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Priority – highest or higher in importance, rank privilgege
Not everything can be our top priority.
Take the time to prioritize your work, your life, your time.
When I fail to prioritize I am often overwhelmed & stuck with all of the tasks to be done & commitments & obligations on my time.
For a couple days this week I was stuck & did not make the progress I wanted on projects.
“Being able to do something well is one of life’s great joys.”
— Frank Tyger
Prioritizing allows me to put 1st things 1st & make sure that the good does not get in the way of the best.
One of my mantras is “Focus helps results.” Doing one thing at a time allows me to focus & do good work.
Todd Henry says To Be Brilliant, Engage in Deep Work.
A young boy in Mozambique shows off his plastic bag ball. Most kids in developing nations use balls like this.
Life is full of distractions, some good, some not so good. For me, focus does help results. & part of the process of focusing is organizing the clutter, projects, tasks, needs, wants & commitments in my head on paper. Making a list of everything I need to do takes a lot of my stress away. Crossing things off my list makes me feel good & motivates me to keep going. But only by prioritizing my list can I really focus & get anything done.
Some people recommend starting with the most important tasks on the list to be sure that we are really working on the most important things. Some people recommend starting with a couple easy tasks to get momentum before we tackle our most important work. I don’t know the answer. Everyone is different. Try both ways. Either way, not everything can be our priority, so make a list of everything you need to do & then prioritize.
When I think about all that the Ball Project partners accomplish around the world teaching kids life skills & sports skills & building community & teams – I am amazed at how much focus, commitment & organization they have to help kids by helping kids play.
I am home from a great week of meetings with partners from around the world.
Lots of updates, lots of conversations, lots of Five Guys, lots of Starbucks. I am always amazed by the universality of coffee culture, even though I only drink tea. But as I always say, you can’t spell TEAM without TEA.
I left the time encouraged by the exciting projects our Ball Project partners are developing in Romania, South Africa, Kenya, Bangladesh, India, Niger & beyond.
Our key partners in Guatemala are working to take the photography & life skills program The Viewfinder Project into juvenile detention centers & old age homes.
One of our key partners in Nigeria is building relationships & new partnerships by lending out books like Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson’s “Rework” & Todd Henry‘s “Die Empty.”
A key partner in Uganda is bringing solar power to homes, schools, health clinics & churches in remote villages that do not have electricity.
Key partners in Dominica & Jamaica are working with a bankrupt sport manufacturing company to buy high quality soccer balls at a steep discount to empower youth sports programs in the Caribbean.
I am also working on connecting some Caribbean partners together in Haiti later this year.
As usual, I am grateful for & inspired by our amazing partners working diligently & creatively to help children by helping children play.
Future footballers in South Africa
The Ball Project 