How To Know What To Prioritize In Life

Prioritize things according to how much they will impact your life, or by how much they will mean to you at the end.

Try to imagine the moment of your death.

…I know, that might sound shocking but bear with me for a moment.

You are lying on your deathbed, the people that mean the most to you are next to you and everyone has already said their last goodbyes.

As you wait for your final moments the person that means the most to you steps up. They have been with you for your entire life, have supported you, loved you, and have been your closest friends in all those years.

Now they have just one question: “After all you have accomplished in your time here, after everything you have done, what did you do that meant the most to you?”

Think about the question above and then organize everything you do, should do, or want to do according to this question, eliminating the previous answers one by one.

Write everything down

At first, write out everything you are doing right now and everything you should or want to do as well.

This can be things like jogging, writing, spending time with my partner, spending time with my parents, going out with friends, playing games, watching TV, working, researching, studying, reading, meditating, swimming, running, sleeping, etc.

Once you have everything you are doing in your day (the exception being eating, breathing and bathroom breaks), it is time to think about the above exercise and sort accordingly.

Do NOT prioritize your life by what is easiest or what is the most fun right now, but instead by what gives your life the most meaning and what makes you fulfilled, because those are the things that make or break your life in the end.

Change all the items on your list to be in a particular order, with no ‘ties’ on any level. You can only have one item per priority.

A tool for your life

Doing this allows you to have a list that can be used as a tool for your life.

A lot of the times you will find that you would rather do things that are not as high on the list but are more fun, however, whenever you switch a higher priority item for a lower priority item, you will find to regret what you have done by the end of the day.

On the other hand, every time you replace something of a lower priority with something of a higher priority, you will find that you are glad you did it, even if it was harder.

Say your friends want to go out on Friday evening with you to a bar, but you already planned to work on a project that evening, will you go?

Whatever your decision will be, just by having a priority list and organizing your life you will gain more control over how you spend your time, which will ultimately lead to you being more responsible and getting the life you want.

Prioritize your life by what is most important at the end, not what is most important or fun right now and you will live a life worth living.

Lukas Schwekendiek is a life coach, writer and speaker. His advice and teachings have been published on sites such as TIME, Inc.com, The Huffington Post and Apple News. For more information and a chance to work 1-to-1 with Lukas visit lukasschwekendiek.com