My Personal Priorities
with My Comments
January 13, 2018
INTRODUCTION
This list of priorities is the fruit of having prayed and requested prayers for this.
Also I had done many exercises related to purpose, passion and core values.
The first version was written on April 25, 1997.
I have made minor revisions.
This list helps me to remember and focus on what is most important to me.
These are presented in the order of their significance to me.
This has been shared with family and friends.
Also it has been shared with supporters.
Those supporters include intercessors, advisers and donors.
Every person will have a unique list of personal priorities.
Some of them may change over time.
These are based on work I had done related to finding my passions and values.
Note that I am single and never married.
So there is no mention of spouse, children or grandchildren.
I have zero interest in dating, courtship or related social activities.
The core of my intention is on moving forward on my many plans.
During the coming years I intend to both launch a business and nonprofit.
They will be expressions of what lives deep inside my soul.
The following will start with just a list of my personal priorities.
Then I will expand some on each one.
I request your best prayers related to these.
May God grant me strength and courage to actually follow through on them.
May these be improved as needed.
I have put this on this blog post.
There I welcome your comments and questions.
You are challenged to write your own list of priorities or adapt these.
LIST
#1 Take excellent care of my health.
#2 Take appropriate care of my safety.
#3 Pay all of my bills in full and on time.
#4 Make my home office and future offices into effective
productivity centers.
#5 Stay on a personal and professional budget.
#6 Make consistent progress toward fulfilling my vision
of developing and enjoying a well-balanced life.
#7 Gain the skills, resources, knowledge, assistance,
support, advice, connections, etc. that can help me
in achieving all these priorities.
#8 Work on projects that I enjoy.
#9 Work with people that I enjoy.
#10 Nurture a few close friendships.
#11 Save an appropriate amount of money.
#12 Acquire a balanced and growing investment portfolio.
The following priorities were not mentioned previously.
They are already a major and balanced part of my life.
#A Develop and enjoy my personal relationship with God.
#B Practice charity in thoughtful and gracious ways.
#C Continue my lifelong learning.
COMMENTS
#1 Take excellent care of my health.
My health is necessary to both address and enjoy the following priorities. In this context my health includes physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and more. I need to use the knowledge and skills I have related to my health in all these areas in optimal ways. Plus I intend to acquire additional inputs as needed.
#2 Take appropriate care of my safety.
My safety includes protecting myself from all kinds of harms. This includes the safety of my body, data, possessions, finances, identity and more. There are real risks and threats for every human. I need to understand how safety applies to me and take suitable measures.
#3 Pay all of my bills in full and on time.
My relative freedom, flexibility and peace of mind depend on keeping my bills paid. I will make a significant purchase or add to my monthly bills only when I can afford to do that. I intend to keep each of my financial commitments and to be prudent about all my expenditures. I need to both keep short term cash flow a top priority while also dealing with long term goals.
#4 Make my home office and future offices into effective
productivity centers.
There are many changes I can make to improve the organization, layout, equipment, furniture, supplies and other properties of my home office. My aim is to maximize the quality and quantity of the throughputs. That in turn will improve and enhance the outputs. When I invest time, energy and money into making modifications to my work environment, then those investments will pay off in the long term.
(Note that for years I have spent most of my waking hours at my desk in my home office and I interact online nearly all the time. So my home office is like my workbench, studio or creativity center.)
#5 Stay on a personal and professional budget.
While making money is important, it is true that wisely allocating those funds is perhaps more important. It is possible to steadily accomplish various financial goals through the wise use of a budget. It is necessary to be aware where the money has gone in the past and will go in the future. Monitoring and controlling money to achieve both personal and professional goals is done by using the tool of a budget plus associated financial reports.
(Budgeting has been a personal weakness all my life. I appreciate how it needs to be a high priority. I place this near the top of the list to remind and challenge me. I intend to hire the right people to help me excel at this skill.)
#6 Make consistent progress toward fulfilling my vision
of developing and enjoying a well-balanced life.
Three arenas
Blog link
#7 Gain the skills, resources, knowledge, assistance,
support, advice, connections, etc. that can help me
in achieving all these priorities.
I will need to acquire the education, experiences, contacts and other aids in order to complete the huge and complex vision that I believe God put on my heart and into my mind.
Along the way I will realize much more of my full potential. I will be able to be of greater service to others. And I will lead many people by my examples.
I admit that I have both strengths and weaknesses just like every human. So my ongoing challenges are to address my weakness while also developing my strengths. That will involve enrolling appropriate individuals, groups, organizations, companies, products, services, etc. along this adventurous journey.
This priority reminds me I am not alone. My long term success is not ultimately up to just me as an unaided soloist. I will learn to work with teams of advisers, employees, volunteers, intercessors and donors.
I have had very little leadership experience. But I have had hints that leadership style is collaborative, open and participatory. That relates to this priority as well as a desire to gracefully grow healthy communities of mutual support online and offline.
#8 Work on projects that I enjoy.
Work is a necessity of life. The income from profitable work provides the capacity for other priorities.
At various intervals I will get to choose the kinds of projects and the specific projects I will do. This priority reminds me that it is possible and desirable to choose projects that are intrinsically enjoyable for me. Thus I can have payoff both during and after my work. Also I will work harder and better on what I am enjoying.
My highest ambition is not to retire as soon as possible and putter around or party hearty until I die.
I admit that I am a recovering workaholic. I do not work to live but instead I live to work.
What motivates me deeply is to have a sense of accomplishment. I live to leave a lasting legacy of leaders, lessons and libraries.
I have no interest in competitive sports or competition in business. My ideas are far too innovative and interdisciplinary to ever have a direct competitor. My only real competition is with my own mortality. Some day will be my last day.
On my death bed I want to honestly tell God I believe I had completed my divine assignment.
I have a deep sense that I am destined to serve as a change agent in several fields. This will be possible because of the following factors: uses of synergistic systems, highly talented employees, an abundance of volunteers, plenty of intercessors, generous donors, taking smart risks then quickly learning from our failures, harnessing communication technologies while combining online and offline best practices and the anointing of God.
So if I am going to be working hard until my last day then this reminds me to select those ways to interact with my work that I like most. And where possible hire others to do what I dislike.
#9 Work with people that I enjoy.
This priority is related to the previous one yet comes after it. The enjoyment of my work comes from doing the tasks related to the job at hand AND enjoying the relationships that happen along the way. There are some people that I enjoy working with more than others. It is nothing personal. It just seems to be the quality of the rapport that happens naturally. This priority reminds me to choose those I enjoy working with when it is possible and appropriate. This invisible chemistry seems to be mutual. Holding to this priority will populate my career with relationships that will bring more rather than less emotional satisfaction. Also burn out and depression will be less likely.
#10 Nurture a few close friendships.
As a workaholic I need to be careful to cultivate my social life. I have learned from many pleasant experiences in the past that some quality friendships can be very rewarding. And like most of life, quality is better than quantity. It takes much time and energy to create, maintain and develop high quality friendships. Chapter Six of a book titled The Charge by Brendon Burchard provides me with challenging guidelines related to this priority. This priority reminds me that there is more to life than career, money, things, solitude and pleasures.
#11 Save an appropriate amount of money.
All the books and websites on money management recommend developing the habit of saving. At each stage of my life the amount that I save and the purposes for saving will change. This priority reminds me to be aware of how much I need to have in savings during that stage and why. And then to take action steps to make it happen.
#12 Acquire a balanced and growing investment portfolio.
It is possible for my investments to accurately reflect my personality, values and interests. I will educate myself about investing. I will work closely with a few advisers that I trust. This priority reminds me that it is important to have my money working for me while I am working to make more money.
The following priorities were not mentioned previously.
They are already a major and balanced part of my life.
#A Develop and enjoy my personal relationship with God.
My Christian faith is THE central element of my whole life. I am always seeking better ways to understand the person of God and apply bilibcal principles to my life. This priority reminds me that I am accountable to God and it is He that leads me, guides me, strengthens me, helps, protects me, etc.
#B Practice charity in thoughtful and gracious ways.
I love to give. Throughout the year I give my time, money, things, books, links, online articles, food, etc. I give to individuals, nonprofits, church and libraries. My life is much richer because I have given so much for decades. My deepest motivation for me to prosper in my career is so I can give more. This priority reminds me to think of those who will benefit as the other priorities are maintained.
#C Continue my lifelong learning.
Every day I enjoy learning something new. I watch several educational videos online and I share the best in various collections online. I read self-help books. I enjoy watching documentaries and biographies. I have interest in several fields and before the Internet I often went to the library for many hours a week. Plus I would take home many books.
RELATED
On a related note here are my health care priorities
Here are my priorities for my health care:
Eat the most healthy foods that I can afford.
Take nutritional supplements as needed.
Engage in moderate exercise regularly.
Request prayers and expect healing or guidance to next steps.
(Note I have been healed in my body due to prayers dozens of times.
5 Consider alternative medicine like therapeutic massage and acupressure.
6 Take prescription medicine as directed.
7 Reserve surgery as a last alternative.
CONCLUSION
