If you feel like you never have enough money, time, or energy, let me share a secret with you:
You can’t have it all.
Womp womp.
But you can save money and time by learning to make better, more fulfilling choices.
How many decisions do you make in a day? I’m guessing a lot.
Every day we make big decisions, we make tiny decisions. But are they good decisions?
Maybe you’ve wondered how to make better decisions.
I’ve discovered that there’s a shortcut to better decision-making. A shortcut to creating a rich life—one where you have more time and more money. And more energy!
Some call it ‘living intentionally’. I call it the ‘what matters most shortcut’. And you won’t need a gratitude journal. Unless you really want one.
Let’s get started.
What matters most to you ?
Do you know what your priorities are? If you don’t, then how will you know how to spend your most precious resources—your time, your energy, and your money?
Basically, when you identify your priorities in your life, it’s easier to make a decision about money and time.
Life is a series of trade-offs.
Paula Pant describes this best in her blog and podcast, Afford Anything. She goes pretty deep into personal finance in most of her content, but her core framework is based on the principle that life is a series of trade-offs.
For example, if your family’s health is your number-one priority, are you going to spend your money on monthly payments for a new car or are you going to buy organic produce?
Are you going to binge-watch Orange is the New Black, or are you going to meet your read-24-books-this-year goal? (This might be me. Just sayin’.)
Are you going to go down the Facebook rabbit-hole, or are you going to take a 15-minute walk?
Remember—you can’t have it all.
Are you with me? Life can be so much easier when you have a shortcut for better decision-making!
You might be asking ‘How do I identify my priorities?’
It’s kind of easy. Keep reading.
1. Make a list of 10 things that make you happy.
For example, here’s mine:
- A walk with my family or friends. Or alone 🙂
- My evening tea break
- Getting lost in a book
- Playing a board game with my husband and kid
- Playing an instrument
- Singing
- Sketching
- When I wake up with the sunrise, feeling refreshed and healthy
- Seeing people succeed in the face of adversity
- A campfire and all that goes with it
- A beautiful garden
- Fresh produce (I couldn’t stop at 10!)
- Wildlife, nature
- Visiting with good friends
- A quick and clever sewing project
- A rock’n’roll show.
Remember this is MY example. Of course you can use some of these, but yours might look completely different. If what makes you happy are beauty and fashion or a performance car, your list’ll be different.
If you are having a hard time listing things that make you happy, think about when you are most at peace, or when you last laughed really hard.
Or think about when you’re in a state of ‘flow‘.
2. Look for themes in your list.
Looking at my list, I can spot the following themes: Being outside. Music. My—and my family’s—health. Creative pursuits. My close friends—in person.
Those are my priorities. The things I value most.
Even though I like fashion, it doesn’t really make me happy. Boom! Decision made—I won’t be hitting the shops on my lunch breaks or spending my spare time browsing the JCrew website. I’ll instead schedule time to shop for one or two nice things that I need once a year.
Maybe you’re looking at your list and noticing that your day-to-day activities or purchases don’t match up with what you really value. It could be time to make some edits!
3. Extra credit: create a ‘compass’
Your compass is your lifeview and your workview. It’s also a ‘north star’ to guide you, and also helpful for your shortcut for better decision-making.
Do you know about the book, Designing Your Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans? Burnett and Evans ask the reader to ‘build a compass’.
If you want to see my compass, keep reading. If not, feel free to skip to the ‘Make a Tiny Edit’ action items below.
Remember, your compass might look totally different and that’s fine!
Lifeview. We are here to help others. Communities are important. Nature is my higher power. It’s important to learn about other cultures, but it’s dangerous to take and not give back. The idea that good food is the foundation for a healthy, functional society really interests me. Always be prepared. I want to find a community of like-minded people, but I like the idea of multiple viewpoints.
Workview. Work should be meaningful—solving a community problem, contributing to a greater good, making connections. I love my job, but I would rather spend time investing in my family’s and community’s well-being and resilience: growing food, sewing and making, contributing to environmental conservation efforts. Working full-time gives me the feeling that time is going by too fast. And, then there’s commuting… *sad face*
If you’re struggling for a lifeview, look at your list of things that make you happy. What can you draw from it?
Make a Tiny Edit
- Make your list. Try to trick your kid or significant other into making a list, too
- Try writing a brief lifeview and workview
- Ask yourself about the decisions you make in a day. Do your day-to-day choices match your priorities?
- Start using your new shortcut for better decision-making. It’s a powerful feeling!
I hope the ‘what matters most’ shortcut to decision-making is a revelation to you, too. More money, more time, more energy!
And no more decision fatigue.
Inspired? Or not? Leave me a comment or shoot me an email.
Happy editing!
Erica
