Why Priorities Collapse
A mental framework for holding focus when pressure builds.
When priorities collapse, it’s because they were never clear or tangible
just vague commitments with no real next step.
You don’t struggle because you lack vision. You struggle because you don’t have one clear, protected priority. Or maybe you have too many and no system to hold just one in place.
So, things drift. Focus shifts. Progress stalls. Great ideas lose momentum not because they’re wrong, but because they’re unprotected.
This isn’t theory. It’s a framework I built through experience, after seeing what happens when even the best work struggles to gain traction. Clarity doesn’t just show up. You have to build around it and protect it.
The Commitment Pyramid
The Commitment Pyramid is a simple way to hold your focus when pressure builds. It helps you stay with what matters most and protect it from everything pulling you off track.
Here’s how it works:
Commitment is what you’re protecting over time
Priority is the tangible outcome that brings that commitment to life
Time and Attention are what move it forward
When those three align, you move forward. When they don’t, you spin, even with the best ideas and intentions.
A triangle shows the relationship. A pyramid shows the weight.
Time and Attention
A priority can’t move without support. That support comes from your two most limited resources: time and attention. You need both. One without the other doesn’t get you anywhere.
Time is the container. Attention is the content.
You can block time on your calendar, but nothing meaningful happens if your mind doesn’t show up. Or flip it—you might be mentally dialed in, but without protected time, your focus gets chopped up by everything else.
Attention isn’t automatic. Some days you sit down and your brain is somewhere else. That’s not failure. It’s feedback. It means you need to adjust, not abandon. Knowing when you’re in the right headspace to do the work is part of protecting it.
Sometimes, that means figuring out when in the day you’re sharpest and blocking that time accordingly. It helps to have someone who knows how you work and can keep the space clear so you’re not just showing up, you’re making progress.
Time makes room. Attention makes progress. You need both.
Commitment vs Priority
This is where a lot of leaders get stuck. You might think you have a priority but really, you have a commitment. And that’s not bad. It just won't move forward until you turn that commitment into something tangible.
A priority is something you can finish. A commitment is something you hold.
For example:
“Build a strong culture” is a commitment.
“Redesign the org chart to reflect roles, values, and communication flow” is the priority that brings that commitment to life.
In this model, a priority has to be tangible. It lets you make progress, finish something and give your team specific clarity. You can’t protect a vague idea you can only protect a tangible outcome.
The pyramid helps you do both. It protects the priority while staying anchored to the commitment underneath it. Without that commitment, the pyramid has no foundation and it crumbles.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Let’s say you’re leading in a reactive environment: fire drills, constant interruptions, and everything marked urgent.
But underneath all of it, you know what really needs your focus: the structure of your team. You need to rework the people you have and start planning for the team you’ll need next.
The commitment is building a leadership team that can scale.
The priority is redesigning the org chart to support that future on purpose and with clarity.
You block time in the mornings to work on it when your thinking is sharp and the day hasn’t taken over yet. That’s time. You silence Slack, delegate day-to-day tasks, and resist the urge to “just check in.” That’s attention.
Then pressure shows up client escalations, new requests, last-minute curveballs. That’s when commitment kicks in. It’s what keeps you from pushing the actual work off your plate again. It’s the line you draw to protect the future from the noise of now.
And it helps to have someone next to you who knows what you're protecting—someone who can hold the frame, filter the noise, and help you keep the pyramid standing.
Holding the Pyramid
The work doesn’t get easier, but it does get clearer. When you name the commitment, define the priority, and protect the space to do the work, momentum starts to build even under pressure.
The Commitment Pyramid gives you a way to hold focus in a world that constantly pulls at it. It helps you move forward and gives you the confidence to say no to everything else.