Do you feel thrown around like a rag doll, keeping up with the pressures of today?

Do you feel as if you dont have time to do the important things?

Do you feel as if you are spinning, but not sure where you are headed?

The world is moving at an incredibly fast pace. More is expected of us than ever before and the opportunities and threats to our success and well-being are increasing. The typical businessperson experiences 170 interactions per day and has a backlog of 200-300 hours of uncompleted work. Focusing on the important is critical. Yet if you are like most people, you find yourself just reacting to the pressures of the moment. You may feel as if you are on automatic pilot and have no choice in where you are headed. But where you are today is a result of the choices you made yesterday. We all have choices in how we invest our time and our resources and what we deem is important.

Identifying What is Important:

More often than not, people do not take the time to identify what is most important. We live in a quick fix society where we look for instant gratification and a fast, painless solution to our challenges. Yet without taking the time to identify what is most important in any situation, we dont solve any problems or identify the core issues. I see it often in organizations that decide they want training but dont take the time to really identify the type of training that would offer the greatest results and leverage for the future. They blindly select a topic because it hasnt been done before without taking the time to consider the results.

Only through identifying what is most important can we expect to wake up from the cloud of information overload, move forward through the maze and make a difference.

To identify and focus on what is most important there are some things to keep in mind:

Are you clear on the vision and mission?

Are you clear on the vision for the company? Are you clear on the vision for your department? To identify whats important at any given moment, you have to have a clear picture of where you are headed and how the things you do on a daily basis contribute to that. In most organizations, this is easy for the people high in the ranks because they are in charge of making sure the vision gets fulfilled. But what about those further down the ranks? How clear are they about the vision? Do they know how their daily work contributes to that vision? Often frustrations occur because daily actions are not directed or focused in a specific direction. The actions are simply reactions to the pressures of the moment. It is like driving a long way and then realizing that you werent on the right road. Having a vivid picture of where you are headed makes the journey shorter and more fun and allows you to identify and focus on what is most important.

Values

If you arent clear or dont honor your core values, business and life can feel empty. Until you are able to identify what is most important to you on a deep level, and to honor those values, you will feel thrown around like a rag doll. When you feel distracted and out of touch, you are most likely honoring someone elses values and not your own. Honoring what is important to you brings clarity of intention.

Get Your Needs Met:

We all have primary needs such as security and appreciation. Abraham Maslow, in his hierarchy of needs, says that you cant fully move to the next level until you satisfy the current need. Maslows theory is often shown as a pyramid with 5 levels: Physiological (biological needs), Safety, Love, (belonging), Status (esteem), Actualization. The lower the need is in the pyramid, the more powerful it is. Too often we stay stuck in life because we are not taking care of our more basic needs. If you are struggling to pay your mortgage and electricity every month, you are still at the second level of security and will have trouble moving on to the next until you find a way to take care of that. A sales rep will have a hard time focusing on increasing sales (Whats Important for the organization) when he is behind in his mortgage. Unidentified and unfilled needs become distractions from focusing on the things that will make a difference in your work and in your life.

Unless we are able to identify and act on what is important, we are thrown around by the forces of nature and our actions lack clarity and effectiveness. However, in order to identify and act on what is important, we have to have a road map with a clear vision, defined values and fulfilled needs so that we can effectively pursue our deepest desires.

We are either the masters of our time or victims of fate. What are you?