Priority, basically defined, is a thing that is regarded as more important than others. I can simply state priorities as things that are focused on now or in the present moment — or in other words what we are giving our attention to, not yesterday or tomorrow, but now.

So one question is very essential for all of us. It is, how do you prepare and approach your priorities? From my point of view, I think we have to be clear about how to categorize our priorities, by asking questions such as “Why I need that? Why I want that? Why don’t I have it?”

And from those questions once we arrive at what is missing, we will automatically be able to realize what are our priorities. Then we will make every effort to fulfill those things in our lives. Without doubt, our priorities differ according to our age, spatial and temporal conditions and social and cultural circumstances. This along with our personal experiences plays an important part in shaping our goals.

Setting out our priorities is not difficult. But the bigger challenge is the commitment needed to achieve the set out priorities. Commitment is key here and it needs continuity and avoidance of procrastination and delay. From an emotional aspect, I might simply say life is too short to spend hours in a wrong place, or with wrong people or coveting wrong things.

The way we think and feel, the kind of people we meet, our environment all play a pivotal part in how we shape our main concerns. We need to start observing things in order to take the positives around us that can add value to us and also allow us to get rid of the unnecessary beliefs, opinions or people when it is obvious.

If someone around us is behaving unhappily and we have observed this in that person for a while, then subconsciously we may get influenced by his or her negative vibes. I’m just emphasizing the power of feelings the outer world has on us.

Thus, it is always better to focus on everyone’s positives, which means focus on the good things they bring to the table. Or how they add value to the group with their thoughts and actions. Let’s say you are in group whether in workplace, with friends, or with few people in an airplane, or even with, let’s call them the people you don’t know, strangers.

Whatever experience you have together, in any of the groups, please mix it with the things you are focusing upon, and most of them, I believe, will add something of value to your own experience in life. What is important, according to me, is to shed light on the significance of having a clear plan in life for the human being and to use all the available tools to make this plan come true.

In this, I would pick Saudi company Aramco as a super example of being a successful and perfect model of prioritization of their vision, providing a healthy environment in their workplace, while enjoining customer’s and employee’s satisfaction. Aramco, in addition, shows us the way they appreciate their people before anything else and how they value without exception the Saudi members by providing them full support to be the best employee in the world — literally.

— The writer can be reached at @moionlynoor