The Exponential Entrepreneur

Revisiting Priorities

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“We’re not going to hope we get around to anything this year. We’re going to define what we’re going to do, how we’re going to do it, and by when we’re going to do it.” – Oscar Ferenczi

As an entrepreneur, there will always be more things competing for your attention than you have time to do. The challenge isn’t simply deciding what you want to achieve. It’s determining what deserves your attention now and making sure your actions reflect those priorities.

So how do you decide what needs to be done?

Turn Your Goals Into Priorities

In this episode of The Exponential Entrepreneur, we hear from Oscar Ferenczi about how to turn your goals into priorities you can act on.

Oscar begins by asking you to define your north. Where are you trying to go? Getting specific about your financial and business goals gives you the destination. Once you know where you’re going, then you can evaluate the opportunities, problems, and distractions competing for your attention.

SWOT Analysis

From there, Oscar walks through how to use a SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that could affect your progress. But identifying them isn’t enough. Now that you know what they are, you must decide what you’re going to do about them.

Fix vs. Solve

That includes recognizing the difference between fixing and solving a problem. Some problems require addressing the root cause so they don’t keep returning. Others may only need a temporary fix that allows you to keep moving forward until you have the time or resources for a more permanent solution.

Hot Seat: Putting Priorities Into Practice

We hear from an entrepreneur who asks Oscar to clarify the difference between internal weaknesses and external threats. The conversation goes deeper into how to determine whether a problem needs to be solved or simply fixed for now. It’s an important distinction every business owner needs to understand as they work through their priorities.

Key Takeaways

  • Define specific goals in order to give you a north for deciding what deserves your attention.
  • Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses to help you identify internal factors that can support or hinder your progress.
  • Recognize opportunities and threats to account for external factors that could impact your goals.
  • Know when to fix or when to solve a problem to use your time and resources intentionally.
  • Put your priorities on your calendar so that your intentions turn into commitments.
  • Revisit your priorities to keep everyday demands from pulling you away from the direction you want to go.

Your priorities should not simply describe what is important to you. They should determine what you do next. Define where you’re going, decide what needs your attention, and put the work on your calendar.

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