The Art of Prioritization - Part 1

Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden said “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is what are we busy about?” 

Knocking out a 100 tasks for whatever the reason is a poor substitute for doing even one task that’s meaningful. Not everything matters equally, and success isn’t a game won by whoever does the most. Yet that is exactly how most play it on a daily basis.

Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke noted, “The things which are most important do not always scream the loudest.”

Achievers operate differently. They have an eye for the essential. They pause long enough to decide what matters and then allow what matters to drive their day. Achievers do sooner what others plan to do later and defer, perhaps indefinitely, what others do sooner. The difference isn’t in intent, but in right of way. Achievers always work from a clear sense of priority. 

If your to-do list contains everything, then it’s probably taking you everywhere but where you really want to go.

Remember “Vital Few and Trivial Many”.

Richard Koch in his book The 80 / 20 Principle, defined it “The 80/20 principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs, or effort usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs, or rewards.” In other words, in the world of success, things aren’t equal. A small amount of causes creates most of the results. Just the right input creates most of the output. Selected effort creates almost all of the rewards. 

Pareto points us in a very clear direction: the majority of what you want will come from the minority of what you do. Extraordinary results are disproportionately creates by fewer actions than most realise. Pareto’s truth is about inequality.

The truth is things don’t matter equally and success is found in doing what matters most. Sometimes it’s the first thing you do. Sometimes it’s the only thing you do. Regardless, doing the most important thing is always the most important thing. 

DISCIPLINE

Contrary to what most people believe, success is not a matter of disciplined action. Achievement doesn’t require you to be a full time disciplined person where your every action is trained and where control is the solution to every situation. Success is actually a short race - a sprint fuelled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.

When we know something that needs to be done but isn’t currently getting done, we often say, “I just need more discipline.” Actually, we need the habit of doing it. And we need just enough discipline to build the habit. 

You don’t need to be a disciplined person to be successful. In fact, you can become successful with less discipline than you think, for one simple reason: success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right. 

The trick to success is to choose the right habit and bring just enough discipline to establish it. That’s it. That’s all the discipline you need. As this habit becomes a part of your life, you will start looking like a disciplined person, but you won’t be one. What you will be is someone who has something regularly working for you because you regularly worked on it. You will be a person who used selected discipline to build a powerful habit.

SELECTED DISCIPLINE

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is a case study of selected discipline. When he was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, his kindergarten teacher told his mother. “Michael can’t sit still. Michael can’t be quiet. He is not gifted. Your son will never be able to focus on anything.” Bob Bowman, his coach since age 11, reports that Michael spent a lot of time on the side of the pool by the lifeguard stand for disruptive behaviour. That same misbehaviour has cropped up from time to time in his adult life as well.

Yet, he’s set dozens of world records. In 2004 he won six gold and two bronze in Athens and then, in 2008, a record 8 in Beijing. His 18 gold medals set a record for Olympians in any sport. Before he hung up his goggles in retirement, his at the 2012 London Olympic Games brought his total medal count to 22 and earned him the status of most-decorated Olympian in any sport in history. 

Today, his mom reports, “Michael’s ability to focus amazes me.” Bowman calls it “his strongest attribute.” How did this happen ? How did the boy who would, “never be able to focus on anything” achieve so much ?

Phelps became a person of selected discipline. 

From age 14 through the Beijing Olympics, Phelps trained 7 days a week, 365 days a year. He figured that by training on Sunday he got 52 training day advantage on the competition. He spent up to six hours in the water each day. “Channeling his energy is one of his great strengths,” said Bowman. Not to oversimplify, but it’s not a stretch to say that Phelps channelled all of his energy into one discipline that developed into one habit - swimming daily.

The payoff from developing the right habit is pretty obvious. It gets you on the success you are searching for. What sometimes get overlooked, however, is an amazing windfall: it also simplifies your life. Your life gets clearer and less complicated because you know what you have to do well and you know what you don’t. The fact of the matter is that aiming discipline at the right habit gives you license to be less disciplined in other areas. When you do the right thing, it can liberate you from having to monitor everything. 

Michael Phelps found his sweet spot in the swimming pool. Over time, finding the discipline to do this formed the habit that changed his life.