4 Steps To Unlocking Your Potential

I just did a merciless triage of my RSS Reader (if you're not sure what that is, ProBlogger explains it here).  I sliced about three quarters of my subscriptions in one fell swoop!  And I was very attached to reading a lot of those blogs.  But I realized that they were taking more than they were giving in terms of the goals that I have for myself.  So they didn't make the cut in my Priority Hierarchy. (Note - please keep Better's Better in your Reader... LOL)

One of the strong points of the Circular Strength Training system is it's Value Hierarchy.  It puts health clearly and unequivocally at the top of the pyramid of values.  So everything in the system has to pass the test of health before it moves on down the pipeline.

I've found it very helpful to do something similar with priorities.  Mapping out a pyramid of priorities renders decision making much simpler and allows you to tap into your true potential by eliminating indecision along with actions that take you away from your goals.

It's important build a Priority Hierarchy to guide your life, your health and your fitness.  What matters to you most?  Here's a little exercise to help you find out.

Build A Priority Hierarchy Pyramid

1. Take the time to list 10 things that are important to you.
2. From your list of 10, pick the 5 most important priorities.
3. Rank your top 5 priorities in order of importance to you.
4. Every time you make a decision, filter it through those priorities in order to determine if the proposed action carries you towards your goals or not.

A great example is a family who chooses to place time together during dinner at the top of their list of priorities.  Participating in sports may be second on that list.  If an opportunity comes up for one of the kids to join a new soccer team, they have to filter it through the list.  Do practices or games fall during dinner hour?  If so, the opportunity doesn't even make it down to the second of the priorities.  Even though sports is on the priority list, the soccer team wouldn't make the cut because it didn't make it through the first filter.

This is a very powerful tool in getting perspective on the decisions we make in our daily lives.  A small decision, in isolation, may seem innocent enough.  But if it is not aligned with our priorities, eventually it will build, along with countless other seemingly insignificant decisions, until we are living a life that is not at all what we want for ourselves.

I think the implications for health and fitness are pretty clear.  The foods you choose to eat, the exercise you choose to do or not do, the wellness practices you partake in–these are all, in isolation, small things.  But when you bring them all together they turn into a single mass with great inertia.  And once they get rolling, they're hard to change course.  So you're better off to tackle them one better choice at a time using something like a Priority Hierarchy.

I think it is important to make the distinction here with a Value Hierarchy though.  CST places health at the top of their hierarchy of values.  Like the rocky landscape in the photo above, values don't change easily.  Like the flowing river, priorities can shift from month to month or year to year as goals and situations change, but are constrained by the relative permanence of your values.  Your Value Hierarchy should underpin your Priority Hierarchy.  Your priorities must not undermine your values.

If you take the time to use the 4 step process above in order to tap into the power of priorities, I'll think you'll be amazed at the personal potential you'll be able to harness.  Give it a try and let us know how it goes.  Better yet, tell us below what your priorities are, then check back in a few weeks and let us know how well you've been able to align your actions and decisions with those priorities.