BUILDING A LIFE THAT STANDS: The Power of Choosing Your Priorities Continually
NV Paulose, Chairman, Global TV +91 98441 82044
Continually doing something shapes your life more powerfully than you realise. When you return to a task again and again, your unconscious competence begins to expand. What once felt deliberate becomes natural. What once required effort becomes instinctive. This is the hidden strength of consistency. Continually is a word that captures the quiet force behind mastery. It reminds us that meaningful progress comes from repeated attention to the things that matter most. When you set your time on your priorities continually, your abilities sharpen, your confidence grows, and your actions begin to flow effortlessly. Yet this transformation only happens when you focus on the right areas, because not every ability deserves continual investment. Some skills can carry your future while others are only meant for small, practical moments.
The Importance of Self Knowledge
Every person carries a unique combination of talents. Some abilities are powerful, some provide support, and some are small and useful only occasionally. When you do not understand which ability deserves your focus, you may end up investing in the wrong areas. This leads to exhaustion, confusion, or lack of progress. Knowing your true strengths helps you prioritise properly. It brings clarity to your decisions, steadiness to your emotions, and purpose to your daily actions. Self knowledge keeps your energy directed where it can produce the most meaningful outcomes.
The Six Elements of Personal Skill
To identify your strengths with clarity, it helps to organise your abilities into six elements. Each one plays its own role in shaping your growth and guiding your priorities.
Brick Skills The Strongest Foundation
Your Brick skill is your greatest strength, the ability that feels natural and energising. It is the work you do with confidence and enjoyment. When you build your life upon your Brick, you anchor yourself in authenticity. Examples of Brick skills include clear writing, engaging with people, deep thinking, connecting ideas, creating comfort in a home, or offering warm hospitality. These are not ordinary strengths. They are the core of who you are. Continual attention to your Brick skill turns it into something powerful, stable, and deeply fulfilling.
Granite Skills The Supportive Strengths
Granite skills support your Brick and make it stronger. They may not be your primary abilities, but they help lift your main skill to a higher level. If writing is your Brick, then creativity or listening may be your Granite. If home management is your Brick, patience or discipline may be your Granite. Continually strengthening your Granite helps your Brick shine. These skills form a reliable base that enhances your natural strengths.
Stone Skills The Necessary Daily Tools
Stone skills are the practical abilities required to manage daily life efficiently. They include organising tasks, planning routines, and managing time. These skills do not define you, but they keep your days running smoothly. Continually applying your Stone skills creates order and reduces stress, allowing your stronger abilities to flourish.
Sand Skills Small but Handy Abilities
Sand skills are minor abilities that are helpful in certain situations. They may include simple computer knowledge, quick household techniques, or basic creative tricks. These skills are useful only in specific moments. They should be used when needed but not mistaken for your main strengths. Continually polishing them does not lead to long term growth, so they must be kept in their rightful place.
Silt Skills Abilities That Are Still Growing
Silt skills are the talents you are currently learning. These represent your next level of growth. When you invest in them continually, Silt skills can grow into Stones or even rise to the level of Bricks. They may include improving communication, learning better use of artificial intelligence, developing writing, or enhancing home care abilities. Even small daily practice strengthens your Silt and shapes your future self.
Water Skills Basic Skills Expected of Everyone
Water skills are common abilities such as being polite, arriving on time, or communicating clearly. These are essential for daily interactions, but they do not define your identity. They should flow naturally through your behaviour without demanding major time or attention.
A Simple Ritual of Clarity
A powerful practice for gaining self understanding is to list all your skills and place each one in its correct category. This ritual gives clarity and balance. Ask yourself which ability feels most natural and powerful. That is your Brick. Ask which ability you are learning now that will benefit your future. That is your Silt. This simple exercise transforms confusion into direction and helps you use your time with purpose.
Why Your Brick Must Be Your Priority
Your Brick is your strongest foundation. When you neglect it, you feel unsettled and disconnected from your true self. Many people focus on small tasks or basic abilities and then wonder why they do not experience meaningful growth. Continual attention to your Brick transforms your life. You begin to produce excellent work. You attract new opportunities. You build confidence. You become more aligned with your natural strengths. Your Brick deserves sacred time every week because it is the core of your identity.
The Power of Investing in Silt Daily
Your Silt skills also deserve steady attention. These are the abilities that will shape your future. Even ten minutes of practice daily can create remarkable progress over time. When you continually develop your Silt, you ensure that you are always growing, always evolving, and always ready for new possibilities. Silt is the soil where your next strengths are planted.
Using the Six Elements to Structure Your Time
Continually making time for what matters becomes easier when you structure your schedule according to the six elements. Give dedicated time to your Brick. Strengthen your Granite enough to support it. Spend small but consistent moments on your Silt. Use Stone and Sand skills only when needed. Allow your Water skills to flow naturally through your behaviour. This balanced approach ensures that your energy and time align with your real purpose.
The Value of Emerging Strengths in the Future
Skills such as hospitality, home management, clarity in communication, and the ability to bring people together are becoming increasingly valuable in the modern world. They influence future work environments, community building, and personal leadership. Your Brick may rest in thinking clearly, writing, connecting people, or creating comfort. These strengths hold real value. Continually developing them prepares you for a future where these abilities become essential.
Individuals Who Build on Their Brick Become Strong
People who recognise their Brick and continually build upon it become strong and centred. The person with a Brick of nurturing naturally creates unity. The person guided by curiosity grows with confidence. The individual whose strength is wisdom becomes a source of direction. The one rooted in discipline becomes a steady pillar for others. These examples show that when you identify your true strength and build on it continually, your life develops purpose and power.
Do Not Spend All Your Time on Water
Basic abilities like politeness and punctuality are important, but they should not consume all your attention. They do not define your identity. If you focus too much on these basic skills, you lose time that should be invested in your deeper strengths. Continual improvement should always begin with what is truly yours.
Continual Growth Creates a Life That Stands
A fulfilling life is built through continual effort in the right areas. You do not need dramatic changes. You need steady dedication. Build with your Brick. Support it with your Granite. Expand your future through your Silt. This pattern brings stability and confidence. Your daily actions begin to reflect your most authentic abilities. Your growth becomes intentional and meaningful.
Choose Continually What Matters Most
Continually is not about repetition. It is a conscious decision to live with clarity. When you identify your Brick, support it with Granite, apply your Stones, control your Sand, nurture your Silt, and allow your Water to flow naturally, you create a balanced and strong life. You stop polishing what cannot hold your future and start building with what is truly solid within you. This approach expands your unconscious competence, strengthens your identity, and helps you achieve your best. When you choose what matters continually, you build a life that stands firm and grows with purpose.
