love to do lists. The reason I love them is that they help me achieve so much more on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. I am more productive when I have a list to follow, and this is because regardless of what delays or distractions I might have; there is something that give me a bird’s eye view of what I should be striving to cover within the period.
Drawing a to-do-list however, is not as simple as I have said here. This is because I find that the times I am able to get a lot out of my to-do-list, are those times when I take time to not only schedule writing my to-do-list, but those times that I take the time to think through my day or week by reviewing the past day or week. Each time I spend enough time with quality thinking time, I find out that the stuff on my to-do-list is almost a breeze even when the tasks in themselves are not as easy.
This love for to-do-lists and my belief that whatever you think through you are bound to do better at, is the reason why as my eldest son is leaving home ‘again’; this time seven hours by flight away from home, of all the counsel I thought to give him, the one I am sticking with is the simple lesson I learnt from using a to-do-list over the years.
The most important counsel in this season for him and for as many who awake to face a daily life of decision making is:
DECIDE BEFORE YOU NEED TO DECIDE
In the time of deploying to-do-lists that I have had; the greatest help for me has been the fact that sitting down to plan and write out my to do lists usually affords me the opportunity to;
1. Review the past day or week
2. Think through the day or week ahead
3. Set objectives and goals for the day or week ahead
4. Appraise and discern what tasks or decisions will move me closer to the objectives or goals
5. Write them down in order of priority or importance
6. Begin to tick the items off my list as I go along
Usually at the end of the day or week, I go back to my list to review what I had been able to get done so I can move the others to the next day or week.
The question now is; how do I think this counsel will help my son in making life decisions?
Well, I do appreciate that life isn’t as simple as putting together a to do list, however, I am pretty much certain that taking the time to think through major issues around his new life will help him decide upfront what he will do should he come across what can become life altering and tough decisions along the way.
My friend and Sista Pam Ross, when she came to Nigeria recently told us in a teaching moment to; ‘never make high impact decisions in high pressure moments’. She made us understand that deciding before the decision enables us to make decisions that are value adding, integrity conscious as well as excellence, dignity and purpose driven.
Essentially what I have said to KK is; that he should view his life as one long decision making spree where in this season, we may not be on hand every minute to help him decide what he will do. However, if he takes the time upfront to think through and decide both who he will be and what he will do when the time comes, with a lot of help from God; he will be fine.
So how does this affect your walk/work in dreamland? Well, it is exactly the same if you ask me. Regardless of what the specifics of your dream might be, you must be aware and sure of the things you will do even while your dream is still little so when you become bigger you can stick by them. These are called life guarding principles.
I have seen too many people, lives, businesses and dreams derailed just because they didn’t take the time to think through what they will do or not do ahead of time. What Pam calls high pressure moments are those times when the decision making window or time is so slim and short that you are unable to ask for counsel or confer with anyone before you make a commitment or not.
Knowing what you will do when you make your first million, helps when you make it. Knowing what kind of charities or causes you will support before you get there, helps and hastens the decision making process. Thinking through and deciding what your ideal partner looks like helps for the day you need to pick one.
So if you ask me; life and dream land is one huge to-do-list and the decision we make before we make the decisions can go a long way to determine how it will all turn out.
Like I said to KK, ‘some decisions you will have to make whether you are ready to make them or not…’ So, be wise and think them through now.
Even though I would rather keep my son really close to me and home because that is what parents do, even though I want him to be close so I can ensure that he is safe every minute; it is gradually being taken out of my hands. So I am trusting that he will make his choices based on the decision he makes even before he needs to make any decision.
Both for KK and for you reading or listening to this post/podcast, one thing is sure in the end you will make it NeverTheLess… yes you will.
Here is to your success!
Bidemi