What We Prioritise
Written by James
Hey Tribe,
Welcome back!
In my last article I discussed the circle of control, highlighting what we can change, what we can influence and what falls in our concern.
The latter being something we cannot do anything about, yet when you think about it, this is where many people put their time and energy, trying to make changes in places efforts are too insignificant to make an impact… global politics, the media, the environment, arguing over mindless trivia…
What we prioritise is the outcomes we get, unfortunately obsessing over things outside our control is resulting in the growth of the manchild – a person lacking direction, responsibility, maturity, and drive.
Most people are actually intelligent, competent and talented, the problem is they allocate time into the wrong places.
Working as a volunteer for an environmental charity, I saw people like this all the time, in fact I was also this person – full of noble intention to make the world a better place, yet squandering potential on causes I had no power over.
Being an ‘Environmental Activist’ felt like pissing up a wall in the hope it would fall over, and due to personal frustrations with my own life, I came to the realisation I had no right to dare trying to change others, if I couldn’t change myself.
This was a major paradigm shift in my attitude, and I quit working at the charity the next day, vowing to focus on getting my life in order.
I had spent too long trying to help others, being focused on local, national and world issues, and saw no positive changes, in a life that truthfully, was getting worse.
It’s important when a man finds their life is not going as expected, to direct efforts to improve their placement, solving problems and creating opportunities.
The good news is when focused on this level you are at the centre of your circle of control, in a position to be fully empowered to make changes.
Not surprisingly, my change in priorities resulted in significant personal self-improvement and realising the importance of focusing self first, I designed a system how I intended to live my life, which I call the ambitions priority system.
The ambitions priority system
Every goal, ambition, dream focuses on five fundamental desires:
Step one: Change yourself
Step two: Improve your family’s standing
Step three: Make an impact in your community
Step four: Change your country
Step five: Save the world
By looking at the list, the further down you go, the less you can control and change.
Just to be able to have a small level of influence on steps four and five requires an immense amount of power and influence.
Using this system, I set a simple rule:
Don’t take on any actions, responsibilities or goals in a later step until you have conquered the step(s) prior to it.
Essentially the focus is to build a strong foundation, therefore if you have reached a position in life where you’ve hit rock bottom, focus on step one – Change yourself.
Practical application
The system is open to tailoring based on life circumstance, personally when I decided to follow this approach I had zero commitments, but for the family man you would still have to keep your family (step two) considerations when working on yourself.
And when is the right time to move up to the next step? When you feel comfortable and ready, just make sure to keep maintaining all the prior steps.
To understand, my thoughts behind applying the system was to be disciplined so I wouldn’t involve myself in causes that were futile. As a result I’ve built myself up to proceed from step one to step two.
Now I’m in a good position in my family growth I’ve started flirting with step three activities – getting involved with the communities in my life.
The ambitions priority system – a tool to maintain focus
I appreciate the system can be quite subjective if you over think it.
You might start asking questions like
“Are you saying I shouldn’t get involved in community activities / charitable donations?”
The answer is – it is up to you, personally when faced with these questions I ask myself:
• Can I afford the time /money / social costs getting involved?
• Does my involvement benefit or hinder lower step objectives?
Essential, the system is based on the old saying “You should learn to walk before you try running”, advice many would gain much benefit from rather than getting involved in activities they are not ready to commit to.
Or as Jordan Peterson said in his book 12 Rules for Life:
“Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world”
I'd love to hear your feedback, please do contact me on Twitter to let me know what you think of today’s article.
Until next time,