Priorities - old and new
WHENEVER I have an argument with my parents, it always ends on the same note it did 15 years ago— `you don't have your priorities clear '! Even today, they feel that I need to be told how to get my priorities right.
On my part, I feel people tell me this because their priorities are not mine!
Interestingly, priorities mean different things to different people. Some people call it being focused, Steven Covey terms it as being principle centered and an ad campaign puts it as `just do(ing) it.' What all this means is that you should be able to decide what is important for you and your advantage.
Once you have chosen your point of focus, you need to invest all your time, energy and money into it. You need to constantly nurture it. You have to make adjustments so that you can do without things that do not contribute to your list of priorities. If one were to examine all the options that were available, one may well spend half a lifetime trying to do so.
But this is how one can wade through choices more deftly:
Establish a filter. It is necessary to realise what do not contribute to your priorities.
Examine your existing priorities. Do you want to change something, add a few new ones or discard some?
Stop long enough to decide what you don't want to spend time on. When you let go of your priorities to attend to others' needs, you not only let go of your goals but are also responding to others' priorities. This certainly does not mean that you ride roughshod on people to maintain your own interests, but that there are times when you need to enforce your priorities.
Schedule your priorities. Write it down if you feel comfortable with that. Sometimes writing things down, makes for better awareness and increases your chances of following through. Nevertheless, how far you succeed depends entirely on you!
Set some `gentle guidelines' (rules are too inflexible). Often when life goes awry, the first things that take a toss are your priorities. Make sure that your guidelines help you make the right decisions in synchrony with your values and goals.
Having priorities does not mean choosing between family life and work. Successful people spend their time in a way that takes them nearer to their goals. Try and schedule your priorities around your time and not the other way around.
Balanced choices. It takes strength and courage to stick to your convictions. Do not let others make that choice for you.
No matter what your priorities are— job stability, financial security or having happy family relationships, creating and following your goals can make it happen.
As Carl Bard so succinctly put it, "Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."
PADMA
padma.hyd@cnkonline.com
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