Every day all of us make hundreds of choices, most of them so menial and habitual that they are almost as automatic as breathing. What we have for breakfast, the clothes we wear, the route we take to work, the bills we pay or lay aside, the television programs we watch, the functions of our job, the manner in which we greet friend or foe, none of these is memorable beyond the hour.

But there are choices we must make from time to time, decisions that we can later look back on from any age plateau and recall with bitter sadness or triumphant joy depending on how they affected the years that followed. Rarely are these momentous turning points in life ever planned or expected. How can they be when the vast majority of humans wander along the pathway of years without any destination or goal or even a road map?

Since so many don't know where they are, or where they're going, they are always struggling merely to survive, always on the razor's edge of disaster, forever on the defensive. When one must live that way, one's options are limited.

Planning and making choices are often hard work. They involve careful thinking and decision-making. They also force you to recognize what criteria you use in setting priorities.

Use the ABC Priority System:
write a capital letter "A" to the left of those items on the list that have a high value; a "B" for those with medium value; and a "C" for those with low value.

Items marked A should be those that yield the most value. You get the most out of your time by doing the A's first, and saving the B's and C's for later. Taking account of the time of day and the urgency of the items, you can break them down further so that A-items become A-l, A-2, A-3, A-4.

ABC's are relative, depending on your point of view (remember, you are the decision maker). The ABC's are also relative depending on what's on your list. The A's generally stand out clearly in contrast to the less important B's and C's. In a work of art, attention-getters including vivid colors and foreground details stand out from the background and catch the eye first. Your A-items should be the attention-getters on your list.

ABC's may change over time. Today's A may become to-morrow's C, while today's C becomes tomorrow's A. You need to set priorities continually, considering the best use of your time right now.

"Nonsense," reproved Kobbi, "a man's wealth is not in the purse he carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there be no golden strearn to refill it. Arkad has an income that constantly keeps his purse full, no matter how liberally he spends."

"Income, that is the thing," ejaculated Bansir. "I wish an income that will keep flowing into my purse whether I sit upon the wall or travel to far lands. Arkad must know how a man can make an income for himself. Dost suppose it is something he could make clear to a mind as slow as mine?"

..."Thou speakest with true inspiration, Bansir. Thou bringeth to my mind a new understanding. Thou makest me to realize the reason why we have never found any measure of wealth. We never sought it. Thou hast labored patiently to build the staunchest chariots in Babylon. To that purpose was devoted your best endeavors. Therefore, at it thou didst succeed. I strove to become a skillful lyre player. And, at it I did succeed.

In those things toward which we exerted our best endeavors we succeeded. The Gods were content to let us continue thus. Now, at last, we see a light, bright like that from the rising sun it biddeth us to learn more that we may prosper more. With a new understanding we shall find honorable ways to accomplish our desires."