VN January 2023

Vetnuus | Januarie 2023 40 I hope this article finds you and your families well and safe!!! Last month we discussed the concept of preparation, in view of the upcoming festive season, which inevitably compels us to reflect on the past year and start thinking about 2023 and starting the year-long trek once again. This month we will touch on prioritising tasks and differentiating between “urgent” and “important”. Imagine an international aeroplane flight coming to land at your local airport. On board, there are 416 passengers and 15 cabin crew members. All appears normal until the landing gear warning indicator comes on, implying that the landing gear is not lowering. The captain requests a “go-around” to give him time to determine what is causing the problem. Two possible reasons are identified. First, the landing gear is not lowered and locked. Secondly, the light bulb indicating the successful lowering of the landing had burned out. The pilot bangs on and wiggles the indicator light to see whether it will come on – no response. The team decides to replace the seemingly defective globe but do not realise that they have accidentally disengaged the autopilot, which means that the plane was in manual operation. Nobody noticed that the plane was losing altitude, causing a catastrophic crash landing. Everyone in the cockpit was so focused on the five-rand globe that nobody remembered to fly the aeroplane!!!! The result was that 311 passengers and eight crew members perished because the people in the cockpit were distracted by the “urgent” and forgot the “important”. The good news is we are seldom faced with such dramatic consequences for failing to keep our eyes on our priorities, but we have all been caught up in the vortex of crisis management to the point of neglecting our priorities. It might be a lot simpler, like becoming overly competitive in a game of soccer with your children and focusing on scoring goals rather than having fun with them. Distractions What is it that causes us to become distracted from our main priorities? • Sometimes our emotions, especially fear, anger, or pride. • Sometimes by a sudden surge of jealousy or greed. • Sometimes we lose focus due to loud “noises” and “flashy” diversions • Sometimes we fail to recognise or follow through on basic principles we know to be true. Two such principles are as follows: 1. Fill your own cup before you can genuinely help others fill their cup . It may seem self-centred, but unless you can take care of yourself as a parent/boss/leader first, you will be unable to take care of those dependent on you. The classic example here would be parents who tirelessly give up everything to care for their kids, sometimes to their detriment. We need to take of ourselves first – this is not selfish…it is smart , as in the long run, both you and your children/dependents are better off. 2. Define your priorities before you can fulfil/achieve them . Life has become a lot busier and more inundating than ever before, making it far easier to lose sight of our priorities at times. Consider your priorities today and write them down. Ask yourself two questions: a) Are these really the most important priorities to me? b) Are my priorities in balance? Influential Life Coaching THE FIVE-RAND GLOBE Dr Mats Abatzidis B.Sc. B.V.Sc. New Insights Certified VIP Life Coach mats.abatzidis@yahoo.co.za Founder of Influential Life Coaching http://www.matsaba.wix.com/drmatscoach Author of the published book“Life outside your comfort zone. Better and beyond all expectations”. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref =nb_sb_noss?url=search- alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Abatzidis http://www.life-coach-directory.co.za/mats-abatzidis