Why Can’t You Get What You Want?

On an ideal morning, when you wake up feeling 100 percent, then you could say that you have enough energy to focus on your top three priorities. You could give each one 33.33 percent.

So why is 3 the magic number?

How well do you think you would achieve your top 3 priorities if you devoted anything less than 33.33 to each one? If you had 2 top priorities then you would be able to devote 50 percent of yourself to each.

What are your priorities?

• Your health
• Your relationship
• Your family
• Your career
• Your study
• Your finances
• Your hobbies

What about your creativity? Your spiritual life? What else is missing?

You can see where this is going.

If all 7 of the above are your priorities, then you would need to divide 100 percent of your energy by 7 in an attempt to maintain them. This means you would have just 14.28 percent of your energy available to give to your priorities.

And that’s on an ideal day. The day you wake up feeling 100 percent.

You might try to argue that you’re an expert at multi-tasking but you can’t because the concept of multi-tasking has been debunked. It’s nothing but a modern myth.

What you have is the ability to quickly switch from task to another. And that takes more energy than normal. It simply adds to your energetic burden.

There is no such thing as multi-tasking. Juggling 3 balls all day everyday is enough. Juggling more than 3 means you have less to give to each one. It will take you longer to get what you want. Juggling more than 3 balls all day every day and trying to give each one more energy than you have will deplete your energy levels to the point of burnout, anxiety or worse, it can trigger illness. Mental or physical.

This is not the way to manage your personal energy budget. At least not as a long term strategy.

I’m not saying that you should forget your other priorities. Simply recognise that when you have more than 3 priorities, you will have to reduce the amount of energy you give to each one. It’s tempting to strive for more, to be more and do more. I’m constantly reminding myself not to spread myself too thin.

How would you score your energy levels today? Are you running on the rush of adrenaline? Or are you running your life based on a balance of work, rest and play? Are you getting a good night’s sleep every night, eating a balanced diet every day, getting enough daily exercise and engaging in good relationships?

Sounds ideal doesn’t it? Too often, the reverse is true. Going slow or pressing the pause on life is the answer, so you can reset your approach to life. And do what you can to keep it that way.

You can get what you want when you have the energy to concentrate your efforts on 3 or less priorities each day. Why would you demand more than you have of yourself?