You Can Do Anything, But You Can’t Do Everything

The world is full of possibilities. You may have many gifts and talents, you may have dreams and projects, and you may have many obligations to fulfill, but there is no time for everything. Trying to ignore this reality only leads to despair and discouragement.

You might think this isn’t fair. So the sooner you assume that this is something we can’t change, start making decisions and setting priorities, the better your chances of success. When we try to do everything at once, we can’t do anything. We cannot move forward with so many goals in mind.  It is necessary to focus on a certain goal and make plans to achieve success.

The quote above is a reminder not to forget that it ‘s all about doing something, rather than trying to do everything. You can do what you want, but your time to devote yourself to what you want to do is limited. This is why prioritizing goals is so important.

Therefore, it is essential to understand what is most important to you at the moment and what you really hope to achieve. This can be a difficult decision, but it is the line between efficiency and depletion.

There is no limit to the things you can do.

For David Allen, author of the famous GTD (Getting Things Done) method of personnel management, one of the biggest current problems is managing our time in a practical way. The same applies to all aspects of our lives; it’s common to have the feeling that we don’t have time to do all the activities we’d like.

In fact, we live in a competitive environment where everything is continually updated due to the internet and new technologies. We are tempted to restructure our work on a monthly, weekly, and even hourly basis. Allen warns that, without control, this frenzied approach is a recipe for dissatisfaction and despair.

Prioritizing things based on the goals we want to achieve is the basis for moving forward and not getting lost along the way. However, it is very common for the ghost of all the other things we desire to wander through our minds occasionally. The key to surviving all these ghosts is to stay focused.

Having the ability and interest in something doesn’t mean you can do it all at once

Deep down, understanding this brings us peace of mind. We often  feel guilty for not doing more than we do, for not developing a certain skill that can make us feel better or make us more competitive, for not studying something we like and have talent.

This feeling of guilt can even lead us to victimhood. This can put us in a circle of overwork that will really consume a lot of our time, and we end up leaving out other areas of our life, such as family or self-care.

How to get anything … but not all at once

We’ve already mentioned that the first thing to do is prioritize. Only then can you move on. If you want to travel to four different destinations, you have to start with one, you can’t go all at once. If you have the resources to see all the places, get organized and travel safely; but if you are only able to meet one of them, you will have to choose the one that matters most and leave the others for later.

The same thing happens with the things we want to do. But actually choosing our goals isn’t as easy as selecting a vacation destination. We put in this article some tips that can help you.

1 – Individual approach

We are all irrationally optimistic. This can make us losers. We are very naive when we set goals and expectations. Although we don’t have evidence that we can achieve a certain goal or not, we continue to insist on the same behavioral pattern to approach them; we focus on all our goals and targets globally.

If you want something, prioritize individually. Choose only one goal, reflect, plan and work to achieve it.

2 – Eliminate the superfluous

Eliminate from your life all the things that are unnecessary. Start by deleting items you no longer need, then activities that don’t contribute anything and consume your time.

Freeing up physical space and time can be difficult at first, but gradually you will find that it makes your life easier, not only because you will have more time and space, but because it is easier to manage time and space without complications.

3 – Seek help and delegate

We have many activities to do, which often limit us and which we spend a lot of time and energy on. However, many of these tasks can be delegated to someone else, both personal and family matters and professional matters.

From household chores to managing tasks at work, to getting some of the work done by an outside company, there are many things you can delegate to others. Paying someone to do some of your homework will help you find time to focus on what you really want to do.

4 – Be true to yourself

Don’t overload yourself with more work than you can do and learn to say “no” to everything you really can’t do or that will force you to put your goals in the background. And don’t feel guilty about it.

The fact that you can’t satisfy everyone doesn’t mean you have to leave yourself last. Since you can’t satisfy everyone, at least meet your own needs.

5 – Believe in yourself

Everything we want to do presents difficulties. Problems and obstacles arise, many of which we can predict, but many come along unexpectedly.

Despite the difficulties, you need to believe in yourself, be positive and not lose faith in your abilities. You can do anything if you believe you can do anything. It is the first step on any path, be it long or short.