I am tempted to claim that most of the problems we have in the world, in businesses, in marriages, in churches and in governance are products of lack of priorities or poor priorities. Priority is so fundamental that it could be only differentiating factor between the effective people and the effective, the successful and the unsuccessful. I must confess, I also need a lot of adjustments on my priorities. It has been said that a man's future can be decided or known ahead by his or her priorities. What then is priority?
Priority has been described as "doing first thing first!". But as simple as that explanation appears, there is a possibility for partial ignorance among many people, which is the reason for this article. Do you know that it is one to know about a thing, and it is another thing to understand a thing. Your priorities are the things you consider to be important to you, which you must attend to per time. But the question is, "How can we know the most important thing when there are many important things at a given time?" The answer to that question is the essence of this article and I am sure the Lord will help us to know the truth – the one that sets free!
Let us start with a few questions, "what do you think is the most important thing to a thirsty man?"; "what do you think is the most important thing to a hungry man?"; "what do you think is the most important thing to a leader?". I guess you know the answer to the first two questions, maybe because you have been thirsty and hungry before. But the truth is, whatever is applicable to the thirsty and the hungry is equally applicable to the leader. If you ask any thirsty man that question, he will definitely say , "water"; while the hungry man will say, "food". While their priorities are great things, but if you attempt to swap their options, that is, if you give the thirsty food and you give the hungry water; you will definitely see anger, dissatisfaction and need for more in them.
Good priorities do not only help us to know what we must do, it also helps us to know what we must do first. You see, a thirsty man will appreciate food later, but will be satisfied for now with a cup of water. Your priorities are not just the things that are appealing, but the appealing necessary and urgent things. For effective living and relationship, we must seek to know the priorities of our spouses, our friends, our parents, our leaders, our bosses, our organizations. When you follow the law of priority very well, you will not have to worry about the future.
Have you been around people pressed before, they do not appreciate money as much as going to the toilet. Good priorities must be based on things that must not be postponed for the sake of effectiveness and efficiency. Focus on the most important things and people, and you will not have to worry about the future.
