Setting Values and Priorities

The next step in creating a life plan is establishing your values and priorities.  Some may say this is the first step but I like to think of this as the second step just because know that I have established what my plan for my life is I need to sit down and can more clearly see what my values are based on what I want to do with my life. 

You can go two ways in writing down your priorities, you can create a numbered list or you can just list them out, I did somewhat of a combination of the two.  I wrote down the priorities in my life that are set in stone.  Then there are other values I have that are important but I’m not sure where they fit in within the big scheme of things.  They are still things I value but does valuing my health come before or after my career?  I don’t really think it matters.  Now when talking about priorities and making sure they are falling in line with where they should be I would have to say that it is important to look at the big picture here and not the day to day decisions.  For instance, I value my health over my career but there are days that I have to work late to meet a deadline and I just don’t have time to make it to the gym.  Does this mean my priorities are out of place?  No.  I still value my health over my career but it’s one of those things that sometimes my other priorities take a slightly higher preference depending on the circumstances I find myself in on a daily basis.  That is one of the reasons I like to not have my priorities in any particular order that way I can my health and my career are two major priorities to me.  They will take priority over playing a computer game by myself or playing sick instead of going to the gym.  Then I don’t have the dilemna or guilt of having to choose working late over going to the gym because they are mostly on equal footing.  I will say that sometimes it is important to have priorities given a specific number and in that case I would say in priority two points lower on the scale can trump any given priority.  So if maintaining good healthy is number 6 on my priority list and focusing on my career is number 8, then yes I can work late and skip the gym, it’s only moving up two points.  However if health is number 5 on my list and focusing on my career is number 8 then perhaps I need to either re-evaluate my priorities or I need to leave work and hit the gym or find some other time to make sure my priorities aren’t conflicting with one another.  This will make the rest of what I include in the plan easier and also will establish a foundation for making decisions that make affect my life somewhere along the lines.  Next on the list will be the goal setting which was the big culmunation of why I started writing this last night.  We will be hitting that topic tomorrow.  Good luck on deciding what your real values and priorities are.  I know I’m going to have another look at mine now.