Life First - Get More Out of Your Day by Prioritizing Yourself First

Most people spend their entire life stressed without ever giving a single thought as to what it is they really want or what's important to them. See, I'm here to cut through all that noise, connecting you to yourself and the life that you were meant to live. I used to slave away at a corporate job that I hated, but I broke through the social norms and pursued my passion. As a result, I own my own coffee company. I'm espresso sommelier, and I get to travel the world. You, too, can live a life that you love, but it starts with getting clear about what you want. It starts with a new decision. I'm your host, Donnie Rouse, and you are listening to the podcast One Life. What's going on, guys? Donny Rouse here. And today we are going to talk about putting your life first. If you don't prioritize the things that matter to you, what eventually is going to happen or what inevitably will happen is that they're going to get left out. The demands of life are going to take over, and pretty soon you're going to get to a place where you're not even sure how you got there, and all of a sudden, you feel like there's not enough time, and you left out the most important thing of your life. Taking care of yourself. So in this podcast here, I want to give you a framework, like a methodology to look at your day and start to plan your day. This is what I call the Life first methodology. But before we even go there, let's get real and let's just figure out where exactly are we? So in your life, like, what are the important things that are getting left out? Is it getting to the gym? Maybe you had a goal, you know, maybe the prior year you were going to the gym and you were making it to the gym five days a week, right? Doing cardio and mix of weights. But now you can barely find five minutes to go there. Write that down. Or maybe it's, you know, like, you don't even have time to spend with your family. You're constantly going and working that, you know, you don't even. You kiss your kid hello, and then you're. You're off doing something else. You don't get to spend that quality time. Write that down there. The next question is, why? Like, why is this. Why don't you or haven't you made the time in order to do the thing that's important? The second thing is to that question is, is it scheduled? Like, is there a block of time on your schedule? Right? Just like you Block time for work, right? We're at 9 o', clock, 5 o', clock, you're out. Are you blocking the time to spend doing the most important things in your life that are going to sustain the body, the system that is you? Third, what is the cost? Right, because anything that gets left out in your life, there's going to be a cost to it. So if we familiarize ourselves with that cost, it helps give more emotional reasons as to why we must follow through. Looking at the example I gave you, you can say, all right, well, if I don't maintain my body, what's eventually going to happen is I'm going to break down. And as a result of that breakdown, I am not going to have, you know, I won't be able to support my family. Like, I'll be emotionally dead, and maybe it'll ruin the relationship with my spouse and my kids. And then lastly, how can you block five minutes of time to start to add these components back into your life? And the reason I'm saying only five minutes is because we. What we're looking to do here is we're looking to rebuild a habit, because your life is made up of habits. The emotions, the way you think, the actions you do are all habits. So if we can change some of the habits that you have in your day, we could literally transform your entire life. The inspiration behind this podcast, I was talking with a friend in my accountability group, and while he was sharing the outcomes of his last week and some of the struggles he had, he was telling me how there was just so much. He felt like there was such a demand on his life that he didn't have time to do all the things. And you were talking about, like, you know, the working out, spending time with family. And he just felt like he was spread too thin. And I asked him, I said, well, what do you do for yourself? He said, well, you know, I try to organize. I'm going to make my point to organize at the end of this week. You know, that's going to be the thing you could hold me accountable to. I was like, all right, well, is it on your schedule? And he says, well, no, I just know I'm gonna do it this weekend. I was like, well, here's the thing. If it's not scheduled, it's not going to get done. When you block the time, you are making a commitment to yourself that this is the allotted time that you're going to work on, whatever it is that you're going to work on. And what I was telling him was Something that I had fallen into the. I had fallen into as well. So in with my own coach, I had spoken to her about, like, organizing my life, because I have all of these different projects going on, and sometimes I just, like, don't even know where I am with them, right? I'm like, oh, my God. The podcast, the coaching course, my coffee. Ah, you know, And I feel like my head is spinning sometimes. And she'd always say, all right, well, why don't you, like, let's stop and organize? And when she said this, I was like, okay, I'll commit to that. She goes, well, where is it going to be on your schedule? I was like, this weekend? And I was like, it also wasn't being that descriptive. She's all right, well, tell me the exact time. And then the time I'd off, I would tell her, block it, and I would send that time, and I would get clarity, like, kind of clearing my space, too, because your surroundings also influence your internal environment. And then I would get clarity. And then all of a sudden, everything just felt lighter. But I'm going to share with you another story. The last few months, you've probably heard in the different episodes here, like, I have a lot going on. And I don't say that to be like, oh, poor Donnie. Like, you know, there is a lot going on, and we all have a lot going on. But I was letting the system fall apart. I was prioritizing the doing without being. Without giving myself the time to connect emotionally with me, with others, around me, with just being outside. I love being outdoors. And here's what was happening as a result of not giving myself and allowing myself that time. All of a sudden, it was taking. It was stealing the enjoyment out of the things that I should literally be filled with passion doing. Right? Like, being here with you. This should light me up every single time. But everything was feeling like a chore. And then I realized that I was leaving that component out, and I wasn't prioritizing the most important piece me. Right? Like, my workouts were getting. Like, I was cutting my workout shorts. I wasn't fully present, tuning my body. This past week, I found myself going through that. That thought process. I was in the gym, and as I was leaving the gym, I heard this commotion in the. In the. In the gymnasium, and I thought it was basketball. I kind of walked down the stairs, I did a quick look, and I was surprised to see it was volleyball. And volleyball is one of the things that I love. And I was like, oh, wow, awesome. Like, I was actually Looking for people to play volleyball with. And it literally, it's right here. I walked downstairs, I spoke to the front desk, says, hey, what's going on out there? Is that, like an organized league? Is it just pickup? He's like, yeah, it's pickup. Anybody can go. So I was like, oh, awesome. And when does it happen? He's like, Fridays and Sundays. All right. I was like, all right, well, I'm gonna come back next time. And I was ready to leave because I was like, I gotta get home. I gotta do A, B and C. I don't even know what the hell the A, B, and C was. It was probably like, eat, shower, and, like, I don't even know, right? You could always make yourself busy is what I'm trying to say. But then I caught myself in this thought process. Like, you know what? I'm gonna go up there. At the very least, even if I don't intend on playing, at the very least, I can go up there and I could just introduce myself to people and make some friends. This way, when I come back the following week, I'm familiar and, you know, they'll allow me to play. And, you know, I've just made some friends. So I went up there and I did that, right? It was also. I would. I. Also. The other thought process in my mind was courageous action. How can I take. You know, like, I saw myself stuttering in taking this action, and I was like, how would a courageous person step forward? I was like, go up there. So I turned around and I marched up the stairs and I watched the game. And I introduced myself to a couple people. Shortly after, I realized there are two guys there who I. Who I knew from playing volleyball at one of the middle schools. Like, they're young kids. They're like, FC act insane. Everyone at this. Everyone on this volleyball court was, like, jumping up, spiking. I'm like, holy shit. Like, the level of gameplay here was, like, insane. I was intimidated to even step into the court. Not even, like. Not even onto the court. So I was there, and they. They acknowledged me. They're like, yo, what's going on? And so shook their hand, and they're like, why don't you come on and play? I was like, no, you know, I'm okay for now. What I was really saying was, like, I was nervous about looking stupid because all the people who were playing there, they've been playing together, so they know each other. They're very comfortable. And also, like, just that, like I said, the game level was, like, insane. Everyone was like, jumping up, spiking. I was like, holy. Like, I've never seen gameplay like this, maybe on, like, tv. So I was like, no. I mean, I'm gonna. I'm not gonna stay too long. I have to go meet my brother. So I'll just watch it. I'll watch the game. I started talking to a girl who was keeping score. Her name is Megan. And while I was talking to her, we were just talking about volleyball. I was getting a little bit background on her and how long she'd been playing. And she's like. Then, like, you know, one of the teams was called off. She goes, hey, why don't you come on and play? I was like, well, I'm not. I was like, ah, you know, like, I don't know if I'm next in there on the level. She. It doesn't matter. Just. Just come on. I was like, you know what courageous action. Let me go. So I went to play and I made a few mistakes. When the ball would come to me, I'd go to bump it, and all of a sudden it would, like, fly off in a different direction. Not because I didn't have the capability, because I was nervous. I was like. I saw everyone performing at such a high level and that I was nervous. And as a result, I was underperforming. But everyone was really, really cool and accepting about it. So it was just. It felt good. As I left that night, I was so grateful that I took that action. Just to go up there and to introduce myself and put myself in the environment where I could play and start to do something that was good for me, something that I enjoyed. And I'm not going to go into it, but as a result of having that experience, all of a sudden, in the next day steps, with my bottled espresso, I made some really, really big moves that I had been putting off that probably wouldn't have happened because my mindset wouldn't have been there. But because I prioritized myself, because I did the important things for me first, I was able to take new action, and now the momentum is going in a different direction. Now let's go back to it. The Life first methodology. I'm going to be doing my one Life course. This is one of the things that I tell people about. It's putting your life first, the most important things in your life, and scheduling those, making sure on a daily, at the very least a weekly basis that you're hitting these points. So what are those points? We spoke about them before, right? We said your body right because listen, if you don't have your health, you really don't have anything. Another thing that I was facing with. I bought a new bed. Frigging bed is firm. I felt like I was sleeping on concrete. I'm still waiting to swap out this bed. But as a result of doing that, all of a sudden I had. All right, my body hurts. I need to stretch more. I need to get more alignment. And I started doing all the different alignment exercises, stretching. And all of a sudden, now, like this firm bed that I'm sleeping on, I was actually sleeping on pretty good. But I understood that if I'm not stretching, if I'm not doing these things, then I'm gonna feel shitty. And then as a result of feeling shitty, how do I show up for the rest of my life, for the people in my life, for my business? I show up shittily. That's a word, shittily. So everything in your life feeds into the other areas, right? So if there's an area where you don't feel like you are performing at your best, right, it spills over into the other areas. And the most important one is your health. Because if you don't have your health, you don't have anything. So what is it for you by listening to this? What were your biggest takeaways? Like, what do you. By hearing my words, what are you like, you know what, this. I've been running my life this way, and these things are important to me, and I noticed that they always get left out. But as a result, I'm going to make sure that I spend at least five minutes prioritizing these things this week because they're important to me and they're important that they grow. And I love. Maybe you love the people. Maybe you're someone family or friends. And. And you're like, you know, I want to prioritize because I want them to know how important they are to me. And if I don't prioritize these, the relationships are going to wane and they're going to worsen over time, right? Things don't get. If you don't pay, put the energy in focus, things don't get better, they get worse. And then once you've committed to that, block the time. Where on your schedule are you going to do that? See, unless you're writing these things down, it's very easy to get lost in the loop of your mind. And when I say the loop of your mind, mean, like, you're going around about, like, all the things. You're like, oh, gosh I gotta go pick up the kids. Gotta do, you know, gotta do the laundry. I gotta, you know, do the social post. Gotta pick up the kids, gotta do the laundry. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold on. I already said the laundry and the kids. Oh, crap. Well, all right. Anyways. Gotta do the kids, gotta do the laundry. And all of a sudden, like, now you're looping, you're doing it, like you're literally telling yourself over and over the things you've already said. And it feels like a million things, but it might be like four. So you must write down, capture all this stuff, and you must put it in your schedule, because what gets scheduled gets done. You just have to also hold yourself accountable and make sure you do that. But I feel if you're familiar with the emotions yet, you're going to get and the reasons why you're going to follow through. Because that's what's going to. If you're listening to this now, that's also what's prioritizing these things in your mind. Because you're like, you know what? Yeah, these things are important. And I know that if you focus on those, you're going to carry through, you're going to move forward, and you're going to carry through with them. So, again, let's go over the questions just to kind of reacquaint yourself with the question they asked in the beginning. Like, what is getting left out? What are the important things in your life that is getting left out? Secondly, why are they gonna. Like, what are the reasons? And you want to be conscious here, because we have flexibility in our day to do anything, right? At the very least, we can find some time. And if it means taking it away from social media or waking up five minutes earlier, going to sleep five minutes later, whatever it is, find the time to give to yourself, because I'm telling you, it'll make the biggest difference. Third, what is the cost of. If you let these things wane or you let these things go out without ever putting attention towards them, what is it going to cost you in that area of your life? Your health, your relationships? I mean, literally everything spills over into every other category. So you can go through. One of the things I do with people is I go through the entire how every aspect of their life impacts the other areas. And then the last question is, how can you incorporate these things into your life? Like, what are the things you want to do? Just spending five minutes in your day to do something, and you could plan it daily or just in the week and then capture like, well, what will that give your life? This is the fifth question I didn't even mention before. What will it do by adding this ritual into your life? You know, if it's five minutes with your child, right, who's a teen, and they're going through a lot of trouble and you're having just a heart for heart, maybe like you get ice cream, I don't even know. And all of a sudden now you're connecting. And maybe when they have a problem, they come to you instead of turning to something that's going to put them down a different path where they don't want to go in the long term. And you don't want them to go because you love them. So I hope this podcast, I hope this acquainted you just with, you know, the things that are important to your life and the Life first methodology mean, like, do the things that are important. Now, they're not necessarily the things that are important and urgent, but they are important and they require your consistent energy and action in order to maintain and grow them. Do those things first, block those things in your day, and then go into all the other demands of life. So I hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you did, please hit that subscribe button. Share this with at least five people whom you feel could benefit from listening to this audio. And I think we all know many, many people. Like, I know, I know many people who literally run around like their heads chopped off and they have no time. They're like, I don't have time for this. I don't have time for, like, chill out, relax. We'll make time. And then lastly, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send them to me via my website at www.donnierouse.com-o n n y r a u s.com thank you guys so, so much for tuning in. I realize you could be putting your attention anywhere, but you're here with me now listening to this and I hope that in some way this benefited your life as well as how you show up in your day today. Remember, you only get one life. This is the one life you get. So make sure that you are living your life with passion. Make sure you're living your life with enjoyment. Make sure you are living your one life. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. God bless. And I will see you again next week.