06/18/2026
A few weeks ago I was coaching a leader on health and I shared how I order my priorities.
My list, because it tends to surprise people (unless you read my posts often):
My physical health.
My mental health.
Family's physical health.
Family's mental health.
Then everything else.
Yes. Work lives in "everything else."
Not because work doesn't matter. It does, and I also LOVE it.
But the only way I show up for any of it is if the top of that list is covered first.
He sat with that. Then named his own, out loud. First time he'd ever thought about it by what he says yes to first.
His went:
Work bucket. First.
Family. Fill it second.
Himself. Whatever's left.
Which - doing the math - is usually nothing.
This awareness alone is huge.
Most people never name their buckets.
They just feel empty and can't explain why.
But then I pushed back on one thing -
What if your personal bucket being full is what keeps the other two from overflowing?
Not instead of work.
Not instead of family.
The thing that actually makes you better at both?
That's the reason my list looks the way it does.
I don't put my health on top because it matters more than my family.
I put it on top because it's the thing that lets me be my best to them.
And I'm not coaching from a mountaintop. For years, I put work first. Always. It took me until about 6 years ago to see it was costing me more than I was gaining.
I still don't have a perfect schedule. Far from it. The plan falls apart all the time.
But my one rule. It HAPPENS. If the whole day blows up, I'm still getting my movement in before bed. Not perfect. Just not letting the bucket hit empty.
You don't have to do what I do. You don't have to put the same things in the same order.
As I often think - What good is my health if there's nobody around who's glad I have it?
But I know this. I show up better for the people I love when my own bucket isn't dry. So when something threatens that, I've learned to say no.
I challenge you this week: name your buckets.
In the real order you actually fill them - check your calendar if you must.
Then ask: Is my personal bucket empty because there's no time?
Or because I've decided it goes last?
