabling you to make better decisions than you would have been able to without it. Like goal setting, prioritizing is a process. The idea is to learn the exercise and apply it as you continue to grow and achieve your goals.

The objective here is not to over analyze each goal but let your mind flow and prioritize the lists in a few minutes per/list. You can always rethink your priorities and make adjustments later. Now go back over your goal lists and prioritize them. For this part of the exercises we are going to use a simple 3 Step-ABC/123 method. Be sure to complete all three steps; this is very effective at surfacing what is truly important to you so you can get to work on the things that will make the most difference in your life now.

STEP 1: The ABC/123 method simply works like this. You are going to go over your goal lists (Appendix A: Page 78-82) and prioritize each list with A, B, C, D, and so on. A being the most important, B the next, C the next, etc. In the space before the bracket write A, B, C, D, etc.

STEP 2: Once you have prioritized all your lists transfer all of your A goals to the empty A Goal Table, (Appendix A: Page 83-84) then transfer all of your B goals to the empty B Goal Table, and C goals and D goals to the blank lists.

STEP 3: The final step in the prioritizing process: Prioritize each of these lists (Page 84/85) with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on. Look at your list of A) goals and put a 1) in the space before the bracket beside the goal that you think is most important on that list, then put a 2 beside the next most important and so on down the list. Do the same for your B) Goals, C) Goals, D) Goals and so on through the lists.

Now go ahead and prioritize all your goal categories and lists. This should generally only take about 15 – 20 minutes so don’t analyze until your paralyzed. You can always make changes later. Your general gut feeling is usually the most accurate so just go ahead and prioritize your lists.

 

Example on next page.

“The long term consequences are the true measure of anything important that you have to do.”
Brian Tracy

 

STEP 1 – Example of the goal lists prioritized.
Health Goals

Example:

B) Join a fitness club and get on a program

C) Eat a well-balanced diet

G) Jog 3 miles a day

F) Get my teeth whitened

E) Play volleyball on Saturday

A) Achieve the ideal weight with a healthy body/mass index rating

D) Take  herb supplement

 

STEP 2 – Transfer  all A, B, C, D goals.
STEP 3 – Example of the A) goals prioritized.
A) Goals

1)          A) goal from relationship or family category

3)          A) goal from health or recreation category

9)          A) goal from business or hobby category

5)          A) goal from professional or career category

2)          A) goal from personal development category

10)         A) goal from travel category

7)          A) goal from financial category

6)          A) goal from material category

8)          A) goal from contribution category

4)          A) goal from spiritual category

 

Congratulations! That is what I call “Goal Identifying”
A simple three exercise process that enables you to surface and organize your goals. With completion of prioritizing your goals you should end up with your top 6 goals listed as A1 – A6. These six goals is what you have identified as the most important things in your life. Transfer them to the last page in the Appendix A – “My Top Goals”.

How does it feel to look at what you most desire. Exciting I hope. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, scary or raise a feeling of uncertainty, but do not worry. As the process continues and you move toward these goals you will find certainty and clarity. Allow me to ask you some more questions regarding your A1 – A6 goals. 

What I would like you to do is ponder, pray, meditate and let your conscience affirm and confirm if these are what truly matter most to you. Answer the questions below in a quite time and listen to your conscience, that inner voice. I recommend that you ask these questions of yourself often and at various times and stages through your journey.

• Would achieving these goals truly make the difference in my life?
• Do these goals represent what I have answered in the life defining questions? (Go back to page 18, 19, 20 and look at your answers compared to your A1 – A6 goals.)
• Of these six goals is the A1 goal the single most important goal?
• Do three or four of these goals represent balance for my life?
• Are you working on these goals in your life now?
• Are you making progress?
• Are you using the best of your time and talent toward the most important goals?
• Are you confident that you know the highest priority activities to achieve these goals?
• Can you identify the obstacles between you and these goals?
• Am I committed to achieving these goals?
• Can I let go of the unimportant and begin to spend sufficient time on these goals?

If you are not working effectively on the most important goals in your life then the only question is why not? Write your answer down and check if it is acceptable and okay with you. If not I suggest that your set your top three goals. Apply the rest of the exercises to these three goals and begin to measure the results. Measure the results in two ways.

1. With tangible measurements like notable progress, projects completed, scores achieved, moneys earned, etc.
2. How your life responds. Your emotional life, your patience and understanding with others. Your ability to deal with set backs and difficulties. Your over all health and well being and the peace you experience. May I suggest that the latter point be the true measure.

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans”
Peter F. Drucker