Misplaced Priorities
Many people indeed have many things to do. For some, the list could be unending. However, at every point in time, one is usually more important than another. The struggles lie where many people find it challenging to pick one and leave another for later, or do one and discard the other, or re-arrange the order on the list. The impact of this decision is noticeable in the result. How do you organise your priorities to help you achieve your goal? How do you determine which is the most important at any given time?
It is your responsibility to determine what is important to you, but it is crucial to understand that the choice of doing one against another will vary the outcome you get at any point in time. If you do not do what is necessary to get what you need, you will still be in need. What you have done may have succeeded, but it is probably not what you should have done for the results you expected.
If you spend all day watching the latest soap operas, you will probably be up to date and know more than those that have not watched it yet. You may realise that you do not have money at the end of the month because you did not do any work worthy of pay. What you have chosen to do is not necessarily a bad idea, but it does not provide you with money at the end of the day. If you are confused about why you do not have money, it is probably because of what you have made crucial and given the best of your time—it does not produce what you need.
Many have found themselves in need not because they were doing bad things but because they were doing good things that should be farther down on the priority list at that stage of their life. Many things look good, but depending on you and what you desire to achieve, they may have a place lower on your priority list.
A student committed to buying the latest mobile phone may have made that a priority over everything else. It implies that it is more important to get the phone, and he can consider other things afterwards. If he ran out of money after buying the phone, he now requires probably food, transport or school materials. He will soon begin to beg for help.
You may need to decide how to use your limited funds and resources because many things are good and could equally compete for attention. It could be new clothes, holiday, new car, produce more products to fulfil customer requests, or home improvement, among others. They all look good, but with limited funds, you may not be able to do them all. A decision to do them in the order of importance is required, not to end up in need.
A family may need money for business, school fees, television subscription, new clothes for a party, new car, and house improvement. They are all good and genuine things to do, but which is more crucial when there is not enough to do all? If the car is more important than education, they can decide to buy it and leave education till later. The benefits or consequences are a function of their choice.
If education is more important, they will push the clothes or car down the priority list to pay for education. It all depends on what is crucial. Some people may not have to borrow if they understand what is more important and treat it accordingly. The right decisions are necessary on every occasion. You may not be able to afford everything, but you should know what is vital and give it its rightful place. Growth is gradual—you can grow at your own pace and make continuous progress.
Some people spend so much of their funds and later complain that they do not have any money for vital things in their life. An employee gets a paycheck and spends everything without planning. His house rent, utilities, transportation, or other necessities are still pending, and he has nothing left. He probably did not consider those as crucial, but they eventually put him in a difficult situation.
Many people take on more risk than they can manage in a bid to succeed. They have less experience or capacity to bear such risks. They consider it more essential to invest without knowledge than spend quality time learning and understanding the business before they venture into it. When they fail, it affects other areas of their life. They only think of gain, but they never considered that they could also fail. Everyone would love to double funds within a limited time, but it is not as easy as it seems. If you use all your money in such ventures, expecting double, when it fails, you will be in need—you will not be able to attend to the essential things.
If you see success as winning a lottery or making instant money—it could be temporary. If you lose it, you cannot get it again because it came by luck. Some even spend it all within a short time or waste it on pleasures. They never learned to manage such resources, so they soon become poor—back to where they started.
However, if you see success as gradual growth—following the process—you learn, maintain, manage every stage, challenges and opportunities. If anything happens, you stand a better chance of knowing what to do or regaining your position. Some have spent most of their time on things that should be less important at a particular stage of their lives and ignored what should be more crucial.
A young man waited for instant money that would make him rich to buy all he wanted. He saw the possibility as his mother sought a divorce with the hope to get some amount. He did not do anything else to progress in life, just waiting. He was waiting for the process to finish, and he will become rich. He did not do anything worthwhile but mocked everyone that worked hard to progress in life. His wish came true—the divorce was successful, and he got a substantial amount from his mother. He was excited, bought a new house without a loan and furnished the house to his taste, got an automobile and some other things.
Some nine months afterwards, he ran out of money, started begging for money to pay utility bills. He was looking for menial jobs to keep up with the bills. Instant money may be possible, but it can become a problem because of inexperience or misplaced priorities. He had his wish, but he now has more challenges than he could manage. Money, not earned, is likely to be wasted.
Some people that have nothing now think they will become rich if given one million pounds. They may need more exposure and experience to manage it. Some have had such opportunities—they lost it all through careless spending. They spent it on what was important to them, which brought them back to where they started. The more important things were down their priority list or probably not on the list at all.
You may need a new job, so you need to devote time to search for opportunities. You will need time to prepare for interviews and make applications. You do not have time for any of that. You spend time watching movies, scrolling for new clothes online, commenting on every post, religiously reading every message on all groups as soon as they come in, and probably seeking to join more every day. You will get what you use your time to do. If that is more important to you, you will get the benefit it provides, but you are unlikely to get the job you desire. It is because what it takes to get the job is far down on your priority list or probably not on it at all.
It would be worth examining your priorities to revisit the importance of everything you do and how it affects your goal. You may have been a victim of misplaced preference. You can get yourself back on track by spending more time on what is essential to achieve your goal and not what is good to do.
To be continued next week, don’t miss it.
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Thanks very interesting blog!