Tyranny of the Urgent

Stephen Covey coined the term "Tyranny of the Urgent" when he spoke of the importance of doing first things first. There are important things. There are urgent things. Often, they are not the same things. We must never allow the urgent to usurp the position of the important. Life is too short to be bullied by urgency. When the important is also urgent, you've discovered a priority. But if we focus on doing the important in the first place, they will seldom become urgent. When we surrender to all things urgent, we are likely to be filled with regret over the opportunities sacrificed. Spending life on what matters leads to exhilarating pay-offs.