Have you noticed that most people do too much? Their lives are cluttered with unnecessary activities, busy work, an array of ‘crap’ that prevents them from doing what is important. They waste their most valuable commodity – time – responding to false urgency while ignoring the truly important.
Sure, they’re super busy, but they’re not nearly as effective as they could and should be. When it comes to transforming your body and health, focus wins over activity every time.
The people who are successful at being fit and healthy for the long term narrow their focus and spend their time on the small things that matter, and they delegate, eliminate, minimize or systemize the rest. If you want to be happier and healthier, the key is to be better at fewer things, not mediocre at many. You have to be effective, not just busy.
One of the top ways to do this is simply to make a list and prioritize. All the successful mentors of mine preach and use ‘the list’. There is no set way to have your list, except to keep the “priority must do” items at the top to ensure they get done and then take a hard look at the others to see if they are worth your time. If you don’t get everything done that day, don’t get discouraged, slide your tasks to the next day and prioritize again.
The list is an active moving document that is flexible with your life. So keep it up to date and somewhere that is easy for you to remember to check.
I keep mine on my phone with the checkboxes next to each item. Let me tell you it’s so satisfying when you get a task done and then physically check it off the list. It creates a mental victory and positive energy.
So make your list for today, prioritize, and narrow your focus on the handful of things that really matter, and get those done. You’ll be surprised by how many things that used to take up so much time weren’t nearly as important as you thought they were.