Mindset story: The king's lesson about setting priorities

A long time ago there lived a king who believed that the only way his kingdom would grow and prosper is if his countrymen would better themselves by getting experience and upgrading their knowledge at what they enjoyed doing. The king believed that everyone who would follow their passion and make a business out of it would contribute way more to the kingdom than it would cost the kingdom to help that person get to that point. So the king provided education, security, jobs and even gave money so that people would be able to focus on what they were passionate about and not worry about making a living right away. Most of the king’s countrymen took advantage of what the king was offering them. But there were exceptions. Some people only saw obstacles and made excuses about how they have other priorities. One such person was the king’s childhood friend. He never did anything more than he had to to get by. One Sunday, while the king and his friend were having breakfast at the king’s palace, the king’s friend again complained about how hard it was to earn enough money and how hard it was to get a better job. The king then asked the friend, “Why don’t you learn new skills so you would be able to apply for better jobs?” The friend just shook his head and mumbled, “I don’t have time for that.” The king looked at his friend with a smile and replied, “Well my friend, I believe you have a big problem with setting priorities.”

His friend got really upset and replied, “It’s easy for you to say and judge me. You are the king and you were born rich. You never had to work, study, or do any kind of work to provide for your family.” The king still had a smile on his face even though his friend was rude. He looked his friend in the eye and made an offer to prove his point, “Ok, if that is what you think let’s try something. You may go into my treasury right now and collect as much wealth as you can. But you only have time to do so until sunset.” The king’s friend couldn’t believe his luck. As soon as he calmed down he sat next to the king and suggested a toast, “To my dear friend, who helped me change my life. We must drink to that! We need wine, lots of wine, we must celebrate!” The king tried to calm down his friend and remind him of his deadline. But his friend explained to the king, “Don’t worry. I have more than enough time. First, we must celebrate!” The king looked at his friend and pointed out what he said not that long ago, “I believe you have a problem with setting priorities and not with finding opportunities. But do as you wish.” The friend just ignored the king’s words and continued drinking and toasting with everyone in the palace to his good fortune.

After the king’s friend spent a couple of hours drinking, eating, and toasting with everyone he decided it was time to go home and tell his wife how their lives are about to change. Once he got home he told his wife what happened. Both of them were so happy that they needed to celebrate their good fortune. So they toasted, drank, and eaten until they fell asleep. After a couple of hours in the late afternoon, the king’s friend finally decided to pick up some bags and go to the palace to get his fortune. On the way there he felt so tired because of all the drinking and eating he did, that he needed to take a quick rest. After an hour or so of resting, he got up and was back on his way to the palace. Right before the palace, he saw a man doing magic tricks. Of course, this was very interesting and he promised to pay the man when he comes back from the palace if he shows him right then and there how he does some of his favorite tricks. And so another hour or so went by and the sun was starting to set.

Suddenly the king’s friend realized how late he is and he started running towards the palace. But once he got to the gates they were already shut. He demanded to see the king and wouldn’t calm down until the king came to see him. Once the king came to the entrance of the palace his friend pleaded with him to let him enter the treasury and take what was rightfully his. But the king wouldn’t let him pass and calmly reminded his friend of the time constraint of his task. The friend raged and yelled at the king, “This is not fair, you promised me a fortune, now you are taking back your word. The day is not over, it is not midnight. You are a lier, you don’t want me to be rich or successful, you are against me, you are not my friend…” The king calmly replied, “Dear friend, I have given you an opportunity of a lifetime and instead of taking it you rather threw away your precious time for things that were not important at that time. I also warned you about setting priorities, but you ignored me.” His friend shocked at the answer replied, “But you were drinking and eating with me. You tricked me to waste my time.”

“No my dear friend,” elaborated the king, “If you remember I have warned you to mind your time and focus on the opportunity in front of you. And since you didn’t want to listen to me there was nothing I could have done, but to leave you to your choices and hope that you at the end of the day at least learn a life-changing lesson if not taking advantage of a life-changing opportunity. This is my gift to you. I hope you are more mindful about setting priorities in the future. Opportunities will come, my friend, you only need to be able to see them and take advantage of them in time.” And so the king’s friend went home with a different kind of treasure than he expected. He went home and shared with his wife a lesson that would change both of their lives. Soon the couple prospered due to setting priorities and being mindful of their time.