The Priority Show

Episode Summary: What Mike has been doing to find focus and clarity in business and life, starting with a hurricane evacuation packing list and turning into a full self-audit and decluttering of his home and work environment.What You'll LearnWhat Hurricane Irma's evacuation packing list taught Mike about real prioritiesA practical purging technique for decluttering a home room by roomWhy simplifying physical space is really a mindset hack, not just tidyingThe "snowball effect" of small positive habits compounding into bigger clarityLyrics Trivia"Take what you need and leave the rest." What song are these lyrics from, who wrote it, and what band played the original? The song is The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, written by Robbie Robertson in 1969 and originally performed by The Band. It's been covered widely — Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, and a favorite version by The Jerry Garcia Band. ("Dixie," for context, was the nickname for the Confederate States.)What Is This Episode About?Clarity is the state of being clear, and this episode is about finding clarity on goals and priorities — largely by simplifying and removing the distractions and external noise that cause overwhelm. The goal: inspire a step back to look at the big picture across job, business, podcast, social channels, and branding, and honestly assess whether time is actually going toward what matters most.The story that started it: evacuating for Hurricane Irma meant packing 4 bags of essentials and valuables and accepting that everything left behind — including the place of residence itself — might be destroyed.What made the cut: good podcasting and audio gear, camera equipment — DSLR, lenses, GoPros, chargers, batteries, a laptop, an iPad, and some clothes. The old faithfuls: a Shure SM58 and a Martin acoustic D16 guitar. (Full gear list on Kit.) Take what you need, and leave the rest.Post-Irma Self-AuditA hard look at business and personal goals followed: are priorities actually in order? Is time going toward the most important things while building the personal brand and business? The honest answer — wheels had been spinning for months, and a real pause and recalibration was overdue to avoid working in circles instead of moving forward.What Got Done, and What You Can DoClean house — literally and figuratively. Starting with the evacuation bags themselves, sorted into two piles: keep and sell. Then room by room, sorted three ways: keep (used regularly, actually needed), toss (not even thrift-store worthy), and sell (real resale value). Facebook Marketplace worked well for local sales — some spam and time-wasting inquiries, but genuine success with minimal effort.Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.Support the showSubscribe To Weekly Newsletter:AI UnpluggedConnect With Me🌐 Website📧 Newsletter🎥 YouTube🐦 X💼 LinkedInComments, Questions & Feedback: [email protected]