On choosing critical friendship priorities

Morning all,

Have you ever had really important work your own important to accomplish….and then realized, other friends are counting on you as well?

This situation was brought home to me yesterday when I was decompressing from the joys of an 18hour-a-day workweek and the Fri/Sat garage sale.  I’m currently in Get Product Launch Ready mode…and my days are filled with everything required for that including:

• Setting up the aMember affiliate program
• Writing the 1 month customer care followup series
• Packaging the product
• Writing the 7 day free eTutorial
• Doing all the graphics
• etc.etc.etc.

but amazingly, I did have an hour or so of free time I could dedicate to my friends.

Thing is, which one?

I have friends for whom I’ll  proactively check out their sites and point out where the easy enhancements can be made, friends who are currently looking for a  job, friends who are looking for relationship help, friends who are….see what I mean?

I’m only one person…and I have to make a choice to where to dedicate my energy and attention.

How should I prioritize?  I realized the following…and decided then to blog about it as well.  Hope this is helpful for you too!

Step 1.)  Who appreciates your help the most?

If you’re like me (and I’ll bet you are!), your help is a GIFT….and one that should be appreciated and valued.  If you continuously give and give and give with no thanks etc., eventually…you’re going to ask yourself,

Jeepers Self, why am I being so helpful when my friend is taking without thanking?

Now, I firmly believe in giving with one’s eyes being open (that way, you simply cannot be taken for granted).   Still though, after awhile…it gets old quick.  So I tend to put those friends at the end of the queue.

That nixed out 2 people.

Step 2.)  Who needs your help the most?

This is very important to consider, actually.  If one of your friends is in dire need, and the other can wait for a week…obviously, you tackle friend 1’s issues first.

This narrowed the field down to 2 friends.

Step 3.)  How easy is it to deliver the help?

Also key.  If one friends’ request takes you 30 minutes, while another takes 3 hours…you need to carefully judge that against your OWN personal business/work-related needs as well.

After going thru the above….I was able to pick the friend whom I could help…and dedicated my spare time to making things happen.  His personal resume/portfolio site is now almost complete.

You see, I firmly believe in treating others the way I myself like to be treated.  I’ve been blessed by my friendships over the past 10+ years….and have dealt with users, abusers, and truly wonderful people who have enhanced my life greatly.

And it’s that last category on which I concentrate when I decide to offer my help.

How about you?  

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

ps – speaking of friendship, have you seen:

Please click here to continue your search.

Related posts:

1. How to really mess up a great friendship in one easy lesson
2. Be a covert angel and help YOUR friends help THEIR causes
3. Never take me for granted.
4. Today’s Quote of the Day – 21 Ideas To Live By
5. A friend is ALWAYS a priceless gem and you’re never too old for more