How to Get What You Want Most
Know what’s stopping you from getting what you want most?
Two things:
- Not understanding the difference between a priority and the priority
- Not aligning your actions with your words and feelings
By definition, a priority is something that comes first. Well, only one thing can really come first at any given time. If you have several things that are “a” priority, none of them are really the priority.
If you want to get what you want most, you have to figure out what the one thing is that is the priority. And then you have to follow through. You can’t constantly change what comes first (where your focus and money go), if you want to make progress.
Start by doing a gut check. What would you hate to give up, have happen, or not have happen?
For example, I would be crushed if I were unable to travel regularly. I’ve traveled every single year since I was born. I will find a way to continue traveling regularly so long as our health permits. So in reality traveling is the priority for my money, after basics like food & shelter are met.
Once you’ve figured out what the priority is for you, do a reality check. Are your actions aligned with your words and feelings?
In other words, if you say that your priority is paying off your house, are you sending every spare dime to the mortgage? Are you obsessively focused on that goal? Do you constantly think about what else you can do to achieve your goal?
Or are you unthinkingly spending money eating out, traveling, or buying the latest gadget instead? Look at your spending and see if it tells the same story as your mouth.
Align your actions with your words and feelings.
If you want to get what you want most, you have to know what that one thing is, and then consistently focus your actions on that one thing through thick and thin.
So true! My priority is traveling as well, so everything else falls under that. I make sure after I give, I save for traveling. My actions line up with my priority :)
I bet you enjoy a lot of traveling then :)
Prioritization is what it’s all about! My financial priorities are: basics, then vacations, then debt, then house keeper, then lawn guy, then everything else, lol.
Funny how many of us have vacations high up on the list :)