When life becomes difficult, you become overburdened, or you lose track of what's important, you should take a glance at your list of priorties... but first, you've got to make a list.

Intro: Illimitableman recently posted something that got me thinking. To paraphrase in my own words, he said something to the extent of,

"there is so much knowledge out there, you've got to make sure you pick something to learn, and make sure this something is worthy of your finite time. The longer you spend on one particular topic, the longer you spend missing out on learning about the next. You've got to pick up and move on to the next thing, and once again... make sure you pick the right thing. One thing might be more beneficial to you, so knowing how to choose becomes imperative. This paradigm becomes cyclical once you've got a handle on it."

I want to bridge off of this, and use an important word to do so: PRIORITY.

There's an important saying my great uncle taught me while I was growing up, "if everything is a priority, nothing is a priority."

To properly prioritize, we must first go to the mountaintop and review our true values, orient to our true north, align ourselves with the fundamental principles with which we desire to live our lives. It is only then that our actions will reflect our values. Otherwise, we can easily become “pinballs” in the game of life, simply reacting to the latest and greatest and most urgent outside forces acting upon us, whacking us off our balance or from our intended path.

Body

Illimitablemans posts really got me thinking about how important priorities are. I have the thought of them in my mind subconsciously, but I wonder how many can benefit from what I have come to know as habit, who can learn from my life experience and mistakes.

What I will do below, is help you put things in perspective, if you need help. It is true that if your number one goal is to get laid, then your list will possibly look different than mine. I believe in taking care of myself firstly, and even though I didn't add brushing my teeth to the list directly, you can assume it's less important to me than sleep is. And, if I believe something will directly increase my SMV, I have added an asterisk next to it. All the rest will/may indirectly.

Each one of these tasks will be assigned a number. For example, (1) are my baseline, "have to get these done," everyday tasks. You will also see a letter placed next to each number. This is what I see as most important. For example, (1a) is to sleep 8 hours. So, I will sacrifice meal prep, which is (1d) so that I can sleep 8 hours (1a). The idea is that I would never be in a situation where I wouldn't have enough time to complete 1a - 1d... but, in the off chance I am sick, or in some way fucked up, I need to know what is of most importance to me in each category.

Hint: I want my mind to be in peak condition so that I am able to actually complete my daily tasks. Yes, you may have heard it here first, I will call out of work/anything if I slept like shit. This rarely happens due to me keeping my priorities in line, however, if it does, I'd rather cancel everything and get the necessary sleep so that I am not a fucking zombie. I spent years not sleeping enough in the military, the line is drawn for me now.

1

(1a)Sleep 8 hours*

(1b)Meditate

(1c)Lift/HIIT*

(1d)Track calories / eat clean / and meal prep for my day accordingly*

(1e)Cleanliness, attire, appearance*

2

(2a)Work/income

(2b)Bills/finances

(2c)Home cleanliness

(2d)Direct family and close male friends*

3

(3a)Education/reading/knowledge of any sort*

(3b)Hobbies*

(3c)More distant acquaintances*

4

(4a)Parties/Events*

(4b)FWB

(4c)Plates*

(4d)Travel*

If my baseline shit isn't good, guess who is going nowhere? Me. Both figuratively, and literally.