BLOG: Put first things first

I have found the hard way that an essential component of attaining a more fulfilling and peaceful life is to prioritize that which is truly important and execute around those priorities first.

Steven Covey’s timeless book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change emphasizes the value of primarily attending to important matters and not allowing the “urgent” but unimportant concerns intrude into our lives. Each of us have been endowed with certain talents and abilities. I believe we are each called to make a unique contribution to the world. We can only fulfill our own dreams and become our best selves when we honor and attend to what is most sacred and valuable to us first.

‘Whirlwind’

Ben Sands, venerated executive coach, labels the continuous barrage of urgent but unimportant demands that assail us daily as the “whirlwind.” Emails, text messages, voice mails and other correspondence would fall into this category. Sands stresses the importance of resisting the urge to attend to emails first in our day. He aptly describes this behavior as attending to others’ “to-do list.” When we subvert our goals and dreams to the agenda of others, our growth, creativity and contribution are thwarted.

Imagine that you wish to write a novel. You have a great storyline and a sensational ending. You want to complete this masterwork in the next few months. Sadly, you decide to start each day answering emails. Then 90 minutes later, it is time to get to clinic and you have yet to place pen to paper. Instead, you just indulged the to-do list of others. The novel was subordinated to the whirlwind.

Discern what is important

Before we prioritize and execute, we must recognize what is truly important. We all hold different values and when our behaviors do not align with what we truly hold as imperatives, burnout and despondency will more readily manifest. Sands describes values as “principles that guide our decisions and behaviors and serve as the basis for our interactions with others.” When our actions are not in concordance with our core values, we are, in the words of Steven Covey, not living life but “being lived.”

Many tools are available online to help us do the interior work to discover what comprises our core values. I used a free questionnaire found at: https://corevaluesproject.com/. Once we discern our core values, we then can prioritize and execute daily by putting first things first.

Write it down

Fabled running back Emmitt Smith has stated: “It’s only a dream until you write it down.” That is, we can translate our dreams into tangible goals when we write them and attend to them daily. It is helpful to use a daily planner, and many are available online. I use a daily planner that prompts me to write my core values daily as a means of aligning my actions with what I hold to be sacrosanct. In addition, there is a column to list “today’s priorities” as opposed to the whirlwind. Again, when we organize and execute around priorities, we are one step closer to living our best life and fulfilling our dreams.

Orthopedic ‘no-fly zone’

A great friend and colleague, John “Jack” Flynn, MD, taught me the principle of the “orthopedic no-fly zone” where he explicitly marked off portions of his daily planner to honor important family events. He communicated to his administrative assistant that there were to be absolutely no orthopedic intrusions during the hours of a school play, birthday party, child’s basketball game, etc. By putting first things first, Jack has established a beautiful family culture in addition a highly productive academic career.

Create the life you want

I discovered that my top five core values were the following: spirituality, health, achievement, concern for others and humility. Thus, I do my best to attend to these needs first.

I start my day with prayer and quiet time, and always leave my wife a love letter on our kitchen table. I plan healthy meals, schedule workouts, endeavor to reach out to at least one friend daily and, once at work, endeavor to tackle projects of great meaning to me first before succumbing to the whirlwind. I, like us all, often succumb to the urgent but unimportant intrusions, but at least I have a daily template to keep me on track.

Create the life you want and don’t succumb to the to-do list of others. As Benjamin Franklin once said: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Plan your day according to what you hold dear, do first things first and watch your dreams come true.

Reference:

Covey SR. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Simon & Schuster; 1989.

For more information:

John D. Kelly IV, MD, is a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and can be reached at john.kelly@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.