Daily Leadership Thought #181 – What Are Your Priorities?

It is impossible to be genuinely happy and successful in life without a keen sense of priorities. There is no shortage of distractions competing for your attention. It is easy to get out of balance and sidetracked by comparatively unimportant issues in the grand scheme of things. Sadly, we often take for granted people we shouldn’t and tend to lose our perspective when we need it most. Many people I meet struggle with guilt and regret over what they wish they had done differently in certain areas of their lives.  Often, they are unhappy with how they prioritized their time, energy, and attention.

Strong priorities should be the foundation upon which you build your life. I’ve often heard the saying, If you want to know what a person values, watch what they do rather than listening to what they have to say. It’s much easier to understand a concept than to put it into practice. If you are not careful, you will gradually drift further away from the person you want to be and the life you envisioned. At first, it happens subtly and gradually; however, at the midpoint of life, there is usually some catharsis or breakdown that spurs you into action and decision-making that often isn’t healthy or productive (although we rationalize it at the time).

I want to offer the following observations for you to consider and to help you gauge where you may need to reprioritize some things in your life:

• Intuitively, we all know the importance of family, but how many people do you know who sacrificed a marriage or healthy relationship with their children because of career pressures and/or selfish behaviors?
• It is no surprise that diet and exercise affect health and quality of life, but how many people do you know who fail to commit to a regular exercise schedule and pay minimal attention to what they eat and drink?
• Friendships will always be key to your happiness, yet how many of us allow close relationships to wither and die due to a lack of attention and effort?
• Life can be difficult and challenging at times, and we all need things that ground us and provide comfort. Yet, how many people do you know who avoid or minimize the effort they put into forming a spiritual or religious identity?
• We all spend a considerable amount of time at work, yet how many people do you know who continue to labor at a career that doesn’t inspire or motivate them?

Time is finite. Once it’s gone, it is gone. So, how you spend your time and energy is critical to your level of happiness and personal fulfilment. We all need to establish basic priorities around family, health, friendships, spirituality, and work that will enable us to make the best possible decisions, given who we want to be and the time we have left.

Related articles

• Habit 3- Putting First Things First (deenar116.wordpress.com)
• The Consequences of Authenticity (psychologytoday.com)
• It’s Not a Matter Of Priority, It’s a Matter of Attention (lifehack.org)