How I learned to prioritize and WIN (when it's ALL important)

I had a plan.

I was working the plan.

And the plan… was… working.

The message I’m charged with bringing was being heard.

Then, because of the plan working, I was gifted an all-expenses-paid exclusive retreat for writers in the mountains out west on a picturesque lake, hosted and led by a multiple time New York Times Best-Selling author.

Okay, Lord, I guess we’re writing the book… now.

There goes the plan. Or did it?

I was cruising along with podcasting, building out my brand and getting events to speak at.

That pivot that led to me re-engaging you, here in these emails.

I’m a couple chapters into the book that’s waited 14 years to begin (I’ve known since 2009 this book must be written). I actually wrote chapters with an outline and some story summaries while in Afghanistan 2011. It didn’t get going. Now it is.

If you’ve tried something or know you should but it hasn’t happened yet? Normal.

Feeling anything negative works against you. Let it go and get going :)

So what to do when life pivots hard?

Ever got stuck in your work process from not being sure what you should do next?

Have you been frustrated at the fact you got stuck and think why does this always happen?

Lou Holtz, the national championship winning Notre Dame football coach and ESPN analyst, said if you wanna achieve your goals aka WIN you must figure out What’s Important Now? Not today… now.

See that? W.I.N.

As a young nurse, I struggled with prioritizing, badly. The older nurses would be like, “Adam, Fred is blue and isn’t breathing, you can take Ms. Johnson’s temperature after we make this guy pink again.” Oh, right, okay!

I think part of it was that I had age-related dumbness. As I matured, and learned what the hell I was doing in the hospital, I got better. Eventually, with extra trainings and a lot of intentional experience, my triage (prioritizing varying degrees of severity) skills became world-class as it related to emergencies. All told, that took like 6 plus years.

You don’t have that kind of time. And great for you, I’ve handled that.

Watch this… (it’s so plain, DO NOT miss it)

So, when there are five, or fifty, important things to do… how do you figure out what’s important now or immediately next (only one thing)?

Well, my friend, here’s my gift to you… the 4-burner stove.

A simple, practical, highly effective tool to get and keep your $hit together.

Picture in your mind a 4-burner stove. The image is there in case you’re like me and appreciate inspiration to get started ;)

Your work life, long term goals and even daily actions can be thought of as a meal.

I grew up middle class; only rich people had six-burner stoves and they were usually flat, in the middle of the kitchen (very fancy!)

Each burner has its own purpose and function in helping you produce the meal, in this case prioritizing your actions, perfectly in line with your goals.

The front row of the stove has a big burner and a medium one.

They’re in the front because overall, they are most important to your short and long term goals. They’re also larger than the back, on average, so naturally they have a place of higher importance. Plus, they’re in the front! :)

The back row has the tiny burner and a medium size one.

Now, the back is in the back (in case I lost you somewhere). The back is important. Those Thanksgiving green beans need a place to simmer until that dadgum turkey is ready to go.

The back can be thought of as what’s really important to you, as in your whole life, but it’s not super critical today.

Maybe you feel you’re supposed to write a book, but it’s not do or die today… so you work on it when you can. Consistency is great, like setting aside a couple hours every Sunday and getting some writing in. But it doesn’t need you every day or almost every day, like say doing whatever it is you do right now to keep Netflix streaming, aka your main income source.

For inspiration–

I’ll share my example since that’s what inspired me to write this for you.

Front Medium - Serving the people on my email list with valuable, life-impacting stuff.

Front Large - Coaching individuals and speaking at events

Back Medium - Writing for the book, Jesus, Drugs & The American Dream

Back Tiny - Podcasting

My thinking–

Front Medium -

Making contact and offering my best stuff to people who have trusted me enough to give an email (or more) in exchange is a monster responsibility.

And this is the most intimate part of my business, I’ll be counting on these people to share the book so people’s lives and homes can be changed.

Front Large -

This is the thing that feeds kids, pampers wives, buys mint chocolate chip ice cream and helps others who need it. Monitor this burner carefully because it has the mix of being critically important and time-sensitive. For those with “side-hustles”, this burner supports those efforts until the side becomes the main.

Back Medium -

This is one of the things I must accomplish in my life. This is not a choice, it’s a calling. It’s not time-sensitive today, but it needs regular attention.

Not working at something we believe we’re called to is a recipe for depression, anxiety and all sorts of things we don’t want.

Back Tiny - Two options

It may come and it may go - regardless, it doesn’t need constancy. It may need consistency though, you have to think through that and choose well.
It is important long term but it’s not necessary for income today.

So, what’s your start point?

What’s your vision of the future?

What are you working on right now?

What’s most important right now?

What’s important but isn’t pressing at the moment?

What’s important, not time-dependent BUT still needs consistency, even if it’s once per month?

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