Prioritize What's Important Not Just What's Urgent

It is easy to feel like you have unlimited bandwidth and can do everything you want simultaneously. This mindset, however, can lead to catastrophic failure in the areas that matter most.

A critical moment of maturation for any leader is the realization that you cannot do everything. You must make hard choices and prioritize what is truly important over what is merely urgent or personally interesting.

The author's "divorce is expensive" moment was a wake-up call. He realized that by pursuing his career at all costs, he was on a path to losing his family. His actions, despite his self-perception as a good person, showed that he was prioritizing himself over the people he cared about most.

This led to a fundamental shift in his decision-making:

• From Self-First to Others-First: He began to consider the needs of the people who depended on him before his own desires.
• Putting First Things First: He made a conscious choice to quit a demanding startup job to find one that allowed him to be the person he wanted to be for his family.

This is not just about work-life balance; it's a core leadership principle. By trying to do everything, you will fail at the most important things. True success requires identifying what is most important and having the discipline to prioritize it above all else.

Tags: #leadership #prioritization #decision-making #mindset #work-life-balance #values