What’s important now?

Not what’s important in an hour; or tomorrow; or next week. What’s important right now at this very moment in time?

This is a question I ask myself numerous times on a daily basis and wholeheartedly believe you should do the same. As a husband, father, and colleague, it brings a great deal of perspective and objectivity to my life. It’s a powerful question that I ask myself from the moment I wake up to begin my day all the way until I close my eyes and fall asleep to prepare for another day. Every day during our personal and professional lives we are faced with a number of critical choices and decisions. Our responses to those choices and the decisions we make all have a lasting impact on our health, our relationships, our careers, and our finances.

Why do I believe it’s so fundamental? First and foremost, it allows me to focus at what matters most at any given moment. When you ask yourself this question, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to take a step back and rationally observe what’s important at that particular moment in time. This enables you to prioritize what you’re doing and gives yourself the correct mindset to control and/or execute your duties in an efficient manner.

Secondly, it allows me to pause and briefly imagine the impact of the choice I have and almost instantly brings to mind the most desirable choice. When I say desirable I do not mean the choice that will give myself the most immediate gratification – I mean the choice that will have the most positive impact on my life. For instance, I will use my role as a husband to illustrate my point of view. On any given evening that my wife isn’t working as a RN, there’s a good chance that the sink is full of dishes and the kitchen needs cleaned up. My lovely wife has just spent the day taking care of my son, cooking dinner, going grocery shopping, among other parenting and housekeeping tasks. I arrive home from work, exhausted and ready to kick my feet up, and admittedly it would be easy to shrug off the obligations in the kitchen and say, “Ah, Emily didn’t work today and she can take care of it.” However, after asking myself, “W.I.N”, I recognize the same level of exhaustion Emily has to be experiencing and how much gratification she would receive from my thoughtful and selfless action. Additionally, it would give her extra time to relax and unwind and, quite honestly, it allows me to relax better knowing that I did something small to help her out.

The reason I love and employ this question it because not only does it involve the present, but it connects us with the future as well. It’s a question that can serve as a guide to help you prioritize the choices and decisions you are faced with every day. A question that can help you overcome life’s challenges, obstacles, and road blocks.

So, I must ask you… What’s important now?

Thanks for reading!

Chris