The 5 F's - Prioritize Life with Purpose
By Jimmy Sliwa
I worked a 10-hour day and then went straight to the gym.
I made it home by 8:30 pm, but unfortunately, I missed the kids; they were already asleep.
Exhausted, I plopped on the couch to unwind.
Some might applaud me for my dedication to fitness, but my wife was unamused.
Without even looking in my direction she said, “I would rather you be present at home than for you to have 6 pack abs.”
Uh oh!
It was at this point I knew my priorities were out of order.
When your priorities are out of line, your life will be a mess.
There is a specific order to life. Some things are just more important than others.
If you prioritize the less important things above the more important things, then life won’t make sense.
Let me show you….
- When you prioritize fun over your finances, you get into debt.
- When you prioritize fitness over family you become self-centered
- When you prioritize finances over family, you risk becoming a workaholic.
Can you see how priorities out of order can lead you into the life you don’t want to live?
If you want to have a purposeful life, you have to have your priorities organized.
What priorities should a man keep in his life?
In order to keep things simple a man has only to focus on the 5F’s.
The 5F Framework is a way to prioritize the things that matter most in life:
- Faith
- Family
- Fitness
- Finance
- Fun
If you want to live a life on purpose – make sure your 5Fs are given the priority that they deserve!
What are the 5 F's?
Faith
If you are a God-fearing man, faith is priority number 1. It’s priority number 1 because your faith has eternal implications.
As a Christian, you believe that there is life beyond death. You also know that what you sow on earth will bear fruit for eternity.
The hope you have in eternal glory is the reason to keep faith as number one priority in your life.
Even when Jesus was asked about priorities, he responded by saying “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” -Matthew 22:37
Family
Second to God is family. Family is your legacy. It’s the only thing you have that that will outlive you.
The greatest contribution you can leave behind is to love your wife fiercely and raise children of good character.
Nothing else will outlive you.
Fame won’t. Money won’t. The car you drive won’t.
Your possessions and achievements go with you to your grave. But your family and those you have influenced will live on.
Be sure to pour time and effort into prioritizing your family.
Fitness
By fitness I am referring to health (I needed another F word). The quality of your health = the quality of your life.
Without your health, it is impossible to enjoy life. I work as a physical therapist and have seen countless people lose their quality of life because they lost their health.
For these people, health becomes their sole focus because they need their health to enjoy life.
Having the health to enjoy life is a blessing. Often people don’t prioritize health until it’s too late. It’s not until after the cancer diagnosis or heart attack that people start to prioritize health.
Don’t let this be the case in your life. Start taking care of your fitness (physical and emotional) now.
Finance
Let’s face it, money makes the world go round. That’s the reason we spend the best years of our life trying to get it.
Since we spend so much time pursuing money, I think that it’s easy to get this ‘F’ out of line.
In order to keep finances in their proper place, it’s important to remember that money is only a tool!
Money is a tool that can give you security and offer you fun, but spending all your time trying to get more and more money is futile.
Chasing money is an endless pit.
Remember, life is not measured by an abundance of possessions! You may need money to live, but should never live for money.
Fun
Lastly, it’s important to make time for fun. This could be hanging out with friends, going on vacation, or playing a sport. Fun is the spice of life!
It’s always sad to me when people retire and don’t remember how to have fun. They spent so much time in other priorities that they don’t remember what fun is.
Don’t let this be the case for you. After you have your other priorities in check make sure fun makes the list.
