Balancing Priorities

Your priorities in life dictate exactly what you want to do with your time. Often, priorities like prayer, reading the bible, exercise and eating healthy foods tend to get moved down the totem pole for priorities like work and family time. Unfortunately, it is this mis-prioritization that causes many of us to not be at our absolute best and as effective as we possibly could be.


Order of Operations (for your life)

1) Spiritual
2) Health
3) Family
4) Education
5) Financial
6) Work

Reasoning

#1 God) Above all things, Jesus told us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We do that through reading His word, praying and fellow-shipping on a regular basis. When we place God first in our lives, we will be following the narrow path that Jesus talks about:
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

By following God first, we will never be lead astray with the other priorities in life!

#2 Health) After your spiritual health, your physical health (not the health of others) comes next. If you believe that self-sacrifice and putting others ahead of yourself is "helpful", you are doing the people who you believe you are helping a real disservice! You cannot be at your absolute best if you are not taking care of yourself!

By spending a little time on you (20mins-1 hour/day) through exercise, you can dramatically compound that time back. As I mentioned in a previous post, your energy level increases the more you exercise, not decrease! You become far more efficient and energized when you exercise regularly and eat healthy foods. I personally love the feeling that regular exercise gives me. If I spend 3-4 days with no real exercise, I start to become very sluggish and considerably less effective. When you exercise regularly, you will find time that you didn't know you had because you are that much more efficient!

Often, when I meet with parents, I hear about the difficulties of finding time to exercise when there are kids that are screaming for their attention. Many of us have been brought up to believe that any time away from the family is considered selfish time. Their thoughts are: in order for their family to flourish, they need to spend as much time as possible at home with them, that is, when they are not at work, of course!

Unfortunately, this line of reasoning is really setting the wrong example for our kids. If we want to have children that function at their best, we need to show them how to keep their own body healthy through exercise and eating healthy foods. 20mins to 1 hour/day of exercise can work wonders in anyone's life. If you currently are not setting this example, how will your children learn to keep themselves healthy? Chances are, if you have poor eating habits, your children will as well. Chances are, if you are not exercising on a regular basis, your children will not either. You set the example in your household!

#3 Family) Your family does want to spend time with you! So, after you have done some exercise (and who says you have to exercise without your family?), get on home to play! Now, doing what most Americans do and sit in front of the television may not be the best way to get "quality" time with your family. Try actually planning some dates every month to do something fun, creative and exciting.

Every month, I try to plan at least one night to spend alone with my wife. As many of you parents know, it can be a bit challenging to actually have an adult conversation with your spouse, or just enjoy each others' company when the kids need you constantly. By having a 'date night', a minimum of one evening each month to spend alone, it helps to calm our nerves and reignite our passion for each other!

Also, every month, we try to plan at least one day or weekend to do something fun with the whole family. We try to make it something special and hopefully different. It may be a trip to the fair or apple picking or to a museum or even just spending a whole day looking at drainholes(that's Teddy's favorite)!! The point is to do something together, that's fun for everyone.

We make sure to have these days each month regardless of actual vacations. A vacation is very nice, and we try to take one every year, however that does not take the place of spending regular family time each month. Doing this, helps us remember why we had a family in the first place!

#4 Education) Education is key to becoming the best you that you can be! However, many people believe that formal education is the only key to success. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, a quick glance at the world's wealthiest individuals will let you know that only couple of the top 10 wealthiest even have a bachelor's degree! It is not the degrees on the wall that determine how high you can climb, but your own education does make a tremendous difference.

In fact, a staggering difference between the wealthiest individuals in this country and the rest of the public is that the majority of the wealthy read at least one nonfiction book each month and the rest of the public stops reading altogether once they finish their formal education. Another way to think about that is... There really is no difference between someone who cannot read (being illiterate) and someone who does not read (the majority of Americans).

Make a difference in your own education and start reading more today! Read more about your interests. If you are not interested in your job, then start reading more about different lines of work. One of the best aspects of reading is that you get to learn from everyone else's experience before you try to jump into something new and different yourself. You get to learn from the best through reading!

I am currently reading a great book by John Maxwell, called "Your attitude makes the difference!". If you are interested in hearing more about some of the other books I have read this year, please let me know.

#5 Finances) Your finances should also be prioritized like the rest of your priorities. Many people struggle with financial control because of their impulsive desires. Health and wealth are very similar. Both require self-control. Your money needs to be directed like your calories do. When those George Washingtons don't have a plan and purpose, they fly out the window, just like your diet plan on Thanksgiving day! I recommend setting a monthly family budget (which needs to be modified each month) and specific financial goals. I would also recommend a very helpful course like Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace program to help guide you through all the steps that it takes to get your finances in order and completely focused on financial freedom!

Just as scripture tells us, when we are faithful with a few talents, He will reward us with more. If you feel that you don't have as much as you want financially, that might be because you currently are not handling what you have very well. Once you start to handle the little money that you have better, then God will reward you with more!

#6 Work) Work is the final priority. Unfortunately, many Americans believe work comes as the first priority and then family and then somewhere later health is a part of all that and God usually isn't even in the equation! Following that line of priorities, there is no wonder that divorce, health problems and suicide rates so high!

When it's time to focus on work, focus on work and nothing else. Just as Dale Carnegie writes in his book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living "Live in 'day-tight' compartments". He writes about dealing with the situation at hand. Don't worry about every little detail in life that could frustrate you or get your mind off track. Focus on work when you are at work! If you work when you are supposed to work, then you can live peacefully when you are done!

By keeping the other priorities in-line you will more than likely be looked at highly for a promotion! You will be a highly peaceful (from following God), energized (from exercise), happy (from time with your family), smart (from reading), and financially organized (from budgeting) person! Who wouldn't want to promote you!

Keep your priorities in order and your priorities will take care of you!

"Jesus replied 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV)