In order to manage or lead any organization, you have to be able to determine what your priorities are.

The leader of a large organization shared with me recently what his priorities are; each priority was clear and fed off of one another.  It was obvious that his organization embraced the priorities, as each one of his subordinate leaders used the priorities together in decision making and in the setting of their individual priorities.

In order to set our priorities we have to approach our thought process with the proper mental framework.  Below are four principles you can use to choose your priorities.

1. Always choose to focus on the future instead of the past.  When determining what you should prioritize, ask yourself, “where do I need to go and how am I going to get there.”  This can be as big as a business start-up attempting to make a profit, or it can be as seemingly small as planning a family vacation.  Knowing what you want to accomplish and removing the items that do not lead to that end is the first big step in setting your priorities.
2. Focus on an opportunity rather than the problem. When moving forward there are always going to be obstacles in our way.  It is important to not overly focus on the obstacles themselves but instead on the opportunities to be gained.  While this may seem overly simplistic, our mind will automatically begin to think of creative solutions to the problems if we focus on what stands to be gained rather than the problems themselves.
3. Choose your own direction rather than jumping on the bandwagon.  People naturally like to maintain the status quo.  The status quo is easy and more comfortable in the short term, but will prove over time to be the less favorable course of action.  So, in setting your priorities, ask yourself what will make the most difference between now and a period of time down the road.  Where are you now and where do you want to be?  By answering the question of where do you want to be, your priorities will quickly come into view.
4. Aim for something that will make a difference rather than something that is safe and easy to do.  The key here is to remember that safe is a relative term.  What feels safe today may not be safe tomorrow.  For example, if you are making it a priority to save money, the safe and easy things is to save less money and keep more in your checking account where you can access it.  However, by not prioritizing your long term savings, you are putting your future financial future at risk.

Determining priorities can be difficult, but priorities are essential to accomplishing big goals.

Take a extra few moments to reflect on where you want yourself, your family, or your organization to be.  And then analyze what it will take to get there – make these your priorities.  I promise you won’t be disappointed at the results.

For further reading, I recommend “How To Get Unstuck: Breaking Free From barriers To Your Productivity” by Matt Perman