How’s Your Posterior? | What’s your Priority? Part 2
Most people have a GPS on their phone or in their car; for me a GPS is God’s Positioning System. For the first 30 years in business my prayer focus was God please bless what I am doing. That changed for me when reading “The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson. He was emphatic that we should ask God what He wants us to do and let the answer be YES! Mark also said we should “work like it depends on me and pray like it depends on God.”
25 “Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. 26 Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. 27 Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust.” Proverbs 4:25-27, The Message
Do you ask God what he wants you to do at the beginning of each day? What is today’s priority? Have you ever considered all the things we do daily? According to Peter Drucker in his book “The Effective Executive” states “The job is, however, not to set priorities. That is easy. Everybody can do it. The reason why so few executives concentrate is the difficulty of setting “posteriorities” — that is, deciding what tasks not to tackle — and of sticking to the decision.” Determining posteriority can be difficult. It takes courage to stop doing what everyone else requires of you and start working on the one thing you were created to do.
One key to the selection process is simplification. Where better to start than with ourselves? How do we make the current day and future better? Are you like me and have had seasons where you were very efficient at doing the wrong and unimportant things? Stop being efficient and focus on your effectiveness.
Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things. – Peter Drucker
When we first started in business we went after the type and size of projects. When we stopped to evaluate and discern what was best for our organization; our focus was clear, effectiveness increased, and profitability improved significantly. We attribute the ability to say no to projects that were distractions to our continued success.
Why is it important to be effective? If I am effective in working on my priority, I will have time to do what is important to me. My faith, wife, family, friends, and business.
Why is it essential that we keep our eyes straight ahead? In terms of productivity, Kings Psychiatry College in London found that jumping between projects and overusing technology caused a 10-point drop in your IQ. As a comparison, smoking marijuana caused a 5-point IQ decrease. Hmmm?
Seeking to live in His reflection,
Jerry
P.S. Watch for next month’s newsletter, where I’ll dive into Part 3 of the “What’s Your Priority?” series.
