THE HIERARCHY OF HIGHEST VALUE ACTIVITIES
AND DRAMATICALLY HIGHER PAYOFF
See, below this box, the reasons why these are in this order and why these are given these values! The basic level of most activities in the ordinary day are at the value of "1" unit. If one wants to live a life at a greatly level of life, one needs to choose to do these super-valuable activities, instead of living at the low living of life!!!! Glance at these and then read the discussion, below.
USE THIS WAY OF ESTIMATING YOUR LIFE VALUES
Consider this way of estimating the ultimate life value of these types of activities and consider using this to prioritize what you do in life.
This is strictly doing what is of most value at the time - and taking a nap can qualify as being the most valuable thing to do at the time, as it will allow for greater productivity and feeling better during the rest of the day.
I explain the categories and the reasons for valuing them this way below.
But the point of all of this is to get you to do your own list of what activities are the most valuable for you. I think it is best to print out the various activities pages that are linked here (and relevant pieces linked to those), spread them out in front of you and pick what is of most value, assign a relative value as above, and then re-sort the list by highest value for your time. (And while you're at it, notice what is of little value and drop those from your life!!!!
HOW AND WHY THESE ARE OF THE MOST VALUE!
Those activities that affect the future the most and have the most long lasting effects are, of course, at the highest. Notice that the items are of a repeating nature, so that the number of times that something repeats serves as multiplier of the benefits.
The Multiplier Activities Are, By Far, Producers Of The Highest Value
One's "background conversation" is by far the most important. Note that, besides affecting your precious emotional state, the conversations are continuously in the background, being repeated, and causing the ill effects over and over, the most frequently of anything we do. Of anything! The valuable is incalculable at the high end. It is priceless to convert one's background conversation from mostly negative into highly positive. What else could be worth more and influence the quality of life more?
Some people deny this or don't realize the totality of their background conversation being negative, but they can deduce that it is there by looking at the evidence: their frequent experience of fears, the things that "stop them" from moving forward more or from daring more, their negative emotions (ongoing anxiety, shame, guilt, regret, etc.), their stress, their tension, the dampening effect on enjoying life, their dysfunctionality due to emotions when there is no ability reason that would explain it.. .
Dramatically improving your background conversation is undoubtably the highest value activity you can engage in. And you can engage in it quite extensively, after doing all the highest value actions first and going down the scale of value before any other activity begins to compare in value.
Some people make the mistake of thinking that "outside activities" can contribute more value than the repeatable multiplying value activities, but there is no comparison. It is imperative that you determine the relative value of the areas of life, especially in terms of the progressingly outward circles. The core circle is "you". The sixth circle out is "community activities" - and all you can do in the rung if totaled up would not even equal a thimble's worth compared to the barrels of value from working on the vital core. See Relative Values In And Of My Life - "In My Life", "Out There", Biggest Effectors and make sure you fully, fully understand this, as getting it right will be a massive determiner of how great or good your life can be.
Again, at the core, examining and correcting one's erroneous beliefs is enormously productive and determinate of the quality of one's life. Imagine being free of fear and confident about the future.
Next in impact, but still huge, is learning and developing what Stephen Covey calls "productive capability" but what I call "Life Capability - The Single Most Valuable Capability Of All". This is the ability to get what you want in life and to produce the life value you want in your life.
The ability to do much better any of the activities that we do repeatedly is of repeated value. The value of each time is multiplied many times over so that the multipicated total is immensely greater for life value for you than any great thing you could do for humanity (the sixth circle out).
Part of what gives us access to producing more high value is the harnessing of energy toward producing a high value result. In many cases, those results are achieved more plentifully or at a higher value level by setting up our "manufacturing equipment", in a metaphorical sense, to operate better. All things that produce results do so via "systems" that cause them to happen. And everything in the universe happens because of a sequence of things that happen. These are called "systems". They, instead of just being tangible (like a piece of machinery), can range all the way over to intangible life systems, such as our "belief systems" which cause our emotions and behaviors and the order in which we think and act to get something done. If we do things the right way in the right order we will produce better results. Whatever does that is part of a system and is a system in and of itself. See Work The System, Work The Plan! And Your Life Will Work, Guaranteed! and the items in the sidebar on that page, until you understand what a system is and how it can help you if you make sure you have better ones!
While a value activity repeated is of great value, a necessary value that will give us the time and allocate the time to that which is of the highest value is next and very much up there in the highest value territory. The capability of managing time and committing it to what is of the most value is the capability that makes good and/or fast building of the core of life possible. Indeed, if we are not able to devote sufficient hours to learning and growth we stand no chance of reaping all the higher values, for they will not all of a sudden happen. Each of them needs sufficient time or they cannot be achieved. Learning and mastering time and productivity management is, indeed, a master skill, as are the other life skills (included under Life Capability) - but time is the component without which we cannot achieve the others. Its absence has a prohibitive negative "value" equal to all of the values that are foregone due to the lack of time to achieve them. It is the core that will make it all work - and getting up to a reasonably good level of it will eliminate the negative hole it can keep us stuck in. Above that it always also adds high value because it frees up even more time for the higher value items.
ALL OF THESE ACTIVITIES ABOVE ARE IN QUADRANT II
Anybody who truly understands the Four Quadrants attempts to direct themselves toward doing Quadrant II activities, which are those which are more important, but longer term, to producing the highest value and the capabilities to produce the highest values (or reduce the biggest obstacles to having a good life). There is no dispute over which activity quadrant produces the most value but only the most successful give it enough time to reap the greatest life. You must learn this and then make sure that you are devoting enough time to it to maximize its value until you've done all the highest value pieces of it and are left with only the lower value contributing pieces of Quadrant II, so that they are low enough to have another area's top value be higher. Anything less than that is highly unintelligent and highly unwise, for what rational man/woman would choose otherwise? Run your life so that you maximize and fully utilize Quadrant II and your life will be truly wonderful and be the greatest experience! Start with The Four Quadrants, then go to The Four Quadrants - The Expanded Version and to Living In The 5 Quadrants Of Quadrant II - Expanding Quadrant II For More "Life Value" and assure that you are living life according to The 80/20 Principle - effortlessly, gracefully, effectively, and beautifully. . Do not short yourself on the understanding of this (which is a Quadrant II activity) and the full implement of this (which is an even higher Quadrant II activity and the key to being able to cause the greatest life possible.
Do not stop short of this!
NEXT IS THAT WHICH ENABLES LIFE
Maintaining all of our equipment (mind and body) so that it supports us is the key to enabling us to achieve our potential, for it allows us the energy and high physical functioning to be able to do whatever we most want to do and to also feel good physically and emotionally. This is a key cog in the wheel, so that we could not get along without it. While assuring we are not totally malfunctioning has key critical value, each level we rise to in high functioning enables our lives to be better and better. Go to a "good" level and you'll have the best chances of all for high functioning. Going to "perfect" might not be the best use of our time, for it might not buy alot extra for us for the amount of time it takes us (the cost for getting the benefit). The key function of the highest order in the physical (and also emotional/mental) are is to assure that we stay in the H Zone, which is actually a range over which we are functioning well. If we get outside the range, to get back into the range will require us to expend effort and resources that will often take away from another area, which would in turn cause it to at least underfunction as it is being robbed for use in balancing another area. If we go to far out of the H Zone, things begin to go crazy and to start to malfunction more and more, in a downward spiraling manner. So maintaining oneself and assuring we don't go out of the H Zone is essential living a good life and a longer life.
Make sure you have your systems, including your behavior systems, nutrition systems, exercise systems, etc., in good running order and the rest of your life will be further enhanced and raised to the level of your dreams (or higher than you thought possible).
ALL OF THESE HIGHEST AFFECTORS PERMIT THE DIRECT AFFECTORS
Indeed, the purpose of life is not getting to be better able to produce value, as what is of value is actually experiencing the value itself. If only we could experience alot of value without having to make sure that all the barriers were out of the way, wouldn't that be wonderful? But it cannot be done. We must set it up so that there is nothing in the way and also so there is more ability to cause it.
The ultimate value is deep, enduring, unconditional happiness. That cannot be attained unless we get rid of the causes of unhappiness and add more of the causes of happiness - that is what all the highest value items cause. But once those "good causers" are in place, they produce such an abundance of great, super experiencing of meaning and value that it is beyond our highest imagination. We appreciate life and experience it as a wonder and a gift. Life is full of meaningful activities. Life is full of meaningful relationships. Life is full of pleasurable experiences, many of which are deeply savorable. Life is full of freedom and lots of great choices.
First, do the top value activities that help us be able to create value, then you are able enough to engage in more and more "meaningful activities". List out your meaningful activities (and then do more of them and remove the barriers to doing them and enhance the ability to do more of them). Even those activities that seem only to help us be better able to experience life value will prove meaningful to us, for achieving them "means" that we can anticipate a better future of more value - in other words, we get "value" and "meaning" just from the potential future value they are creating.
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To approach this in a way that sequentially leads up to doing this, and being more effective at it, it would be good to read my (virtually free) Life Value Productivity book, which will set you up to live your life at several levels higher in life!!!!
The Multipliers (repeatedly effective over time)
Maximizing "background conversation" (internal) 10,000+ (Belief correcting, viewpoints, etc.)
Reconstructing beliefs, viewpoint, elimination fears 5,000+ (Integral to the above)
Developing "life capability" (produce life value repeatedly) 1,000+
Developing capability to do repeated activities much better 1,000+
Developing "systems" to do repeated activities much better 1,000+
Developing a greater ability to be "productive" with time 1,000 (Make $, efficient time use, etc.)
Developing and doing the systematic choosing of what is
of the highest value 1,000+
Developing and using the ability to solve a problem
(figure out anything, strategizing) and implement the
solution 10,000+
Enable Better Value Experiencing And Performance/Thinking Capability
Keep self in The H Zone of high functioning 100+
Direct Value Producers
"Meaningful" activities 1 to 30 of value
Enjoyment activities (See linked list.) 1 to 10
Low value activities (Displace, use time for higher) .5 or less (see sidebar link)
No Or Negative Value Producers (Eliminate these, as a priority!)
Irrelevant (no true impact) (eliminate) 0 (But lose opportunity to do a value item)
A behavior that is caused by mistaken behavior -1 to -10++
Personally damaging behaviors (often for "relief") -1 to -10
Personally damaging beliefs, untrue fears (correct them) -100 to - 5,000
Of course, the positive value of getting rid of a high negative value item is very high! So, you would give it a high priority - and not let it, and its ill effects, continue!!!!!!
Powerful Mode To Be In
Spend 5, 10, preferably 20 hours a week in Quadrant II of life!
Every choice of an item with "some value" but lower value than another available alternative is a costly error.
On the value of specific activities
On taking on new activities
A Decision Process For Taking On Tasks - Or Not - It is essential that you stop low value tasks at the gate of the city and not let them in as they will crowd out the room for what is of true value. Be careful, very, very careful! Construct your criteria with discrimination!
On trading off between areas
Values In Various Areas And How To Trade Off Between Them - A vital distinction to have in choosing what to do next!
On control
Note that there are items of positive or negative value that you cannot control, as they are "outside-sourced". So you concentrate on those activities where you can cause (vs. "just hope") the value yourself, especially with more assurity.
Some things we might want, which would be of value, but which we might not be able to cause (or even effectively influence):
A spouse who is "present" emotionally and physically. (You would create value elsewhere.)
