Look at me! I’m here with episode two of Weekday Wisdom! Did you miss yesterday’s episode? You can find it here.

Today’s quote is from Mark Morgan Ford, and he said,

“Adhering to a daily schedule
that is led by your vision
and run by your priorities
is the surest path to personal freedom.”

Now I’m of two minds on this one.

Yes, I totally believe you need to have a vision for where you’re going. And that you should be always mindful of your priorities. However, I think you need to allow a little wiggle room.

Last year and this year, when it came to my planning my goals for the year, I created a mini priorities vision board. Here’s an example from this year.

Each year, I choose five general things that I want to accomplish. This year’s are almost the same as last year — three of the five are the same. This year I’m focusing on health, writing books, growing my business, reading books, and clearing energy leaks.

Now, what does all that mean?

This is my vision, my larger vision. I recommend you do something like this, as well. This way you have a vision for your ultimate goals for the year. In other words, where do you want to be at the end of the year?

For example, as I mentioned in yesterday’s Weekday Wisdom, I’m trying to get rid of all the health problems I’ve been experiencing due to the car accident. That’s why Health is there and in a prominent position. I know this is a long-term project. I am not going to be in perfect health by the end of the year. That’s just an impossibility. But I can be closer to my goal.

So, this mini vision board represents my big, overall goals. And then I have a document where I take each big goal and I detail what do I want to specifically work on in that realm.

For example, under health, I have my weight loss goals. I’m intending to lose 50 pounds this year. Does that get me to a healthy weight? No, it doesn’t, because I’m so overweight. But, that’s a little less than a pound a week and it should be achievable. I’ve decided to do that by increasing protein, fiber, and water, and decreasing processed foods and sugars. That’s in part inspired by a book I’m reading called The Craving Cure. I’m only a third of the way through — I’ll be writing a review on my blog Carma’s Cookery about it. I am so impressed. I’m loving this book. It’s so in alignment with what I know was a science writer and what I’ve been aiming for in my own health for years. It talks about neurotransmitters and how, when they are out of whack, they can cause cravings for unhealthy foods. But anyway, that’s not what this is about.

Create a vision and then create little, mini priorities within that vision.

Now, today’s quote suggests working on your priorities daily. However, there’s no way I can do something toward each of my five goals every day. I tried to do that last year with my five goals and it drove me insane. There are going to be days that you focus on one goal over the others. What I try to do is, on average, at least touch something on all these five goals within a week. If you can make a baby step toward each of your five goals every week, that’s 52 weeks that you’re getting closer and closer and closer to your ultimate vision.

Like I mentioned yesterday, you may not get all the way there in a year. But if you got halfway there, and halfway there, and halfway there, you’ll get there eventually.

This is how I embody today’s quote in my life. I create my five general vision points that I’m focusing on:

• Health.
• Writing books, because, obviously, I want to get Public Speaking Super Powers done by August.
• Reading books. I have a year’s worth of book in my home that I’ve promised to review. Therefore, I’ve promised myself that I’m going to read at least five pages of a book I’ve promised to review five days a week. Last year I tried to do seven days a week, and I just lost it. I should be able to maintain five days a week — that’s only 25 pages a week. I can do that. And that allows me another 10 pages a week from books I want to read for fun, because I can’t just do “have to.” I do have some pleasure in there, too.
• Grow my business. I’m not 100 percent sure what I’m doing for that, yet. I’m still trying to figure that out. Which is why I’m enrolled in a couple of mentoring programs. This is something else I highly recommend. Get a coach. Don’t do this on your own. I’m making so much more progress now that I’m actually hiring people to help me figure out what it is I want to do.
• And clearing energy leaks. This is something I learned from Nick Unsworth. I did his Life on Fire Challenge and they talked about energy leaks. Energy leaks are unfinished projects that weigh on your conscious. For example, on my desk is a pile of magazines. I don’t read magazines very often and last year I got a whole bunch of magazines for free. I don’t know why. I just started getting them. So now I’ve got this huge pile of magazines. That’s one energy leak project I’ve got. Another one is my downstairs room. In my home, we’ve got a garage that we’re going to use as an office. Right now it’s a storage room. And it’s driving me crazy because I have to work off the kitchen table because my office is a pile of boxes. That’s also an energy leak project I want to focus on.

In Summary

Keep a vision.

Prioritize things within that vision.

And then relax knowing that as long as you take baby steps forward, you’re going to achieve that vision, eventually.

I hope you got some value out of today’s Weekday Wisdom. Please, comment on this video and let me know what you’d like me to talk about in future videos. I can talk about quotes like I’ve been doing these last two videos. Or I can talk about specific techniques. I talk about online marketing, product creation, and mindset. What do you want to know about? Help me create the content that best serves you.

Remember:
Don’t box yourself in.
Spread your wings and fly.
You are capable of more than you know.

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