Remember: “First Things First”

“First things first.” It’s a figure of speech usually used to emphasize the value in entertaining the most important issues first in a series of activities. I love figures of speech, specifically the corny ones. Think about what makes figures of speech corny, after all. Or, think about what makes them figures of speech in the first place. It’s the frequency in which we hear the damn things.

You don’t roll your eyes when your dad says, “Patience comes to those who wait” because it isn’t true, you roll your eyes because you’ve heard it too many times before. Cliches become cliches simply because they get so much air time. If you ask me, it’s a great place to look for tried and true insight. Surely, they’ve stood the test of time (and effort).

What is it about “first things first” that earns so much air time? What about this phrase is so true that it has reached figure-of-speech status?

It’s simple. There is a natural progression of things. While it seems silly to say aloud, second things don’t come first and last things sure as hell don’t either. As straight forward as this is now in plain english, it’s baffling how much we look ahead, create expectation, and neglect this natural process.

Anything you could ever want is at the end of a process. How it plays out is first things come first, then the second, and so on until you transcend the steps required for your goal. Never forget it, because it seems silly to assume it’d be possible to skip steps, let alone expect it.

What are you expecting now that is skipping the necessary steps? Remember: “First things first.”

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach