Everyone is familiar with a todo list. However, most people don't really understand the importance of having a list of the things you want to accomplish.
Creating a todo list is creating a list of goals. The list tells you what you need to do to achieve some larger outcome in your life. The power isn't so much in the list itself, but in the overall goal it helps you to achieve.
Having a list is a way to break down your life goals into easy manageable steps that you can complete in a specific amount of time. In this sense, your list becomes a guide showing you how to succeed in life.
Most people aren't particularly talented at creating a list. They end up with a bunch of things on the list that aren't important, that they don't want to do, and that don't contribute to their overall goals.
Developing a talent in creating your lists will help you a lot. First of all you need to see your list as a sacred place. It is there to help you achieve your life goals. This doesn't mean you can't put smaller items on the list—like getting groceries. It does mean that you need to make sure you only use your list for things that are actually valuable to you.
Many people spend all their time doing "good" things in a way that crowds out doing the really important things. If you have trouble making this distinction, you might consider creating two lists. One list is your sacred list, and the other is your scratch list. The scratch list is for ideas—things you might do, but you aren't sure how important they are just yet.
By creating two lists like this, you will be able to keep track of things without ending up with your primary list full of frivolous items that really shouldn't be occupying your time.
It is important to keep your sacred list just that. It represents the things you need to do to achieve success in life. You should be very careful what you put on that list, because every item that goes on it, potentially is preventing another item from being completed. By making sure this list aligns with your true lifelong goals, you will be able to make sure you are focusing on what is truly important and not thing that aren't as important in life.
