• It's time for a reality check - one that actually answers the questions, "What are we doing?" and "What are we going to do to change?"
• The first thing we need to change has to be our priorities if we really want to see the changes become manifest.
• So, it's time to ask yourself this life-changing question: "What kind of lifestyle do you want?"

It's the end of the financial year. Normally, that should not really make any difference to our day to day lives, but some clever businesses are thinking of ways to make this a 'special occasion.' So now businesses are trying to make us open our wallets at 'end of financial year' time in addition to Christmas, New Year, Easter, Mother's Day, Father Day's and wait for it 'Check Your Batteries Day' (yes such a day exists in the USA).

It seems everyone at the start of the new financials is running around like headless chickens or flying about like a blue ass fly not quite getting anywhere in the vain hope of improving themselves or their business. Sometimes I think Australia is going a bit nuts and bonkers.

Now most people who know me know that I am not the most politically correct person, so I’m going to be a bit blunt and say that what we tend to do is absolute crap. Rubbish. And a bit pointless too.

What are we doing in life?

You see no matter what people decide to do in January as a 'New Year's Resolution' or in June as a 'Mid-Year Change' their lives are mostly the same. We wake up every day, spend hours traveling to work to earn money to pay for the clothes, the car that gets us to work, and the big house that we do not use most of the time because we are working. 

We then spend about 6 hours a day on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to try and convince everyone else that our lives are actually different. I am looking right now, and I can see one of my doctor clients is on a shopping expedition. I also know their debts are bigger than Trump Tower. 

All this does is make us spend money we do not have on things we do not need to impress people we do not really know or even like. And while we are all sick to death doing this, we think if we don’t do it we have somehow failed ourselves and the people around us.

You see, we all decide we will set up in business or be employed in a good job, work hard, make lots of money, and when the time is right, we will retire and undertake all the things we wanted to do earlier in life. There are, however, one or two problems with this.

The issue is that as you get older, you find that it’s a bit late to have all your adventures because your knees no longer work. You also can’t go to the beach wearing a swimsuit because you now wear adult nappies as you cannot control your bladder anymore. It gets worse. Strolling on the beach with a walker really doesn’t work, and trying to eat shellfish with false teeth really can’t be fun.

I could go on. So I shall.

What do you want from life?

Trying to undertake a bungee jump in your sixties just looks wrong because you could find that your hips decide to disengage from the rest of your body with your head following the pull of gravity while your legs are moving in the opposite direction.

And going on an Alaskan cruise could prove to be a bad idea too because your joints just seize up in the cold and it looks as if you have splints and no knees or elbows.

Why setting priorities is important

You see, I believe your business or your job should come second. You come first. You are the most important part of the equation. Now I admit this is not what one is supposed to say on a business networking site, but when you think about it, it is so true.

The problem is that everyone tells you that you have to work hard in your business or job, which means your business or your job usually comes first.

I deal with a lot of medical practitioners, and they have at some stage had the misfortune to tell a patient they are terminally ill and only have, say, a year to live. I am told their patient will suddenly put their job or business to one side and try to live an entire lifetime in just one year and never quite complete all the things they wanted to do.

They do this because, throughout their time working, work came first and only near the end of their life did they realise that actually, they should be first. By the time this happens, it is way too late.

So what you need to do is build your business or get a job that provides a lifestyle you want.

What kind of lifestyle do you want?

Now, this is really the key question.

We don’t get around to asking this question until we are about 60, by which time it’s too late because you could be dead, about to die, or worse can’t remember who you actually are because the brain cells are not quite what they used to be.

In fact, I actually believe that most people don’t make as much money as they should because they don’t ask themselves this question.

Now you can have a lot of fun with this. Ask the question, and your mind will come up with all kinds of weird and wonderful things you could do. In reality, it gets a bit tricky because deciding to become a Buddhist Monk sounds very tranquil and peaceful, but after a while, you realise you can’t use Mr. Samsung to check Facebook, and there is certainly no chance of having any sex.

I once decided I wanted to live a healthier lifestyle and would remove all alcohol and bad food from my diet. Well, that lasted exactly … 48 hours. And an hour after that an entire bottle of single malt whisky disappeared down my throat. You need to be realistic and actually live the life you actually enjoy. Otherwise, it does not work.

So let me ask it again. ‘What kind of lifestyle do you want?’

Take a pen and a journal and spend ten minutes really thinking about this. Next week I will write about how you can identify what you want but for now, spend those ten minutes on you. And don't just shut this article down and go back to work. I am asking you to spend just 10 minutes on you. If you cannot do this, then you are not doing any justice to yourself.

If you are not prepared to spend 10 minutes out of 1,440 minutes today, then don't complain if things don't quite work out as they should. Ten minutes is all I am asking. Remember it’s your life you are planning. And the future has not yet been written. So make it a good one. And also because well, you deserve it.