Episode 88 Priorties

Priorities

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  Ecclesiastes  3

In order for us to be successful we need to set-up priorities in our life.  During my time as an Instructor I have seen many students that go on to be very successful in the trades and others that seem to self-destruct.  Why is this? It seems that we live in a time when people have their priorities mixed up.  They do not realize the consequences of their decisions.   There is a song written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s.  The song was sung by the Byrds and is titled Turn Turn Turn.  This song was taken from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.

Here are a few of the lines from the song:

To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die A time to plant, a time to reap A time to kill, a time to heal A time to laugh, a time to weep

A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

What both the song and the Bible verse are saying is there are times for all these things.  Quality time and having fun is fine, but we do not live in a fantasy video game world. If your priorities in life are only about doing the fun things then you will not have a successful life.  It is important for us to understand our priorities.  If you spend your time only doing fun things like playing video games, watching TV or hanging around drinking beer then you will not be successful.  In the same way if you work all the time, you will have all the money you need and nice things, but you are never home with your family. You have no real life, so again you will not be successful.  If you want to be successful then you need to find a balance.  You cannot just work all the time and you cannot just have fun all the time.  Life flies by so quickly so you have to have your priorities established. 

Necessities Are a Priority

There are the necessities of life that need to be taken care of like putting food on your table, and making sure you and your family have shelter. These are necessities and these are a priority.

Good Friends and Family are a Priority

Good friends and family are worth the effort even though you may not always agree on everything.  It is a priority to keep you and your family safe. Even if you do not have a family, you need to take care of yourself as well as those around you. Some people seem to want to live in a world of “what is in it for me” thus losing sight of how they can be of service to others. They want others to do everything for them.  This concept is so flawed because you become dependent on having other people do things for you.  You should be the one doing for others.  By only taking care of your own self and the pleasures of life you miss out on the real meaning of having good friends and family.

A Good Reputation is a Priority

When you are doing for others and working hard companies take notice.  Companies know who their good workers are.  Even if they don’t acknowledge your hard work, other workers around you notice and will want to work with you because of your reputation.

Making Good Choices is a Priority

Your priorities in life should be doing and making choices that are right for your life.  Other people are going to make choices that affect your life.  You can’t react to their choices. Sometimes you need to take a minute and think about how you should proceed.  If you proceed the wrong way you could end up in jail.  You may end up making a decision you regret if you made your decision based solely on emotion.  Before making your decision think about your priorities and what is best for your life. People want to avoid all struggles, but life happens and it is the struggles that make us stronger.  Each struggle helps us to get stronger to face the next struggle.  You can’t stick your head in the sand and hope that things go away, but you do not have to go through the struggles alone.  If you hang around the right group of people you will not have to go it alone and if your friends are not there then maybe it is time to get a new set of friends.  Look at your friends see if they are bringing you up or bringing down.  Do they have the same priorities in life as you do or are their priorities counteractive to what you are trying to do? There is always someone for you to reach out to that will help you before you react and make a wrong decision like quitting your job.

What are your priorities? 

If you do not like the place where you work, or the circumstance that you are in and you feel like you are going nowhere; get some input from 4-5 people you respect. Think about where you want to go.  What are your priorities?  Figure out what skills you will need to take you to the next level.  There are courses out there on line check out Surging Forward.com or I can advise you of other web sites that are out there. Figure out what is best for your success.  My success is not your success.  Your success is your success.  Your Surging Forward is your Surging Forward and it is different from another person’s.

Enjoy and have a great week

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