I think that if there is one common trait that most successful entrepreneurs share, it is their innate ability to prioritize. They somehow instinctively understand the difference between the urgent and the truly important. Between the nice-to-do and the need-to-do.

Too often it is the urgent that gets attention–an almost knee-jerk reaction to a problem.

When I was a fifteen year-old high school student working at my uncle’s service station in Lawler, Iowa I learned a valuable lesson. My cousin Jack was our supervisor and he continually reminded the other two employees and me that the customer in the drive always comes first.

"You might think that it is important to clean up the service area, and it is, but that type of activity should always come in second to the man or woman who is prepared to buy one of our products."

Years later when I went full-time into the insurance business my mentor was Bob Jamieson, one of the most highly regarded agents in Fort Dodge, Iowa—population twenty-five thousand. Bob made a conscious decision to always be among the Top Fifty producers for one of the nation’s largest life insurance companies, Mutual of New York. He did so knowing full-well that he would be at a distinct disadvantage working in rural Iowa competing against producers living in major cities from coast to coast.

"Selling comes first," he often reminded me as his junior partner. "Service work can be done later or be delegated. If we’re not selling, there will be no need for service work!"

It became abundantly clear to me as I developed a career in selling that Bob was right. The fun-to-do tasks such as preparing illustrations were futile exercises unless I first made the phone calls, got the appointments and asked the right questions to set up the closing interviews.

The renowned actor, Anthony Hopkins, is recognized for his relentless pursuit of perfection. He will read and re-read a script as many as two hundred times in order to sound natural when performing. It has been said he will also memorize every other actor’s part in order to set himself apart from the crowd. Hopkins does not ‘major in the minors.’ He does the right things in the right order at the right time in his effort to succeed.

You are consistently challenged on a daily basis to prioritize your tasks. To make critical decisions. To choose A over B. Right versus left. Brief instead of long.

How you are perceived by others will be determined by the choices that you make. Learning to prioritize is an invaluable skill. When done right—it will move you to the above average category in a world that covets doers and leaders.

Bill Sheridan—‘Sheridan Writes’—bio under Guest Authors

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