“Most of us spend too much time
on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”_Stephen Covey
The leadership
expert and author of the classic book, ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People,’ Stephen
Covey writes that there are four activity quadrants for everything we do as
humans.
The four
quadrants go as follows: first quadrant captures the important and the urgent; second
quadrant captures the important but not urgent; third activity quadrant
captures the urgent but unimportant, and the last activity quadrant captures
the not urgent and the unimportant.
My focus in
this article is the second quadrant, where the important but not urgent things reside.
They are vital things like, sound health, true spirituality, quality relationships,
personal growth and gracious legacy.
According to
Stephen, these things don’t always scream the loudest in our ears. And because
they are not always pressing on us for immediate action, a lot of people put
them off day after day, until it is too late.
Certainly, for
essential things to retain their rightful place in our lives, we need to be
proactive in our response to them. The next few paragraphs will enlighten us on
how to do just that.
Deliberately Prioritize
the Important Over the Urgent
Steven Pressfield
also writes about this in his best-selling book, ‘the War of Art.’ His take on
the topic goes as follows—as best as I can recall.
He pens: “We
need to have keen awareness on the difference between what is urgent and what
is important.”
Now get
ready for the uncommon sense which comes from his next piece of advice.
Apparently, you
would expect the urgent thing to get the right of passage, right?
But Pressfield
counter-intuitively counsels otherwise.
He concludes
that no matter how urgent the less important things are: “We must do the
important thing first.”
Ostensibly,
this is one of the best principles of beating daily distractions that we can
count on.
You see, a
priority doesn’t become a practical reality by itself; it takes formidable sense
of self-direction to make it so.
What is Your Wildly
Important Thing?
Now, decide
on the one thing that is truly important to you, which will likely not feel
urgent at the moment, as that is the nature of wildly important things. Then
organize your life around accomplishing that definite aim.
A definite
goal gives us a strong direction and prevents us from being sucked into a
whirlwind of busy but often less productive motions. To make this as practical
as possible, try breaking down the goal into steps.
It is by
breaking down our meaningful goals down into concrete steps can we clear the
distraction-enabling fog that could stand in the way of our progress. This is how
to maintain a positive trajectory towards our serious wants.
To be clear,
a specific aim is not the same as a serious want.
For example:
Desiring to
become a valedictorian is a serious want, but going to the library every day is
a specific aim.
Desiring to
be healthy is a serious want but eating a balanced diet at every meal is a specific
aim.
Desiring to
be a pious person is a serious want but studying a verse every day from a divine
text is a specific aim.
Desiring to
build or grow a business is a serious want but securing one new customer a day
is a specific aim.
Can you spot
the difference?
A specific
aim is not only exact but it can also be quickly measured. It is assess-able in
real time, and as a result you can detect on any day whether you’re on track toward
achieving your serious wants—or not.
Now, set a specific
aim on your serious wants and begin your steady stride toward your own unique form
of greatness.
Please, don’t
lose your birthright to distractions; don’t lose your agency to mere 'urgencies,'
and take the necessary precaution against foreseeable emergencies, if you want
your short life to matter at the end of the day.
For many of us, we
spend most of our time reacting to what is urgent rather than responding to
what is important. And if we don’t decide to be proactive now, we may end our
lives with heart-crushing regrets rather than soul-lifting attainments.
Ultimately, it is
up to you and me to halt our own frenetic race to nowhere, and redirect our
steps toward the path of lofty purpose and greater meaning.
