Quote:

"You can do anything, but you can’t do everything." - David Allen

Recap:

Yesterday, we used The 10-Year Plan for a Remarkable Life Exercise to craft a vision of our ideal future.

Lesson:

Today, we’re going to take a closer look at the ideal vision. And we’re going to refine it with a dose of realism and strategic thinking.

In a perfect world, every goal on your list would be achievable. You’d have boundless energy and all the time in the world to dedicate to various projects and aspirations.

But, reality is a little different. We don’t live in a perfect world.

We live in a world brimming with endless possibilities, yet we are often constrained by limited resources, particularly our time and energy.

Now, this doesn't mean you can’t have the ideal life you envisioned in yesterday’s lesson. In fact, it’s still very much achievable. It just means that you have to be meticulous and intentional about where you direct your time and energy—and more importantly, where you DON’T.

In other words, you need to prioritise.

Prioritisation isn’t just about choosing what to do; it's equally about deciding what not to do. It's about understanding that in order to make significant strides in some areas, you may have to let go or delay other ambitions.

This is a crucial step in turning your ideal vision into an actionable plan.

It’s not easy, but by the end of today’s exercise you’ll feel like a weight has lifted. By focusing on the few key goals that align with your identity, you free up the space required to start making real progress in your life.

Method:

This exercise (allegedly) comes from multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett. It’s a powerful (and ruthless) technique for prioritising your goals called the “2 List Method”.

📝 Here’s how it works:

1. *Write down your top 25 goals (career, health, relationships, etc.)**Start by jotting down 25 goals that you want to achieve. These could span various aspects of your life, such as career aspirations, health and fitness targets, relationship goals, personal development milestones, or even financial objectives. Think broadly and ambitiously. You can apply this method to any timeline, whether it's for the next 5 years, 1 year, or even the next 6 months. For the purpose of this exercise, we recommend focusing on a 1-year timeline. This timeframe is long enough to make significant progress, yet short enough to maintain a sense of urgency and focus.
2. Review your list and circle the top 5 goalsThis step requires deep reflection. Go through your list of 25 goals and circle the top 5 that stand out as the most crucial for you. These should be goals that, if achieved, would have the most substantial positive impact on your life. Consider which goals resonate most deeply with your core values and 10-year vision.The process of choosing these 5 goals forces you to prioritise and make tough decisions.