3 Priorities

In my last post, I reflected on my mistakes while searching for what I want to do. Finding what I really want to do is not easy but definitely necessary. Recently, I came across a strategy on priorities which may help me so I'm going to try it.

What are the 3 things you focus on in life?

Apart from not being consistent, another reason for my lack of progress is likely to be the lack of focus. I tried to do and learn too many things at once such as school, triathlon, marketing, coding, finance and investment and the list goes on. After I watched the video, I tried to apply the concept but I realised that it is not easy to keep to only 3 priorities. While it is easy to remove some things on my list, it is very hard to eliminate others. After the first round of elimination, my list looks like this:

1. Coding
2. Marketing & Growth
3. School
4. Triathlon

I'm down to these 4 which I care equally about. I find it very easy to justify that I need to work on all of them. I feel that one priority should definitely be exercising because it keeps me happy and productive. I'm paying so much for university so it is natural that school is one of my priorities. As for coding and marketing & growth, I feel that choosing one means that I'm delaying to learn the other.

Eliminate ruthlessly or accommodate?

After reading Cal Newport's article, How to Become a Rhodes Scholar: Decoding the Accomplishments of Elite Students and much struggling, I have decided to eliminate marketing & growth for now. My reasons are according to the 2 key pieces of information he mentioned are missing in elite students' bios:

1. (Time) If I split my learning time between coding and marketing, I will be less likely to learn as fast as if I focus on one.
2. (Interaction) By being able to code, I can speed up my learning progress for marketing & growth through implementing and testing my own ideas.

My 3 Priorities

With that, my 3 priorities in my life for now, in order of decreasing priority, are:

1. Coding
2. Triathlon
3. School

To not make the same mistake as I did over the last year, I will keep to these 3 for at least 3 months, reflect on my progress and review them then. Add reminder to calendar Now my job is to focus, focus and focus! When deciding to take up a new commitment, these 3 areas of focus will be my criteria. Will it help me in any of these 3 areas? Yes, do. No, reject. Have you tried something like this before? I would really like to hear your experiences (either success or failure) on this.

Photo credit: Pete