What do YOU want? Setting Priorities

It is important to know what you want Because…. Life is SHORT!

Story about the 100 Year Calendar Developed by a Japanese Business Owner. By surviving a near fatal illness when he was young, understood first hand how fragile life can be. A visual way to get across to his employees just how short life is so that they wouldn’t waste it. Watch the video about the 100 Year Calendar

You don’t have much time…. ….so don’t waste it. We all know the saying that “Time is money” but actually time is even more valuable than money. We can lose money and make it back. You CAN’T get time back. In order to use your time in a way that you value you must know what YOU want.

Are You Sure You Know What You Want? That question may be hard to answer honestly. It is natural that we all have let “What You Want” be influenced and/or defined by others (parents, friends, society, etc.). According to Bronnie Ware, who worked with terminally ill patients, the Number 1 Regret expressed by people who only had weeks to live was….

I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

Your Life is YOUR Life Your Life is really all you have when you think about it so find out how you want to use it. It is YOUR responsibility to figure this out, not someone else’s. For a deep introspection on this topic please read “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World” by Harry Browne. Available as a free PDF download on many internet sites.

Remember that You Are Unique Make sure you search for what makes YOU happy. Recommended Processes: – Past Experiences (What did you LOVE doing? Think about Why.) – Recent Experiences (Find something new you love doing? Think about Why.) – Imagination/Daydreaming Imagine YOUR perfect Life. Do NOT put any limitations on it. (Other than you can’t change other people)

Spend Relaxed Time Doing This Make sure you are not stressed out or pushed for time when you do these processes. You must let your mind be Free. Write these things down and Build on them, layer by layer. DON’T hurry! Revisit and Revise Often. Recommended Tools – Digital Mindmapping: FreeMind – Manual Mindmapping: Post-It Notes

Did you Make Some Discoveries? Once you’ve been doing this for a while, it’s likely that you discovered some things that make you happy that you haven’t prioritized in your life. You probably also discovered that you do many things in your life that are not a priority. Put together a plan to start making small changes every day, adding more of the things that make you happy, and subtracting the things that don’t.

NO. It isn’t Easy. Habits are hard to break. That’s why it’s better to do this a little at a time, instead of trying to do something completely disruptive. Some of your changes will probably impact other people so you need to be sensitive to how you transition them to YOUR NEW REALITY.

You May Be Wondering… What does any of this have to do with my jewelry making business? The answer is….

EVERYTHING! You must be sure that your jewelry making business is an important part of what makes you happy. You will spend a lot of time on growing your business so it must be fulfilling for you and play an important role in your purpose in life.