what are your priorities?

January 12, 2026 · 3 min read

This is such a front loaded question, because depending on where you are in life or where this question is being pointed at (family, career, etc.) and the timeline given It is going to be wildly different. But it is important to take time to stabilize the ever growing entropy.

I like this quote from Howard Stevenson ,

In juggling, you have to keep your eye on all the balls… but the most important ball is the one that’s about to hit the ground.

As I approach being a father, This has become a more and more important consideration for me. What are my priorities right now? How should I structure my life?

It also doesn’t help that I’m mildly ADHD-ic and get immeasurably excited about shiny new things. and end up spending hours and hours on it.

I recently learned this idea of “closing threads”. Although I’ve come across this idea in different formats such as finish what you start and start finishing , etc. It really didn’t click with me that, completing a really small task is 100x better than starting a large project. When I mean small it can be as little as clearing your workspace or doing that exercise that you keep promising yourself. For the past few months I’ve forced my monkey brain to focus on just finishing the task at hand and not scramble about taking on newer and newer stuff.

I’ve often wondered how the amazing people in my life get stuff done. Almost all of them value finishing stuff than starting new things. it feels completely ass backwards to me and It never really registered for me that finishing one small thing is so much more gratifying than a really really big task. I’ve spent sleepless nights trying to push that single feature out. I’ve also spent incredible energy on projects that I know should’ve been slow burns. This has almost always resulted in me getting frustrated and tired of the project to the point where I stop doing it, before seeing any results. You can find proof of this in my 100s of new repositories without any result.

This is me, every single time I try to finish something.

The key thing is, it is important to think about life and pursuits as a marathon. The only difference between you and the competition is your ability to refresh and stand up, long after you’re tired. This is similar to the ideas behing default alive , Antifragile , 20 mile march etc. Before you start, align everything in a way that, stress that comes on your way would reduce your competition and increase your probability of success in the long run. Burning everything in one fell swoop is not a winning strategy as the likelihood of you folding is much higher as time goes on.

A good broader strategy is that, when you embark on a journey. Finishing each smaller task in itself should be gratifying. Surviving one more day to face this problem should be gratifying in a way the competition cannot comprehend. Because the ultimate gold is not at some point X. it is in each time you become your better self and

I started this essay about priorities. My current belief is, utmost priority in the next few minutes should be to the task at hand and give it my all to finish it. long term priority should be to strengthen yourself and everyone around you.

Also, learn something everyday that will help you fight poverty and keep you in sparkling health ― Marcus Aurelius