I have tough news: you can’t do everything on your to-do list.

But you knew that.

Why then do we live and order our days as though we can do it all?

We look at our ever-growing to-do list and decide that if we can just work harder and longer, we will get it all finished.

We add in more tasks, more responsibilities, more activity, and the to-do list grows longer and longer.

And our frustration levels go sky high—because no matter how hard we try, and no matter how busy we stay, we simply cannot do everything that there is to do.

The result? In our efforts to do everything, we spend valuable time doing things that do not move us toward our most important goals. And if the tasks we are doing do not move us toward our goals, then they are keeping us from our goals.

You see, each of us only has so much time and energy. And every second we spend doing what is less important keeps us from doing what is most important.

Here is help you get unstuck and back on track to champion living. You can reach your goals and explode your productivity. You just need focus and a plan.

Here is your action plan:

• Decide what your most important goals are.
• Stop doing those things that don’t move you toward those goals.
• Start doing those things that do move you toward your goals.

DECIDE WHAT YOUR MOST IMPORTANT GOALS ARE

What do you really want? What do you want to change? What do you need to achieve? Your goals change depending on what stage you are in your life. Your goals today are probably different than they were just one year ago. This is the time to reaccess your priorities and determine the top two to three goals that you want to reach.

This doesn’t mean that these are your only goals. It means these are those goals upon which you will expend your best energy, focus, time and strategy.

For example, you may decide that losing 10 pounds is one of your top goals right now. This is one of the goals that you will laser-focus on and relentlessly pursue.

STOP DOING THOSE THINGS THAT DON’T MOVE YOU TOWARD THOSE GOALS

Take inventory of your day to day activities. Pay attention to how much time you spend doing things that do not propel you in the direction of your goals.

You do a lot of things during the day, and you expend a lot of energy. Where are you using valuable time on tasks that do not help you reach your goals?

In order to start doing more high-value tasks, you have to stop doing many low-value tasks. Remember: you have a finite amount of time and energy. When you expend energy in one area, you are taking it from another area. Where are you expending precious resources?

With each task you analyze, consider:

• Can you stop doing it altogether? (Many tasks are so habitual that we have to think hard to identify whether they are really necessary.)

• Can you delegate it to someone else? (Which tasks can you assign to other people, thereby freeing up your time for more high-value activities? This may mean paying someone else to do some of your tasks, which means that your time pursing your stated goals is worth more than what you are paying an assistant.)
• Can you streamline and systematize your tasks? (Consider more efficient ways of doing tasks, so that you open up more time and energy for those things that will move you forward.)

Let’s say your goal is to lose 10 pounds, but you are struggling to find the time and energy to do your workout. After inventorying your day, you find that daily meal preparation for your family is taking up so much of your available time and energy that you are unable to work out.

Can you stop the laborious daily meal prep? On first thought you might say, “No, I cannot stop doing that.” But perhaps you can stop doing it one way and start doing it another way.

For example, you can systematize meal prep by scheduling one day every two weeks or so in which you prepare and freeze several meals for your family. Therefore, your meal prep on the remaining days is simple and requires very little time and energy.

What have you stopped doing? You have stopped an activity that is keeping you from reaching your weight loss goal. You have stopped daily meal prep.

START DOING THOSE THINGS THAT DO MOVE YOU TOWARD YOUR GOALS.

Once you analyze your activities and stop doing those things that keep you from reaching your goals, then it is time to plug in tasks that contribute to your success.

You have freed up time and energy and resources. You are now positioned for victory!

Decide on your actions steps:

SUCCESS!

• What are the two to three most important things you can start doing
  to move you toward your goal?

Choose your high-value tasks and make them a priority every single day. These are the tasks that you attend to with your premium resources—time, energy and strategy.

Let’s go back to our example goal of a 10 pound weight loss. You have identified what you need to stop doing (spending time and energy on daily meal prep) in order to free up valuable resources.

You have stopped doing one activity and can now start doing another activity: work out each day.

You now have the time and energy to devote to reaching your goal.

Successful people understand that goal-reaching is intentional. It requires planning and strategy. Deciding to stop doing the things that keep you from your goals and to start doing the things that move you toward your goals is a crucial step toward living your champion life.

To Your Success!

Ashley Mahaffey