When You Care About So Much: How Do You Prioritize Goals?

Achieving goals is much more challenging than simply setting them. In our series on “The Art of Setting and Achieving Goals,” we cover how to gain clarity on setting your goals — whether personal, professional, or business-related — and develop a master plan to achieve them.

Before setting goals, you must first formulate your mission statement. Then, once you’re immersed in your greater purpose, you can list goals for getting there and begin to prioritize them. This is what we’re covering today in part two of our ten-part series.

Why Goal Prioritization Matters

Even if you start your workday with a carefully planned, time-blocked schedule, new tasks and unexpected issues are likely to arise. A quick Slack message turns into a ten-minute call, an urgent client request lands in your inbox, or a meeting runs long. Before you know it, you’re juggling multiple things at once—and multitasking, while tempting, is often the fastest way to slow real progress.

And prioritization doesn’t stop when the workday ends. Whether it’s taking a class to improve your skills, squeezing in a workout, or dedicating time to self-care practices like meditation, your life outside of the office has its own set of demands.

So the real question becomes: when everything feels urgent and important, how do you decide what deserves your attention first?

3 Stages of Goal Prioritization

There are three stages in achieving your goals:

1. Getting clarity on your mission
2. Developing a plan
3. Executing on the plan

Mission

Your mission acts as the big-picture destination, while your goals serve as checkpoints that keep you moving in the right direction. When your goals are clear and SMART, deciding what to prioritize becomes easier and faster.

Developing a Plan

If your mission is the destination and your goals are the checkpoints, your plans are the routes you take to get there.

Every plan should directly support one of your goals. If it doesn’t, it’s likely a distraction, no matter how productive it feels.

Executing on the Plan

It’s important to recognize that not all goals carry equal weight at all times. There will be moments when action steps compete for your attention, and you’ll need to decide which actions take priority.

For example, you may block off an hour to complete a proposal, making that your top priority for the time. However, if a team member pulls you aside to resolve a sensitive client issue, your broader goal of maintaining strong client relationships may temporarily take precedence over your proposal deadline. In that case, shifting your focus is a strategic decision, not a failure to follow the plan.

Prioritization in Practice

Now that we understand how mission, goals, and plans shape our priorities, let’s look at what prioritization looks like in practice. One of the most well-known examples comes from a conversation between Warren Buffett and his pilot, Michael Flint.

Here are the steps that Buffett told Flint to take:

Step 1: Write down your top 25 goals on a piece of paper.
Step 2: Circle the five goals that matter most—the ones that would make the biggest difference if accomplished.
Step 3: Separate the list into two groups: your top five priorities and the remaining 20 goals.

At first glance, many people assume the remaining 20 goals are simply what you work on once you have extra time. Buffett challenged this assumption. He told Flint that those 20 goals should be treated as the “avoid at all costs” list.

Why? Because those goals, while meaningful, compete for your attention and dilute your focus. Until your top five priorities are achieved, the remaining goals aren’t just lower priorities; they’re distractions. Removing them allows you to fully commit your time, energy, and decision-making to what matters most.

The Bottom Line

Prioritization isn’t about limiting your potential or forcing you to focus only on the most difficult tasks. Instead, it’s a tool for intentionally allocating your time and energy so you can make the greatest impact. When everything feels important, prioritization helps you decide what deserves your best effort right now—without guilt or second-guessing.

Yes, prioritizing your responsibilities takes effort. But the alternative is far more costly: constantly reacting, feeling overwhelmed, and re-deciding what matters every single day. You can either invest the time to prioritize intentionally now—or pay for it repeatedly in stress, distraction, and lost momentum.

If you’re ready to deepen this practice, explore our proven goal-setting framework in The Goal Principles by Rich Bello. For a limited time, the book is available on Amazon for 40% off!