Focus on what's important, work on what's urgent

In life, many people get caught up with the urgent and pressing issues which are present on a day-to-day basis. Paying bills,coming to work on time, ensuring the children are studying for their year end exams, making sure the job/quotation is finished on time and customer signs the delivery order, accepts the invoice and a thousand and one other things.

I have been taking stock these past few days as it is the financial year end and many things are requiring my attention and action. However, I am very mindful of the big picture as I approach the 50th birthday in 2 years time. Many people have 'no choice' but to work for a living, but the key questions to ask yourself :

a) are you impacting anyone positively with your life ?
b) are you achieving your life goals and as a result, happy achieving it ?
c) apart from work and family, do you have time for yourself to pursue your own
interests if any ?
d) are you doing anything to enrich your emotional and spiritual side ?
e) are you financially independent, and have or are working on regular revenue
streams to flow in your later years ?

You may have noticed I have only listed the last point about Money. However, money helps people to live a decent and comfortable life, but 'the love of money is the root of all evil', in my opinion, so one must not view monetary issues and pursuits as the be all and end of of everything. There must be more to life than just earning your first million and then the next million and so on.

Rather, one must like and be able to live within one's own means and earnings and find activities to enjoy when he / she has the good health and time to do it.
That is what life boils down to,a good balance between work, family, personal activities, community and religious giving back.

Many people are aware of it, but few actually objectivise it and even lesser go and do it. Stop and think deeply about your own life. Take a hard look and see whether you are happy with YOUR LIFE. If you are, then fine, if not, then assess the areas where you can grow and improve on and then go and do it with a fixed time to getting it done.