The Priority Principle – Part 1
May 31, 2010 by admin
Author: Fernando Solis
In this 2 part news post I will talk about the value of taking charge of your life challenges and the benefit of organizing the situations you face into an order of importance and dealing with them one by one – I call this The Priority Principle. It’s a self analysis tool I’ve used with my personal training clients and has delivered great outcomes for them.
In life, it’s unlikely that we approach all aspects of our lives with the same sence of urgency and any one time. Is it possible to put the same amount of energy and effort into everything we do? Probably not. This is where the importance of prioritizing our life objectives becomes important to our short and long term success. We need to put our efforts into what we consider needs the most attention at any given stage of our lives.
This Thing Called Life
Our modern day lives as human beings are full of complexities. We are confronted with situations that need resolving on a day to day basis – as a matter of fact this is a constant source of entertainment for our entire lives!
After we overcome a challenge something totally new will spring up and we instantly have a new project to focus on. Let’s use the word ‘challenge or situation’ and not problem, as a problem provokes negative thoughts and can lead to a counterproductive state of mind.
Looking at things in this way will change your perspective and give a much greater chance of a successful outcome – In fact, it will always guarantee a better outcome for you.
You will find that this is a key quality of any successful person and something that can be developed and simulated by anyone.
We are challenged both by internal and external situations.
The Intrinsic Challenge – Goal Setting
These challenges are internal and come from within us – they are the ones that we consciously set for ourselves. They form part the intrinsic nature of the human being. Humans operate best when there is a clear goal or objective to aspire to. Something worthwhile is never served up on platter, we need to go out and grab it! We need to get out of comfort zones and look within ourselves for answers and push the boundaries of our very person.
We all have standards and expectations regarding our personal growth relating to:
• Careers
• Finances
• Personal Development
• Spiritual Growth
• Friendships and Relationships
• Leisure Time
The quest for self development should never cease. Getting better at life and improving ourselves is a constant journey. We need to identify and confront our flaws and look for inspiration from those around us to better ourselves.
This process is eternal – When we achieve, we then strive for bigger and greater goals.
The Extrinsic Challenge – Matters Seemingly Beyond our Control
Our personal goals can also be greatly affected by situations that arise from people around us and the environment we surround ourselves in.
This includes friends, family, intimate relationships, our work colleagues and the environments in which we associate with these people. The right associations can be extremely helpful to us, while toxic scenarios will hold us back from achieving our objectives.
But ultimately we do control the outcomes of these situations through the decisions we make. We are empowered to make choices that will improve our seemingly hopeless situations. If we find ourselves in a situation that get in the way of our goals, we must be prepared to break these ties and pursue the situation that will bring us the outcome we desire. Sometimes that requires us to move away from certain personal and/or business relationships.
In these cases we also need to consider the impact our choices may have on others, but ultimately we need to do what is most beneficial to us.
We must sift through this myriad of situations and outline what we as individuals need to work on most, this is where exercising the priority principle can be of extreme value to us.
To read the rest of this news post click through to The Priority Principle – Part 2
