Are you focusing on the right tasks and activities?  Do you believe you are prioritizing your time and relationships pretty well?  Are you interested in some tips on how you could prioritize your life better?

I learned a great lesson concerning prioritizing nearly 30 years ago when I attended a real estate investing seminar.

The presenter started the presentation by asking us to write four thank you notes to ourselves from four different people.  One from a family member, one from a friend, one from a coworker, and one from our contact at a volunteer organization where we donated our time and talent.

The task was to write the four thank you notes, just the way they would write them.  If you came home today, and there were four thank you notes on the kitchen table, what would they say?  He gave us ten minutes to write the four thank you notes.

Then he asked us to read our thank you notes, again, to ourselves.  After a long pause he asked, “How close to the true are they?”   Well, mine were somewhat flattering, because I thought we were going to share them with others.

He asked us to adopt the IGDS philosophy, which stood for I’m Gonna Die Someday.  We all groaned.  He then simply suggested that we live up to our thank you notes for the next 12 months, and then buy as much real estate as we could manage.  So, I did.  Those four thank you notes from that $10 real estate seminar changed my life.

So, today, go get a pen and paper and write those four thank you notes to yourself from a family member, a friend, a coworker, and a volunteer organization.  Keep them close at hand and make it a point to live up to them for the next twelve months.

Sometimes when we feel our life is out of balance, we need step back, work on prioritizing, and consider adopting the IGDS Philosophy:  I’m Gonna Die Someday.  How would I like to be remembered?

If you, or members of your organization, are struggling with time management, contact me at kit@welchlin.com and I will provide a presentation packed with time management strategies that work.