Stop saying priorities - there's no such thing.

Stop saying priorities - there's no such thing.


Priority is singular, by definition.
It is the one thing that comes before all others.

What is your priority right now?
What 3 goals support its achievement?

Your supporting areas can be plural - that's cool, right?

I sometimes obsess over words and their meaning.
That's not necessarily a good thing.

Why?

Because success comes from obsessing over the right things, not everything.

Which brings me to my other obsession right now. Making your priority and supporting goals hyper-specific and measurable.

It's frustrating when people say
. That's meaningless. So I'll push them and they'll commit to
as their priority.

Which brings me on to impact a.k.a. value. What are the costs and benefits from achieving the priority you chose?

Again people say things like
or
when they need to be talking about specific numbers like
or


How else do you build a business case for investment?

Then finally there are the
you'll need to take to achieve your goals. I'd suggest these need to be specific, actionable steps you can take in days or weeks.

Not things like
or
but rather tangible steps like
or


As we say,


Your priority is precise.
Your goals need numbers.
Your impact better be quantified.
Your next moves must be calendar-ready.

Vague thinking doesn't deliver outstanding results. It just enables excuses.