3 Step Priority Checklist

Chelsea Katsidzira
Jul 28, 2017 · 5 min read

We are the main decision makers in our lives. As George W. Bush calls it, we’re “the deciders.” No one can take the right steps for you when they should be made because the only one whose attention is 100% truly focused on you and your thriving in this world, is you (and God, but that’s a different topic). So, I’ve created a short list of ideas that have benefited to my success in prioritizing. For years I kept making bad decisions for various reasons that I know of and other reasons I care not to remember *face palm* So I’m making this list so you can know now the things I wish I had known sooner.

1. Your peer group should be a reflection of who you want to be in the future.

“Treat your time as if you were President Obama.” — Dr. Boyce Watkins

I mean exactly what it says. Everyone gets subjected into peer pressure, but it’s about who your peers are that makes all the difference. If you have comrades who aren’t interested in what you envision for the future or who seem to be on a different path in life that’s leading directly opposite of yours, it’s time to hit reverse, bust a quick U-turn, and skirt off into the sunset. You are who you surround yourself with.

At a young age, our peer group can be a psychological influence on our behaviors and you have to monitor who you keep in your close company. So if you have a person in your life who wakes up without a goal or ambition towards something and who sits at home in front of the TV or radio, doing nothing for hours, then a distant relationship could possibly work (since I hate the idea of cutting people completely off unless they committed a great travesty). Staying close won’t produce the kind of results you’re looking for in life so it may be time to loosen the reins on that pony and refocus your time on something else at the farm. Hanging around with the wrong crowd can set you back further in your plans and can possibly put a halt on them.

On the other hand, if your peer group are bright stars, achieving goals that they set out to do, waking up every day with a passionate fire burning for success, keep in close contact with these guys. They’re the ones who’ll help get you to the promised land. These friends are rare because there are a lot of people out there who’ll breathe in all your time and time is the most important thing we have in our lives. So ask yourself when you’re surrounded by your peers, at that moment in space and time, am I doing something that will get me closer to the me I want to be in 1, 3, 5, 10 years? If yes, hang around. If no, you know where the door is.

2. Get your education and funds together, buddy.

“Would you not say, that you are free, have a right to dress as you please, and that such an edict would be a breach of your privileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are about to put yourself under that tyranny when you run in debt for such dress!” — Benjamin Franklin

This one hits home for me. I struggled with financial stability for a while. In fact, since I’m still in college, financial stability is sometimes a trade off with the education process. I’ve seen many friends go on to graduate and become successful adults. It can happen to me, them, and you too if you learn to prioritize your scholastic and monetary resources.

When it comes to studying for classes, most people don’t study and try to get by midterm season cramming 10 weeks of work into 2 days. Unless your biological CPU is really that great, it won’t work that way for some people, myself included. I suggest leaving at the least 5 hours of study time every day that you can. It doesn’t have to be all at one time, although that would improve your results (with 5–20 minute breaks for every hour). Most people will think your psycho for putting that much time into your books, but in the age where social media is described as “the modern day cigarrette,” books would a bit of fresh air. Just be in a comfortable seated position in a well-lit area and get lost in your studies. If 5 hours sounds like a lot at first, start at 30 minutes or 1 hour the first day and continue adding time on subsequent days until staying engrossed for a bit more time doesn’t feel as abnormal.

When it comes to your finances, I say to always pay yourself first. Place 50% of your monthly income into a separate bank account and the other 50% can go towards expenses. For me, bills and transportation are considered regular expenses, while eating out, shopping, and hanging out with friends are miscellaneous expenses that I try to keep from happening regularly (but alas, I can’t say no to the shrimp and broccoli special with taro bubble tea). With the useful tools of self-denial, using cash for everything, and extreme discipline (like leaving the visa card at home), that money ends up being rolled over and more of my monthly income can go towards my savings. This is also the time where you can start building your credit score (more on that soon), learning how to invest in real estate or stock/penny market, creating ways of generating extra income, and much more. The opportunities are endless, but when you have capital backing, it can be secure and fun.

3. Treat your relationships like the building blocks of your character.

“And we glory in our suffering because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character, hope.” — Apostle Paul

We have a relationship with everyone we know. Your mom, your siblings, your best friend, your bae, your professor. Everyone can have a relationship with anyone. All these relationships should have some sort of benefit to them that makes the idea of forgetting them unthinkable. You and your best friend have a bond of camaraderie together. You and bae can share romantic love. Your parents provide basic survival needs and you provide their sense of purpose. So how you treat the important people in your life is a priority because they provide more benefit than consequences. So to treat them like you treat that outfit that makes you look like a snack, carefully with honesty, loyalty, reciprocity, and sincere friendship. This is will shape you out to be a good person to everyone and the compassion you feel for them will flow full circle into your life from the universe in like manner.

Chelsea Katsidzira

Written by

Student | Writer | Developmental Enthusiast

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