Managing your priorities
Managing priorities is simply the art of determining at every point in time what is most important. This can be a very difficult task but as it has always been said; constant and consistent practice can lead to mastery. In preliminary economics, we learnt the concept of scale of preference. And the basic explanation is that it is the list of wants arranged in the order of their relative importance. In other words, it is the list of wants arranged in order of their priority. In the scale of preference, the most pressing want comes first while the least pressing want comes last. It is assumed that after the first want has been satisfied, then, there will be room to satisfy the next want on the list. Managing priorities in the economic sense is simply having and utilizing a scale of preference.
At this point, it is crucial to state that self discovery precedes managing priorities. That is to say, you must first of all discover yourself before you can manage your priorities rightfully. This is because an individual who has discovered his/her self will give the highest preference to those things that are in line with his/her purpose. For instance, before self discovery, a young man might spend up to 10 dollars a week on drinks but after self discovery he might come to the realization that the accumulation of such money can form a start up capital or be use for some serious investment. Similarly, before self discovery, expensive jewellery might be the most important thing for a young lady but soon after self discovery, she might gain the awareness that such funds could be channelled towards personal development.
In the discussion on keeping distractions away, it was asserted that defining goals and remaining religiously committed to them is essential to keeping distractions away. It is important to state here that setting goals in line with your purpose is fundamental to managing your priorities. For instance, if your purpose in life is to run a free medical centre for rural people, then, one of your goals would be to obtain a medical licence. And that means you will have to study and graduate from the college of medicine. Now, when successful graduation becomes a goal, you will be able to prioritize between expensive gold necklace and medical textbook. You will also be able to choose between attending night clubs and attending night classes. But when there is no purpose, even when there is a goal, the level of consciousness and commitment to such goal will be very low. It will be very low to the extent that joining cults which can lead to rustication can become a priority. When you read or hear of stories of how students use their school fees for gambling, clubbing, partying, etc, and finally drop out of school, it can be traced to lack of purpose. Therefore, purpose must in place, goals must be aligned with purpose, and then the determination of things that are most important at particular points in time can be possible.
Ability to differentiate between wants and needs also influence the management of priorities. Have you wondered why there are so many toys for children? It is because children want everything but need very few things and at the same time they have this magical illusion that their guardian can provide whatever they want. And so they will ask for aeroplane, car, ship, house, elephant, jet, etc. Developmental psychologists who can identify societal problems and proffer practical solutions understood the effect not satisfying the wants of children can have on their relationship with their parents, hence the different toys we have; so that whereas they cannot be given a real vehicle, they can have the toy. In addition to this making them see daddy and mummy as loving, caring, and responsible, it also builds in them the sense of responsibility, and trust for their parents which is vital for a cohesive and effective relationship. This paragraph is not dedicated for developmental psychology but the slight digression was necessary in order to establish the fact that some of us have not been able to drop our attitude as children with respect to wants. This is not in any way suggesting that we are not suppose to have wants as humans but that some of us are not tactful in distinguishing wants from needs. Wants are those desires we can actually do without at a particular time while needs are those things that we cannot do without or that are really necessary or important for us at a particular time. For instance, clean water is a need but the expensive bottle water at the grocery store might be a want. Cloth is a need but the expensive designers wear at the boutique might be a want, when as a student, you do not have a single textbook but you have one or more than one functional pairs of shoe, then an additional pair of shoe might be a want. Remember, ability to differentiate needs from wants and attend to needs is pivotal to managing priorities.
Also critical to managing priorities is the sensitivity required to create a dichotomy among things that are ‘urgent and important’, ‘not urgent but important’, and ‘urgent but not important’. This point was handled in details when ‘keeping distractions away’ was discussed. Managing priorities is not a subject that lacks historical and contemporary allegories to lean support. Therefore, in order to substantiate the foregone, two historical narratives and one contemporary scenario will be considered.
Historical account shows that in the first century AD, in the city of Bethany lived two sisters with their brother named Lazarus. This family enjoyed a regular visit by Jesus Christ. In one of his visit as recorded in Luke chapter 10:38-42, Martha had engulfed herself in the business of preparing food whereas Jesus Christ whose priority was doing the will of the Father had immediately began to teach the message of the kingdom and Mary, Martha’s sister was imbibing every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God; for man, said he, shall not live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4). Therefore, Martha being upset that Mary was not in the kitchen to help her demanded of Jesus Christ that she joined her in the kitchen but The Lord put it to her that as long as that very moment was concerned, nothing was more important than the Word which Mary had chosen. Therefore, with respect to that moment, Mary was able to set her priorities right. This does not suggest that what Martha was doing was wrong but that she did the right thing at the wrong time. In other words, she was supposed to partake of the spiritual meat first before thinking of preparing the physical.
Another incidence took place in Samaria the capital of Israel during the 9th century BC. This was when a prophet in Israel prioritized physical gain above spiritual gain. The account as found in 2 Kings chapter 5 reveals that Naaman, a Syrian captain had been healed by Elisha the prophet who afterwards refused to receive any gift from Naaman as touching the healing because the most important thing at that moment (priority) was to favourably impressed upon the mind of Naaman that the faith of the Israelite was the only true religion1. Therefore, merchandising the healing would have defeated the purpose. However, the servant of Elisha, Gehazi who couldn’t set his priorities right decided to approach the captain behind Elisha, and deceitfully received gifts for the healing. Thus, he turned the high prophetic calling into a vocation for exploiting divine power for personal gain2. The incidence ended with an instant transfer of the leprosy of Naaman to Gehazi,
and therefore, he lost his good health and the opportunity to serve as a spiritual leader in Israel. Gehazi’s episode teaches two vital lessons about the relationship between leadership and setting priorities right and these are: 1. ‘misplaced priorities’ is a serious limitation on one’s progress in life and can also bring destruction. 2. People lose the chance to lead when they lack the ability to set priorities right.
In southern Nigeria lived Bestil, a trading entrepreneur who has just left his family to live alone. Bestil, being so eager to begin his new life of freedom set out with insufficient funds to secure an apartment. However, as an entrepreneur, he was good in negotiation so he talked his property manager into accepting 65% annual payment for one room apartment with a legal agreement to balance in six months time or be evicted a month after expiration of deadline. In the space of four months after resuming at his new apartment, he was able to make sufficient gain to pay his debt. But did he actually pay it? No! He misplaced his priority by thinking that the most important thing was to furnish his house first so that he could host his friends comfortably any time they visit believing that before the day of evil, he would have made more money to sort things out. Hence, he used the funds he made for interior decoration and was even indebted in that regard. Well, as you can guess, the expected day arrived and since business is not always favourable, he could not meet up with expectations, his days of grace elapsed and he was even indebted to the property manager putting into account other bills like water bill, electric power bill, security bill, etc. therefore, he had to vacate and began squatting with a friend. Remember, for a leader whose first responsibility is influence with self, setting priorities right can save some embarrassment and disgrace..
In synopsis, managing your priorities is being able to rank things in their order of importance. In other words, the main thing should be made the main thing – the most important thing should be given the first place. In order to do this, you must first discover who you are and then match your goals with your purpose. You must also be able to differentiate between needs and wants as well as discriminate among ‘the urgent and important’, ‘the not urgent but important’, and ‘the urgent but not important’. Possessing the ability to manage priority is a great resource in itself for any leader. It will enable you to save time, money and other resources. It will save you from limitations, destruction and certain embarrassments in life. Remember, if you cannot manage your priorities as a single individual, you are most likely not to be effective in the management of priorities when it involves societies, institutions, and organizations.
[1] 1. Barnes, A.; Cook, F.C.; Frew, R.; Murphy, J. G.; Pusey, E.B.; (1997). Barnes’ notes. Grand Rapids: Baker Books,.
2. Walton, J. H.; Matthews, V. H.; Chavalas, M. W. (2000).The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers grove, Illinois: Intervarsity press.
Udeme Udoh 06/09/2017