The Priorities Game

What really matters to you? Here’s a fun little game that I came across in a book by Dr. Alan Christianson: it’s called the priorities game. It focuses on finding what is truly worthy of your time. A lot of times (and even speaking for myself), people have a hard time justifying the need to cut down amounts of projects/activities. We take on too much and we stress ourselves out, sometimes putting our health on the back burner because work, school, parenting, and other life duties have us too busy to even think about taking care of our own well being.

Then one day, you find your health suffering and ask yourself “how did this happen?” Health needs to be a top priority. We have one body, one life, one chance to live and feel our best. When we feel our best, we interact with others at our best, and it’s a chain reaction. You see, taking care of yourself is also like taking care of you AND everyone around you. Your relationships with others are thriving. People can just feel the positive energy when you’re a positive/enthusiastic/confident person to be around, it’s pretty contagious. That’s why they say to surround yourself with like-minded people. Nobody wants to be around a negative person! They say that misery loves it’s company. A negative person really impacts all of the people around them. Haven’t you ever been around a miserable person and then found yourself in a bad mood too? I know I have. And I’ve also been on the other end and been in a bad mood and it rubbed off on my friends, partner, coworkers, etc. It’s honestly draining.

So back to my point, health and well being need to be a priority in your life! We can all benefit just by your self care. We all have a purpose in life, and our life’s journey is to live at our very best potential. We all win, just think about it. 💭

For the priorities game, all you need is a pen & paper, and it should only take take less than 10 minutes of your time.

Step 1: Clear your mind and sit down. Write down a list of your top 10 time commitments. This can be any extra things you do for work, school, with social media, any social events or time you spend with friends. Write down the 10 that first come to mind.

Step 2: Now imagine that the person who is closest to you just had a health scare. You know for sure that this person will be fine, but he/she needs you by their side for two hours per day for the next two months. Now cross off 7 things from your list in order to help your loved one.

Step 3: In most cases, we find ourselves willing to do more for the people we love rather than we would for ourselves. Now instead of crossing off 7 things from your list, cross off only 5. All you need to do is cut your list in half and free up 2 hours of your day for rest and personal care.

I loved doing this exercise so much and that’s why I shared it with you. I have always put my health first, and I think it’s important for others to put their health first too. Even if you don’t have time for exercise, self care doesn’t only mean exercising. Just taking small steps to get to a better state of mind and practicing positive self talk can help. That has helped me so much in my journey. Eventually you will see that you are in a better mood and your relationships with people are improving. Like I said, put yourself first and the rest will follow. We all win.

Xoxo