Setting Priorities

"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage--
pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically--to say 'no' to other things.
And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside.
The enemy of the 'best' is often the 'good.'"

—S. Covey

Throughout life, consciously or not, we are constantly formulating, revising, and (at least to some degree) following our personal priorities. Unlike demands or expectations placed upon us by others, personal priorities by definition largely originate from within.

Our priority lists exist on multiple levels. The simplest are the day-to-day lists that basically consist of chores, errands, and plans for the very short term. What will we have for lunch, who will pick up the kids, etc. These are necessary and, although they do have an indirect impact on our long term priorities, they are usually an almost auto-pilot response to an agenda that doesn't take an inordinate amount of conscious thought to put into practice.

Medium time range priorities generally encompass broader concepts that extend beyond our daily existence. Since we anticipate that we'll probably be around longer than just for today, we need to recognize that some of the decisions and choices that we make today will reasonably impact us at some future time. Some of these decisions can be classified as preemptive or preventive. When we schedule routine maintenance for the car, or a doctor's or dentist's appointment, or update our insurance policy, we're taking action today that will decrease the probability of a costly, inconvenient, unpleasant, or even dangerous situation that might happen at some unspecified time in the future. By making these things a priority now, we also reap an immediate payoff -- increased peace of mind.

Other medium time range priorities include our plans for the weekend, the upcoming holiday, or next year's vacation. This category almost certainly has more impact on our longer term priorities. We can choose to read a book about how to promoting our business or how to make a positive personal change or we could watch a rerun of The Bride of Dracula for the 12th time. While the sage advice, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" is still valid, all play and no work isn't a very good mantra for success. As with many of our priorities, a balance between work and play is probably the best.

Healthy lifestyle choices could fall into either short or medium time range priorities, but will surely have an impact in our pursuit of our long term priority list. If we sustain an injury or become ill, many of our priorities will necessarily have to be put on hold or even abandoned altogether. If we smoke, live a sedentary life, and have a poor diet we're not maximizing our potential to accomplish our priorities.

When setting priorities we benefit if we can maintain focus on the longer term goals while still recognizing the impact of both short and medium time priorities. Here is where things begin to get more complicated. Without a long term vision of where we want to go, it will be much more difficult to get there. It would be like jumping into the car and saying, "Well, I'm off to San Francisco -- or Miami -- or New York!" and hoping to arrive at the optimal location in an efficient manner. We must first determine our destination and then consult a map to find the most efficient route.

Some guidelines for developing and fine-tuning a personal priority list:

	Begin with priorities that have a relatively firm time table (e.g., funding college education for your children, planning for your retirement).
	Examine mutually exclusive priorities and determine which of them is most important to you. Excess time spent pursuing multiple mutually exclusive goals diminishes the probability of accomplishing any of them.
	Distinguish between serious priorities and what you'd merely like to have.
	When faced with a decision, consider the implications of your choice and choose the option that will most efficiently bring you closer to your goals.
	Recognize that although priorities may be reached from diverse approaches, the priority itself should remain clearly envisioned.
	Establish benchmarks for your priorities and update them regularly to chart your progress.
	Consider what you might someday regret not doing now. Use this as a motivating force to initiate action or to maintain momentum.
	Don't neglect the impact of your personal priorities on your immediate family, but set priorities that are aligned with or reinforce the broader priorities of the family. If you're merely following someone else's dream, your enthusiasm and drive can easily falter.
	Recognize that your priority list may change over time. Don't feel locked into previously held ideals, but embrace these modifications and adapt them to meet your current situation.