A simple scroll through social media or the news right now will tell you that everyone is focused on New Year’s resolutions. Post after post and article after article provides you with ideas for what you can change and challenge yourself with for 2020. But what if you focused on priorities instead of resolutions? What if you refined the priorities of your time, energy and resources on the things that should take top focus in your life instead of a resolution that fades after the first few months of the year?
Resolutions are a good thing in that they are goals and challenges we set for ourselves. Often, we set resolutions at the start of each new calendar year because it is a time of new beginnings. Common resolutions are often weight loss, better health, eating well and other self-improvement challenges. These are all great things that lead to more happiness in life, if we follow through with them.
Why Priorities are Important
While resolutions are great things to set, what I think is missing is the thought put into priorities. Instead of setting a resolution or challenge for ourselves in the coming year, we should first assess our priorities and focus on what is truly worthy of our time, energy and resources. We should take the time (at least once a year, if not more) to evaluate what is most important to us and then we can set our our goals and resolutions to line up with our priorities.
The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
Stephen Covey
For example, if one of your resolutions is to learn something new (which is great and talked about in depth here), you should make sure that the thing you are learning fits in with your priorities before you invest your time and resources. Alternatively, if one of your resolutions is to exercise more (which is also a great source of joy as described here), you should assess your priorities and see if it is more urgent or important than the other things you prioritize.
Often priorities are bigger than and encompass our resolutions. For instance,some of my priorities are growing closer to God, using my time better, living a healthier and more productive life, constantly learning, eating well, being purposeful and useful with my time in a way that helps others instead of just myself, and enjoying time with friends and family. These are all big picture priorities that I can use smaller goals or resolutions to me help align my time with.
Benefits of Assessing Priorities
Priorities are more of a constant, guiding principle that the resolutions and goals fall under. Without knowing what our priorities are, it is hard and somewhat random to choose resolutions. Taking time to evaluate your priorities will help set your goals and resolutions in a way that is most meaningful to you. Priorities also help you focus and not feel overwhelmed with your tasks.
When you set resolutions that fit with your priorities, the outcome is more joy and happiness. The energy and time that you put into your goals will feel more satisfying and purposeful.
Resolutions are good things. It is so good to challenge yourself with specific goals that you want to work toward and to try to improve yourself. However, these goals are better if they are grounded in your priorities. Take time to assess your priorities so that your work leads to maximum fulfillment and joy.
Challenge for this week:
1) Spend some time reflecting on your priorities. What guides you? What do you think are the 5 most important things in your life? What is urgent and what can wait until later?
2) As you make your New Year’s resolutions, check them to see if they align with your priorities. If they don’t, they should either be removed from the list or moved to the very bottom.
Need help assessing your priorities? Read this great article on how to set priorities.