How To Balance Your Priorities in Life

Hey Explorer,

Last week I promised a new newsletter format.

What’s changed?

Over the last 10 editions, I covered 40 independent lessons with actionable steps.

This is overwhelming. For me, and for you.

From now on, I’ll cover 1 lesson with 1 actionable step.

Lessons will be sourced from newsletter subscriber requests & questions I receive on my YouTube channel.

Newsletter structure:

• Subscriber request

• My Thoughts (a short lesson)

• Actionable step

• Watch more (relevant YouTube lesson)

P.S. I also rebranded my mission: Helping Men Transform by Exploring the World & Sharing My Best Lessons

Reading time: ~4 minutes

Subscriber Request

Last week Ellis emailed me and suggested I write about:

There’s a lot to unpack here & it’s a great idea for a full-length video. Below are my initial thoughts to help you get some quick wins if you’re also going through a similar thought pattern to Ellis ↓

My Thoughts (a short lesson)

Let’s address the first part. What is a season?

By definition, it’s “a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region.”

If we apply this to life, I take it to mean that your environment changes as time passes.

When you’re a kid, you just want to be carefree, play, and follow your curiosity.

When you’re a teenager, you start to bear the brunt of responsibility.

When you’re an adult, you might feel like you’re holding the world on your back.

When you’re old, you might just want to be carefree, play, and follow your curiosity.

Sound familiar?

Seasons come and seasons go.

However, they almost always return.

Your goal is to be better prepared for the next time.

~~

Let’s look at the second part: balancing priorities.

My first thought on priorities is goal setting.

You can’t balance your priorities without having a goal, or a set of values that guide the way you live.

How can anything be a priority if you have no destination?

This can be active & passive.

For example: a masculine, objective-driven, workaholic may have an active goal to earn multiple six figures.

Their priorities are the accumulation of resources and anything that gets in the way of that should be eliminated.

There isn’t balance here. If you want to be the best, you have to be OBSESSED.

That’s not inherently ‘wrong’ - perhaps this is his season.

The motivator is to work hard so he can retire his parents & raise a child of his own in a few years

That’s noble.

What’s important here is that he’s setting himself up for the next season. 

Another example: a Buddhist monk who seeks (passive goal) peace & the achievement of ‘no-self’ nirvana.

Their priorities are the shedding of ego, desire and anything that resembles a tangible need for anything.

There isn’t anything to balance outside of oneself except eliminating anything that doesn’t contribute to clearing the mind.

The monk is preparing themself for what’s to come. That in itself is the priority.

My conclusion: pursue the priorities that set you up for your next season. It’s easy to balance a two-sided scale on your own. It’s difficult to balance a moving 4-person uncoordinated kayak. Do you get what I mean?

~~

Here’s me as a student. My priorities were beating my mates on exams & in computer games:

This set me up to be capable & competitive as an adult.

Here’s me as a young, newly independent adult. My priorities were looking good and getting girls:

This set me up to have my relationship needs fulfilled as a professional.

Here’s me as a more mature professional. My priorities are pursuing purpose, exploring and achieving freedom:

This will set me up to help others and raise a family of my own.

Actionable Step 

Write down what season of life you’re in now. What does it feel like? What do you desire? What’s getting in the way? What’s the next season?

Change is inevitable. Sit with yourself and establish the best goal you can set to prepare yourself for what’s coming next.

Maybe you just want to let it all go. Give yourself permission to shed other people’s desires and prioritise what you want. That could be transformational in itself.

Watch More (relevant YouTube lesson)

This video has some crossover with my thoughts above, here’s the synopsis:

Life isn't easy. Success is your ability to make hard decisions. For example, I moved countries to pursue an opportunity to earn more money, grow out of my comfort zone and explore the world - and it paid off.

In this video, I'll show you that making the hardest choice is almost always the correct decision (if you actually want to make progress in your life).

Want More?

• Read all of my past emails here.

• Get 1 on 1 guidance from me here.

• Follow me on my new Instagram here.

Submit your request for an upcoming topic by replying to this email. I’d love to hear from you.

Next, I’ll be talking about my hip surgeries, how they impacted my fitness, mindset and training and what you can learn from it.

Thanks subscriber Kieran for the suggestion ^

Signing off on this one,

Jack Alderton

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