Business Development: Prioritizing Personal & Professional Tasks

Some things in life are just more important than your next meeting.

In turn, that means some things in life are also just more important than Netflix’s House of Cards.

I had everything scheduled out today.

8:30a — Get my $1 coffee at Wawa (it’s going on all week!).

9:00a — Evaluate and determine my new blogging schedule

9:30a — It’s the 1st Monday of the month; time to reach back out to prospects that I haven’t heard from.

11:00a — Meet with a client to discuss the details of a new project

12:00p — Quick lunch, pay bills etc.

All of that changed when I heard a knock at my door at 8am this morning. I look outside to see my girlfriend petting a dog. (fun fact: we don’t have a dog!)

It was the sweetest dog ever. It had no collar nor any tags, chips, or identification. Upon petting it, I could tell that it was very cold, hungry, and lost. I went back inside to get some water for the dog, my jacket, and most preferrable to my neighbors — some pants.

I called the SPCA. After 90 seconds of ringing, I called the county police and then the Animal Care & Control. It took half an hour for me to reach a professional.

Many people that morning passed by the dog while getting into their car to go to work. Not one stopping to help. Notably, one lady asked “Is that your dog?” When I replied negative, she said “Good. Don’t come near me with that thing! It was out all night. Get away from me, I’m not your Uncle!” (No clue why she chose the word uncle, but I was too disgusted to ask.)

A neighbor had fed the dog last night, and met with my girlfriend and I as he saw us keeping the dog safe until someone came.

Two hours had passed by while waiting for the Animal Control guy to come. In that time, I cancelled by 11am, and more importantly kept my focus on this sweet & playful pup in an attempt to keep it safe! Ultimately, our neighbor decided to keep the abandoned dog whilst putting out “Found Dog” fliers & having the SPCA share its picture online and cross referencing it with other reported found or lost dogs.

The lesson I learned and the reason for this post is simple:

There are things in life that are more important than what you have going on. No matter the level of hustle or determination, you cannot neglect things such as your health, helping those who truly need it, and doing something outside of work that makes you happy. ANYTHING else can wait or be rescheduled. Remember to keep your priorities in line and your business will thrive.

I have friends who can be in poor health and beat themselves up for not getting work done. I know people, like the lady from this morning, who berates everyone and everything, even the helpless, without missing a beat on their way to work. I also know people who do everything they can for other people and, in turn, are always late, or produce low quality work.

Find the balance. Don’t neglect non work tasks (and vice versa). Keep your priorities in line and thrive.

Please feel free to share or recommend this article if you enjoyed it or have found it helpful. I’m always available for questions or good conversation so be sure to tweet them to me @erickhoxter. Cheers!