I’ve recently shared strategies on how to organize and prioritize your to-do list to take control of your time and focus on what truly matters. But with the constant demands of work, responsibilities, and daily life, how do you identify and make time for what’s truly important? In this step-by-step guide, I’ll walk you through how to clarify your life goals, take meaningful action, and ensure you’re prioritizing what aligns with your true north—so you can live a more intentional and extraordinary life.

This Week’s Habit: Prioritize and Make Time for What Truly Matters 

Why does this matter? 

It’s too easy for life to get in the way and for years to pass before realizing you haven’t lived a life that feels true to yourself. Working toward your goals and dreams can bring fulfillment and help you center your time around what you truly value.

Step 1: Identify your Life Goals.

Easier said than done, right? It can be hard to unearth life goals that have been buried under the busyness of everyday life. One way to start is by reflecting on your childhood dreams.

What was your answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up?” when you were a kid? That doesn’t mean we all need to drop everything and become astronauts, paleontologists, or teachers, but those childhood ideas can help you reconnect with a time when everything felt possible.

What was the essence of that dream? 

• Did you want to explore new places?
• Contribute to science? 
• Share knowledge with others? 
• Or, if you’re being honest, did you just want to look cool to other people? 

Some believe you should pursue whatever you dreamed of as a child. But do we really want to shape our lives around something we thought up as kids just because we had just finished watching Indiana Jones? 

As you grow and evolve, your dreams do too – and that’s normal and healthy. So now, setting aside current commitments and sunk costs, ask yourself: What would your answer be today?  

If you’re drawing a blank, try these approaches:

• Talk to a friend about their dreams and have them ask you guiding questions
• Imagine yourself on your deathbed – what would be your biggest regrets if you carried on living the way you have been? 
• Ask yourself: If money were no object, how would I spend my time?  

The key is to stay attuned to your life goals as they evolve so you can pursue what truly excites you. 

✍ Action: Write down 2 or 3 life goals that resonate with you. 

Step 2: Take the First Step

Now that you’ve reconnected with your goals, ask yourself: What is a measurable step I can take today? 

For example: 

• If you wanted to be a spy and were fascinated by locks as a kid, maybe pick up a lock-picking kit.
• If you dream of playing an instrument, now might be the time to sign up for that music class.
• If your dream requires saving up – the first step could be to get your finances in order and budget toward it. 
• If your dream is to run your own company one day, consider reaching out to a business owner in your network to learn about their journey and how they got started

The steps don’t have to be big – what matters is that you take the first step. Momentum will do the rest. 

✍ Action: Write down small, actionable activities that bring you closer to your goals.

Step 3: Schedule and Protect Time for Your Goals.

Now that you’ve identified activities that bring you closer to your dreams, you need to actively prioritize them. As we discussed previously, personal and professional life goals often take a backseat to shinier or more urgent tasks, so you must protect time for them. 

One of my goals this year is to complete a triathlon -To prioritize this, I schedule blocks of time in my google calendar for training first thing in the morning. I make sure I don’t schedule meetings during that time. This way I don’t allow excuses to pull me away from my goal. 

If you need heads down time each week to work on your dreams, schedule it – and treat it with the same respect as a meeting with a friend. No double-booking, no last-minute cancellations – show up for yourself. 

✍ Action: Block time on your calendar this week for an activity that moves you closer to your goal.

Step 4: Experiment and Iterate.

Now that you’ve made time for your goal and are working on activities that presumably bring you closer to your dream, you might realize… it’s not actually what you expected. After spending 30 minutes reading about recent paleontology discoveries, you realize that you’re not that interested in the subject. That’s ok! You’ve just learned something new about yourself. That brings you one step closer to identifying what your true dreams are. 

Perhaps you’d rather be out in nature picking up fossils than doing research. Or maybe you just enjoyed Jurassic Park as a kid and don’t actually want to make paleontology your life’s passion. 

What’s important is to try things, experiment, see what you like (or don’t), and iterate. 

✍ Action: Try one activity related to your goal this week. Then, reflect on how it made you feel. Did it energize you? Did you lose track of time? Or did you feel indifferent? Use these insights to keep refining your path toward what truly excites you.

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Actionable Tip:

Tip 1: Reflect and Reassess Regularly

Write down your goals and date them. I like to do this annually and review past answers. This helps me see if I’m living a life true to myself – of if I need course correction. This can really be an eye-opening exercise! It’s also a great way to celebrate progress and take a moment to be thankful for how far you have come. You might just discover that you’ve already accomplished long-forgotten dreams! 

Tip 2: Reconnect with Your Inner Child’s Curiosity

Kids have a natural sense of wonder and creativity that can be inspiring. Take a moment to tap into that childlike curiosity—whether by reminiscing about your own childhood interests, engaging in playful activities, or spending time with young family members. You might rediscover what is truly important or fascinating. Or at the very least, they might remind you of how much you value peace and quiet.

Tip 3: Enjoy the Journey

It’s not a race or a competition. Even if you achieve all your dreams, will you be instantly happy? If your answer is yes… think again. Your goals and dreams bring meaning to your life because of the journey to get there, not the end result. So, enjoy the process. 

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Closing Thought:

This week, take one measurable step toward one of your life goals. 

As you experiment and learn more about yourself, you may stumble upon what you truly love — or let go of old ideas that no longer serve you. 

Who knows? You might even realize you’re already living your best life. So embrace it – live your extraordinary life today. 

Intentionally Yours,

IE.