If you imagine yourself lying on your deathbed, what would you like to have achieved in your lifetime?
My experience is that we often are too busy with life to take the time to reflect on what’s really important for us and to then prioritize accordingly. We go with the flow of our lives without actively driving ourselves towards the life we yearn for.
By not taking an active role in defining what is important for us, we often follow the definition of success defined by the society we live in. If you have a great career, a perfect family, a good relationship with your partner, and a collection of wonderful experiences, then you are a success.
However, this standard approach to success is quite broad and can seem unrealistic for most of us who juggle with small kids and a demanding job.
So, we need to dig into what is important for us and start prioritizing accordingly.
We are luckily all different as individuals so it's completely normal that we prioritize our personal lives differently.
So what is YOUR success criteria for life and how would you like to prioritize to ensure you live a meaningful life?
Here are a few tips to find out what your success criteria are:
1. Try to take a step back and ask yourself:
Why did I choose to settle down where I live now? What was appealing to me?
Why did I choose this partner for my life? What did I particularly like about him/her?
Why did I choose to work where I work now? What was appealing to me?
2. What am I particularly happy about in my life and why?
3. What do I feel I am missing in my life?
4. What would I do if I didn’t have to pay attention to money, time or family?
5. Now take a look at everything you have written down. What are your success criteria for your life?
That is to say, what are the 5 most important things you would like to have achieved when you are old?
6. Now try to look at your life and see how you could do things differently to make sure you focus your efforts into the things that really matter to you.
What would you like to change in your life?
How would you like to prioritise your time?
I hope this exercise helps you prioritize your time efficiently so you can focus on the areas that matter and live a more meaningful life.