Article About Process Priority

Developing Priorities

Have you ever been a “C” priority ?

Many years ago, when my wife was a freshman at Indiana University, she was starry eyed over a handsome fraternity boy she called Hank.  Many an important quiz, paper, or exam were sacrificed to the hours she spent daydreaming about Hank, not to mention the time she spent doing his laundry! Besides being one good looking guy, Hank was also very clever.  To this day, he is the only man who ever convinced her to iron his shirts! 

One afternoon Hank arrived at her dorm to pick up the eight shirts he had left a few days earlier.  She smiled and proudly handed over his freshly pressed duds, then invited him to have a coke with her.  Her smile fumed to dismay when she heard his response to her invitation.

“To Determine Your Priorities, Examine Your Goals.”

“Sweetheart,” he said, “I like you a lot, but there are 10,000 girls on campus, and I only have so much time!”  Handsome Hank grabbed his shirts and walked out of her life.  Although it was a lucky break for me, for her it was an abrupt introduction to being a “C” Priority.

Many Great Things

Priorities! When there are so many great things to do, how do you decide which things are most
important ? 

To determine your priorities, examine your goals.  Next to each of your written goal statements, note the importance of each goal by giving it an “A”, “B” or “C”.  An “A” means the goal is very important to you.  “B” means the goal is moderately important to you.  And “C” means the goal is not
really that important. 

Relative Importance

Now for the hard part.  Read over each of your “A” goals and rank them according to their relative importance.  Label the most important goal “1”, the second “2”, and so on.  When this task is
finished, you will have a priority system for your goals. 

A simple task ?
Of course not.  But the alternative – not accomplishing anything – is much worse.  By forcing yourself to make some tough choices, you are on the road to reaching your goals.  You are meeting your life head on and making the best of what you have.  You can ask no more of yourself.