Establish Priorities

Each of us has a set of priorities in life. A worthwhile exercise is to approach these priorities the following way:

• Imagine yourself dying on your one hundredth birthday. One of your great-great-grandchildren is told to write a one-page obituary about you. Write that obituary, assuming you’ve accomplished everything important to you.

• Imagine you're sixty-five years old and your high school reunion is coming up. Your former classmates must receive a one-page essay of what you’ve done with your life. Write that essay.

Now do the following:

• List the ten most important things you want to accomplish in the next decade. Rank them in order of importance.

• List the ten most important things you want to accomplish in the next five years.

• List the ten most important things you want to accomplish in the next year.

• List the ten most important things you want to accomplish in the next six months.

• List the ten most important things you want to accomplish in the next month.

• List the ten most important things you want to accomplish tomorrow.

Do those priorities telescope into each other? How? How do they stack up against your imagined obituary? Your reunion essay?

If they don’t all telescope together somehow, you’d better reevaluate your priorities. lf you don't, you can expect an increasingly stressful life with constantly increasing conflicts.

If you have a family have your family members do the same exercise. You might notice lots of disconnected priorities. Now might be a good time to get family priorities into harmony.

Well-established priorities are also important in the world of work. Everyone in the company must have priorities that mesh with one another. The best question you can ask of yourself and your coworkers at the close of a business meeting is simple: "What are our priorities for tomorrow in view of what we did today?"

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