The hyena chasing two gazelles at the same time will go to bed hungry. —African Proverb

Prioritize to Optimize

When you wear multiple hats as I do as a speaker, authorpreneur and mentor, it can get overwhelming or you find yourself busy but not productive. If you are multi-passionate or multi-talented, it can be frustrating trying to choose which talent or passion to pursue.

So how do we solve this dilemma? I solve it by remembering this key “Prioritize to Win.”

This is a key principle of success I learned by using the Pareto Principle, named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, which specifies an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs.

The principle states that: 20% of the invested input is responsible for 80% of the results obtained. This means out of every 10 activities, 2 are responsible for most of the results. The Pareto Principle can be applied to people and organizations. It’s a major productivity key. In order to prioritize, you have to ask yourself:

• What is my most valuable task or interest right now?
• What is it that will give me the best results and help me reach my goal?
• Which relationship is benefiting me the most?

The answers will reveal to you where to place your efforts, time and resources. Prioritizing helps you separate the vital few from the trivial many. We need to know where to put the emphasis daily as we engage in activities.

This is a life management strategy for every area of our lives so that the things which matter most are not given the least attention.

Learning to prioritize is a skill and strategy which is vital to help you win. You’ve got to learn to prioritize to optimize your chances of success.

When I was writing my third book in 2016, this key was tested time and time again. I remember when I had set a goal of writing at least 4500 words each week, and then at my part-time job, we were given some departmental deadlines in that period which would not have enabled me to meet my writing target.

I decided at the time that since my writing career was not yielding the earnings to cover my monthly expenses, that my job took precedence. Therefore, I put writing on hold for a while in order to meet the demands of my job. At that point, the job demands were my priority.

I eventually completed my book at a later date.

In what way do you need to prioritize to optimize today? Have you ever used this key before?

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Cheers to the Winning You!