Have you ever received an e-mail that was marked as "priority"? You know, the ones with the red exclamation marks by them indicating that this is something REALLY important (a priority, right?) that you MUST open right away! And, friend, how many times has this actually been true? Yeah, hardly ever - IF ever - for me, either.
Have you ever had a friend call you, text you, e-mail you and tell you that they had an emergency and that they needed your help RIGHT AWAY only to find out it was nothing of any major importance...at least to you? I'm sure most - if not all - of you have had someone in a position "above you" at work drop something on your desk telling you that this needed to be done A.S.A.P. and that it was of "utmost importance". And, have you rushed to get it done while leaving a lot of other things UNdone only to find out that it sat on that person's desk for a week after you got it to them "A.S.A.P."?
I have a sign somewhere that used to hang in my office that reads, "Lack of planning on your part does NOT mean an emergency on mine."
GOOD POINT.
As you go through that list that shows your daily activities and as you begin to see what your priorities actually are (not what you WISH they were) you need to also begin to ascertain something else. How many of these priorities are actually YOURS? (By the way, if you've not done these lists, go back and listen to yesterday's podcast and read yesterday's blog and get going on it!).
I hate having to do so many "disclaimers" but I feel that I must because there are so many people that are just waiting for someone to give them "permission" to feel good about their wrong ideas (even if that "permission" is a twisting of what is actually said). So, here we go...
DISCLAIMER: The fact that you'd rather be doing something different does NOT mean that a particular priority in your life is not necessary. EXAMPLE: Sure, I'm guessing ANYONE would rather be doing something else besides changing a diaper and wiping up drool but, if that is where you are in your life right now, it IS a priority and it IS necessary. DO NOT take that to mean that it is someone else's priority and think that you shouldn't be doing that particular thing.
There, now are we on the same page?
Here's the point I'm trying to make about all of this...don't let someone else determine the size of your dreams (one of my "7 Daily Affirmations") and don't let someone else determine what is to be of importance in your life.
For example, many may try to convince you that you need to be working as many hours as possible while you can and that your children won't mind because you'll be able to furnish them with all of the "cool STUFF" that so many other kids wish they had. Don't buy into that! I often heard it said that no one, at the end of their life, ever says "I wish I had spent more time at the office" but many DO say, "I wish I had spent more time with my kids!".
Our oldest son and his wife recently had their first baby (our first GRANDbaby) and she is now almost 4 months old. They cannot hardly believe that she is already that age. JUST WAIT (and yes, I've told them), it goes by SO fast...WAY too fast. No matter how young your children are please get this - YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW YEARS TO MAKE A MAJOR IMPACT ON THEIR LIVES! Do not allow anyone else to convince you that something else is of more importance than this.
Hey, even take a look at your career. Is it something that is important to YOU or to someone else? (Again, I'm not giving you "permission" to back up an idiotic idea that you should quit work and go sell shells in a shack by the sea shore. Wow, that was almost a tongue twister!) But is this something YOU wanted to do or is it something someone else decided (and put pressure on you about) was what you needed to do with your life.
Notice the last two words in that last sentence...YOUR LIFE!
So yeah, you have some more homework to do going all the way back to that original list showing your daily activities. Now, go through your "priorities" that are made evident to you and determine how many of these are actually YOUR priorities.
Makes you think, doesn't it?
Until next time, be sure to...
"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"
Mike
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