Priorities Power Passion & Profit
Living life randomly will not bring the kind of wealth that we often say we want. Leaving things to chance will leave us frustrated and wondering where we’re going. Famous author and wealth coach, Robert Allen, says we must approach our lives with a “First thing first” methodology to get to our power and passion so we can profit.
“We don’t take time to sharpen the saw!” he told his students. He says it’s not “To be or not to be”, it’s 3B or not 3B. The three B’s that are vital for building a successful life in every area are: body, brain, being.
We are the tool that is building our lives. If we don’t take care of the sharpness of ourselves it’s like trying to cut our way through the jungle of life with a dull butter knife. Our effectiveness in this world relies upon our body, brain and being. Robert Allen asked his audience, “Have you ever been too busy driving to stop for gas?” This brought the concept of living first things first into clear focus for me.
There is a brilliant exercise to illustrate this first things first concept. I will briefly describe it but you can watch the amusing and clever video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VDxKLSyksI . You have in front of you a large bucket, some large rocks, gravel and sand. If you want to get it all in the bucket you’ve got to have the right strategy. Placing the big rocks into the bucket first, then filling in some of the gaps with the gravel and then finally adding the sand will get the job done.
The big rocks in the video are labeled with important parts of our lives such as family, meditation and prayer, service, our partner, and vacation. A life well lived will include all of these. Then the gravel and sand signify all the lesser important things (in comparison to the big rocks) that must be done in our lives. Many of us get bogged down in the small stuff of life and then don’t have time for the vitally important big stuff.
The main question we need to ask ourselves then is “what are the things we focus on the most?” This is perhaps the most vital element we need to determine, since our focus determines our actions. If one really wants to get things done properly, the most important thing is to bring awareness to what matters most.
The problem is that, most often, we cannot even identify what makes up the gravel and sand of our lives. We go on consuming ourselves with stress and trivial thoughts when there could be so many amazing things that we could achieve. Our power gets lost in the confusion.
Imagine how much you could get done in only 10 minutes of the time you invest in worrying or feeling reproachful about any past actions.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we have to stop thinking about the past or future altogether, since, after all, we can’t really function without a sharp memory or clear planning. The problem, however, is that we often focus so much on what the outcome could be or what things could have been like that we forget where our ultimate power lies: in the present moment. By prioritizing and taking care of the 3 B’s we can stay focused on the important rather than the urgent.
The rock exercise is meant to teach us just that. The seeds of the things we want so dearly to achieve such as happiness, wealth or inner peace actually depend on the everyday decisions that we make at a mental level. “Sharpening the saw” simply means that we need to become better in order to achieve better things, but we rarely realize what this entails. It starts first of all with the attitude we have towards ourselves.
Many people say “well I just can’t do this or that because I have so many things to worry about and focus on that I really don’t have the time.” However, time is what we make of it, and the only actual obstacles that stand in the way of the happiness and fulfillment we seek are the limitations we set upon ourselves. It’s not so much the planning that counts, but the state in which people find themselves when they plan their lives.
A positive state of mind has to come from within. You can’t wait for the world to become favorable before you start working on the things you want, because the world changes in its own pace. Thus, the key to success is to set aside the things that bother you and simply move forward focusing on what you want to do.
It is very important to realize that this is not ignorance. The world will not stop and nothing bad is going to happen simply because you take your mind off things for a little while. What will happen instead is that you will have more clarity than ever and perhaps this will help you shed a bit of light on what the possibilities really are. This is getting your priorities straight so you can get to your power and passion.
So, empty your mind of all the gravel and sand that would hinder you in organizing the most important stones you have in your life. Some people do this through meditation, prayer or yoga, but the truth is that even just sitting down for a few minutes and doing something seemingly unimportant like listening to a beautiful song or playing with your pet can get you into that state of inner power.
The important thing here is to stop figuring things out and allow an ounce of that innate intuition to sneak through. This is your passion bubbling up. However unlikely it may seem, this is when your best ideas come to the surface, showing you the very best way in which you can organize all your plans to make them perfectly synchronized with everything that is happening around you.
Everything will start making sense once you put these ideas into practice, and the confidence that you will gain from the positive experiences that follow will help you get everything done so much faster than you even thought possible. At times you might even think back and say “how could I have been so worried about all of that? I never realized that it would be so easy.” This is the beauty of prioritizing your life to access your passion and inner power.
However, the thing that will give you the most satisfaction is that you know it wasn’t easy but you did it anyway. You will start to realize that there is really nothing you cannot do because all the secrets and answers are right in front of you, should you choose to simply look at them. You can become the sculptor of your own life, molding even the toughest stones into any shape you want and turning the world into a crystal-clear reflection of your most beautiful dreams. Start with putting first things first.
