Ever find yourself asking big questions like, what should I do next? Or maybe you find yourself asking what matters to me? If so, you're like the rest of us and you struggle with priorities, boundaries or structure. I recently spoke with Dallas resident Sean Rosensteel on these topics. Sean is an entrepreneur, speaker and the author of the book The School of Intentional Living. Here are the key takeaways from our conversation.
Sean’s Personal Story
Sean says that he grew up with a very conventional idea of success. He believed that success was tied to big homes, fast cars, and fancy toys. That was his focus throughout my teenage years. And for most of my twenties and I pursued that conventional definition of success in a negligent way. It led to his bankruptcy, which happened when he was 28 years old, just one month before his wedding.
That was a real wake up call because for the first time he took a little inventory of his life. He recognized how unintentionally he had been living. He realized that his financial bankruptcy was actually the least of my concerns. Sean says that he was physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and relationally bankrupt.
Sean realized that he needed to start living intentionally as he was about to get married. He had to make some serious changes in his life.
The Most Important Thing
Many people don’t know what they want in life. Sean mentioned that he did some little research on the word priorities. The word is actually singular. The word is priority, not priorities. In the 1960s, people started using that as the plural term priorities. But the idea behind the word priority was a singular focus.
To know what it is that we want, we have to set some boundaries and understand the frameworks that work in our life. Sean started to give himself letter grades in the different areas of his life. The letter grades serve as a reminder. Instead of viewing something as 7/10, it is a C. If one part of your life has a D, it is clear that area needs improvement.
Moving Past Roadblocks
Sean says that his father taught me that complexity is the enemy of success, and he fully bought into that concept. In Sean’s book he talks about lockers. In school, that’s that place students place their things. In the real world, lockers could be as simple as a filing cabinet. Inside there could be folders or tabs used to dedicate as space to the areas of life that matter.
But a locker doesn’t hold everything that you need. Sean uses a backpack. He stores his laptop, the book he’s reading, a tablet, water, snacks, and chargers in his backpack. But he takes this concept even further with the work he does on his computer. He considers his phone and project management app to serve as a digital backpack of sorts.
Freedom Through Structure
Sean shares that the main struggle we all face is one of distraction. And when you have structure in your life, you can best handle distraction. When Sean structured out his calendar and scheduled out his priorities, he found freedom. For example, he schedules family time. Every day, from Monday through Friday from about 5:30 PM until 8:30 PM is uninterrupted family time. He is with his family physically and mentally. His phone goes on do not disturb mode. It is essential to create an environment that supports your success.
Sean expands more on these concepts and shares some practical ways to detail with distraction and also manage your expectations. I highly recommend you listen to the full episode for more details. In addition, you can pick up Sean’s book on Amazon or visit his personal website. Thanks so much to Sean for this great conversation.
Do you have any takeaways or things that stood out to you from this article? Thanks!