Several times a year I sit down and think about the things that are important to me and why they’re important to me. I usually do this when I have a new set of responsibilities or a new schedule, or when I’m feeling unmotivated or overwhelmed, or all of the above.
Putting my priorities down on paper and categorizing them seems to be an obsession of mine. I was reading through my journals and I found that I’ve recreated this list or brainstormed this list over and over again. And yet again, I’m sitting down again to write down these priorities.
It’s good for me to work these things out. It helps me recognize where I am in life, helps me know where I’ve been and where I’m going. It also helps me try to find balance. It helps me know if I’m doing too much or doing too little. If I’m doing too much, I feel frazzled, mean, and tired. If I’m doing too few things, I feel worthless lazy, uninspired, and sloppy.
I try to keep this list as simple as possible because I know there’s never enough time to do everything. I also try not to get too hung up on making this list perfect or making it make complete sense. Several of the items listed here really overlap, or I couldn’t fulfill one thing that’s important to me without fulfilling other things that are important to me – sort of a chicken-and-egg problem.
These are the things I wrote down this week:
| Things that are important to me | More specifically … | Things I can do or am doing |
| Feeling close to my Heavenly Father and Jesus | Feeling the Spirit in my life | Worship them by keeping their commandments. Worship them through song and word. Read scriptures, pray, meditate, exercise, attend temple, partake sacrament, have family home evening, attend church meetings, read church magazines, work on Personal Progress, read the missionary guide, listen to good music and programs. |
| Building good personal relationships | Being a loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend | Be patient, loving, kind. Be more service-oriented. Be unselfish. Be humble. Be more prayerful for those I visit teach. Be a better writer, caller, e-mailer. |
| Maintaining my physical health | Exercising, eating well | Exercise-yoga, running, weights, walking, swimming, biking. |
| Expanding my knowledge and becoming inspired | Continually learning, experiencing, and discovering new places and things. Learning new skills. | Read good books, attend good conferences, workshops. Listen to good music. Watch good movies, performances, listen to good podcasts. Seek good art. Learn about genealogy. |
| Sharing things I know and things that inspire me. Being creative. | Using music, imagery, the written word, speaking to apply what I learn or things I’ve imagined. | Practice writing, conversing, speaking, teaching, playing the piano, singing, decorating, journaling. |
| Being a good influence in my community | Learning about issues that affect my community. | Read/listen to news, vote, becoming involved. |
| Taking care of the environment around me | Keeping my house and car clean and comfortable | Keep things simple, donate things away that I don’t need, have a good organization system, have a sensible cleaning plan, pick-up as I go. |
| Becoming more self-reliant | Becoming a better worker and developing my skills | Practice my skills. Read related blogs, journals, articles. |
