“Don’t try, do.

People judge you by your actions, not by your intentions”

I’m not exactly sure where I picked this one up, but we’ve all heard it from multiple sources in multiple ways in our lives.

I have all intentions of doing so many things, and while I may wish to accomplish all of them, in reality I’m only able to do so much.

During my day to day, I’ll come up with or revisit more ideas than I know what to do with. I’ll talk to people about them and get them excited about it too, only to never find the time.

How do I fix this?

Prioritize

Life is short, and as we age the days only seem to get shorter. With so little time to try and do things, we have to get better at scheduling and setting priorities.

If you can’t do everything, do the things that are most important to you and the stamp you want to leave on the world.

It doesn’t matter if it’s important to anyone else, as long as it’s important to you.

Figure out what that is, and work hard at doing your best.

Once you have your priorities set, it’s time to work on scheduling.

Make The Time

Let’s say you want to start a new business or hobby, but your schedule already includes a 9-5 job, family time, exercises, and all of the other things you enjoy about life.

What’s the easiest way to get started?

Make time to start small.

Set aside 1 hour a day, or even per week where you can dedicate your full attention to this ‘priority’. Once that is settled into your schedule, start adding more time.

I remember reading about Tom Morello(guitarist for Rage Against the Machine) when I was first learning how to play the guitar. The article mentioned that he started practicing for 1 hour a day and he was getting better. Then he started practicing 2 hours a day and realized he was progressing even faster. Not long after, he was practicing 8 hours a day and taking his guitar with him everywhere.

It didn’t start out that way, but eventually he ended up building a lifestyle around something he was passionate about, and in doing so, opened up opportunities to become more successful in that world.

The level of success he’s seen isn’t necessarily going to happen for everyone, but if you don’t start somewhere, you increase the chances of failure to 100%.

Look back before you look forward

Once you get started, you definitely want to keep moving forward right? Unless of course it’s not working, or you are not happy, or any number of other things.

This is why I think it’s important to take a step back, and look at your progress.

Review what you’ve accomplished and take a moment to let that sink in.

Feels good doesn’t it?

You went from talking about doing something to actually doing it.

Now that you have a better idea of what it’s going to take to reach your next milestone, you can decide if you want to continue down this path, change the path, or give up and move on to something else.

NOTE: It’s OK to move on to something else. You do not have to stay stuck in something just because you’ve already put time in, consider it an investment in knowledge.

Don’t try, do

You might be naturally talented in some areas of your life, but even so the path to success is a long and tiresome road.

The majority of people are talkers, or at best, triers. Don’t be that, be a doer.

When you look back on your life, you are guaranteed to have some regrets, so prioritize, make time, and go do the things you are really passionate about so they are not on that list.

For some time now, I’ve been wanting to start a blog series called Motivation Monday.

In my office, I have a cork board covered in quotes or clips that I’ve come across and have resonated with me. This series is a digital version of that.

I recently celebrated another lap around the sun and in doing so, am ‘motivated’ to get this started.

“If you have more than 3 priorities, you have no priorities” – Maggie Fox CEO Social Media Group

Definition of “priority”:

Something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or dealt with first.

My ‘list’ of things to do is enormous, so much that I force myself to make lists, and lists of lists in order to keep track of everything.

Between running a web development company, being a working musician, recording artists in my studio, exercise, meals, shows, hangouts, and even resting, it can become overwhelming.

Sometimes I’ll find myself staring at my computer and not knowing what I should be doing(ever done that? even though you have a million things to do?).

Since I run my own business, no one is telling me what to do and when to do it so I have to figure that out for myself. I must prioritize and take care of the most important things that need to be done.

How do I do that?

Make a list! My Top 3

As I mentioned above, I have lists on lists of lists.

In order to prioritize my day to day, I have a single pad of paper that I use to write down my top 3 things for the day.

Typically, I make this list before closing up shop the day before so when I get started in the morning, I can jump right in.

I’ve tried everything from white boards, Windows Notes, Evernote, etc. While these are all helpful in maintaining my overall lists of things to do, what works best for my priorities TODAY is the small note pad in front of my computer.

Can I do more than 3 things in a day?

Absolutely!

Just because something is the highest priority of my day, doesn’t necessarily mean it has to take a long time, it just needs to get done first.

Having my top 3 written down allows me to make sure the more important stuff gets done. Afterward, not only do I feel accomplished, but I’ve made room to take care of whatever is next.

Your top 3 isn’t the be all end all of what you should get done in a day, it’s just a starting point to keep you focused.

Homework

Your homework for this week is to try this every day for 1 week.

Feel free to use paper, your cell phone, and email to yourself, or whatever you will see in the morning.

Either first thing in the morning, or at the end of your day, write down the 3 most important things you need to take care of.

Thanks for reading!

As always, if you have any questions or comments, contact me.