It can be said that generally everyone has priorities. Business people, in particular, always talk of their priorities. Some have actually gone through the process of identifying and writing them down. They discuss how important the priorities are and how they intend to execute them.
But, unfortunately, they don’t walk the talk. They merely pay lip service to those priorities. People often hear them talking about those priorities but they do not spend their time implementing them. It is what you actually do that identifies what your priorities are. Such priorities that you talk about but do not implement are only imagined priorities.
On the other hand, the real priorities are the things you spend your time doing. They may not be discussed or written down but you always find time for them. These real priorities are what you consider important and make commitment to them.
The truth is that you only give time to your real priorities. You may even give money for imagined priorities but you do not give them your precious time. Many a time you receive invitation cards for various events. When such invitations clash, it is obvious that you cannot be in two places at the same time. Of course, some people try to move from one function to the other. But there is a limit to that.
What is done in such situations is to consider all the invitations and then decide the ones you can be represented by someone else and the ones you can just send some money and the ones a simple message of apology is sufficient. Then you focus on the event that demands your time and presence. Of course, that becomes your priority. There is always time for you to tackle your priority. When someone says he has no time to do a certain thing, it actually means that he does not consider that thing a priority. Time is always available for priorities.
Therefore, if you want to know your real priorities, check how you spend your time. It is these real priorities that determine your success or failure. They determine your values. It is therefore important that you deliberately keep accurate record of what activities occupy your 24 hours in a day. Those things that engage your time and your subconscious mind are what control your life. If you don’t like the direction you are going in life, change your thinking, your self-concept and your priorities.
However much you talk of your Christian or spiritual life, if you don’t spend quality time in prayer, study of the Word of God, in fellowships and church service, your spiritual life is only an imagined priority. You may attend church service on Sundays for about 3 hours and give your offerings and then wait till the next Sunday. Monday to Saturday is devoted to business and other activities. However much time you spend on talking of your spiritual life, it is not your real priority.
You may not be good at discussing your club activities but you are usually in your club in the night five to six days a week, and any night you miss the club, you feel the day has not been well spent. My friend, club is your real priority whether you discuss it with people or not. Check the number of hours you dedicate to club activities and compare it with the number of hours you spend with your family, which you may claim is your priority. A lot of men who attend night clubs return home when their children might have gone to bed. In some cases, they have to wake their wives from sleep to open the door.
A professional colleague who read my autobiography launched during my eightieth birthday on 1st October last year, phoned me to confirm if I actually have attended the annual national conferences of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) consistently for 46 years, as reported in the book. Of course, I confirmed that it was a true statement. He then wondered how I was able to achieve that.
I explained that after attending the conference in 1973 in Lagos, I purposed in my heart that I would attend subsequent conferences. I made sure that any other activity that clashed with the November annual conference would not engage my time. I was committed to the conference and no distracting circumstances prevailed against me. Expectedly, God provided all the resources needed for the conferences to ensure fulfilment of my heart’s desire.
