Philosopher William James aptly states: “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
To glow in the streets of literature, you must be committed to grow in the companion of written text. In obedience to this principle, I took keen interest in avidly reading and analyzing ‘Today Matters’ by John C. Maxwell. In the tantalizing text, John C. Maxwell expounds with immense passion matters priority.
- Time is our most precious commodity
“To know the value of one year, ask the students who have failed the final exam. To know the value of one month, ask the mother of the premature baby. To know the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly news magazine. To know the value of one day, ask the wage earner who has six children. To know the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To know the value of one minute, ask the person who missed the plane. To know the value of one second, ask the person who survived the accident.”
Time is more expensive than money itself; prioritize time in all endeavours.
- We cannot change time, only our priorities
A day is fixed to 24 hours and 1,440 minutes. You cannot get more or less of the same in a day. Myers Barnes says, “…Time moves forward regardless of circumstances, and in the game of life, creates a level playing field for everyone.” To fit in to what nature is, it is of importance fixing priorities to your time.
- We cannot do everything
Stephen Covey states in his legendary text, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that “People think success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas of life.” Probably, this could be the reason why some people tend to overwhelm themselves with myriads of activities without a plan. That is what led to Michael LeBoef stating: “Devoting a little of yourself to everything means committing a great deal of yourself to nothing.” You cannot be everywhere at the same time; neither can you do everything at your disposal. The basis of priority is, prioritizing your strengths over your weakness.
- We choose our life by how we spend time
To what degree do you want to live? What kind of life do you want to live? Consider how you spend your time. Schedule it in terms of priority and importance.
- Priorities help us to choose wisely
Robert J. Mokain puts it, “The reason most goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.” Value your agenda over other people’s. Buy a product because you need it, not because it is readily available in the market. In the market space, every dealer would be willing to compete getting your attention to buy their product, but the choice remains to be yours. To be successful, you cannot just run on the fast track; run your track.
How to manage disciplines of priorities
- Evaluate priorities daily
Priorities may not be constant. You need to revisit your priorities on a daily basis. Furthermore, flexibility is key. Sometimes, you may need to prioritize something over your prior priorities.
- Plan your time carefully
Each night before ‘reporting to bed’, put down on paper the things that you would like to do the following day. Write them in the order in which you will respond to them. Having done that, be sure no time will go wasted.
- Follow your plan
Just as public speakers need to walk their talk, you too need to walk your plan.
- Delegate whenever possible
Under delegation, there are clingers and dumpers. Clingers are after perfection. They refuse to let go of anything they think is important, whether they are the best person to do it or not. For dumpers, their goal is to get off their desk. They are quick to get rid of a task, yet give little thought to how successful their delegation efforts will be. How should you go about delegation? Go for 80 per cent of the task and delegate 20 per cent.
- Invest in the right people daily
Waylon Moore says, “We spend priority time with problem people when we should be spending it with potential people.” Who do you spend time with? The people you spend time with will determine the quality of your day. If you dedicate your time with entirety to time-wasters, you become one, if not their team leader. Spend time with people with a growth mindset, and you become a product of growth.
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By Daniel Muinde
muindedan30@gmail.com 0723882891
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