The 5 Choices come from a FranklinCovey book and course. Act on the important, do not react to the urgent. Go for extraordinary, do not settle for ordinary. Schedule the big rocks, do not sort gravel. Rule your technology, do not let it rule you. Fuel your fire, do not burn out. Five decisions, made daily.
The five, one by one
1. Act on the important, don't react to the urgent. Urgent things shout. Important things wait quietly and then cost you. Sort by importance first.
2. Go for extraordinary, don't settle for ordinary. Decide what great looks like in each role you play, at work and at home, and aim there.
3. Schedule the big rocks, don't sort gravel. Put the few important things on the calendar first. The small stuff fills in around them.
4. Rule your technology, don't let it rule you. Email, chat and phones serve the plan. Turn them off during the big rocks.
5. Fuel your fire, don't burn out. Sleep, movement, food and real breaks are part of the work, not a reward after it.
What it means for a team
Most of the five are personal. Choice three is where a manager can help: a team that knows its big rocks for the week, and protects time for them, stops drowning in gravel. The manager's job is to name the rocks and keep the gravel off the calendar.
Where M-Tracker fits
Big rocks are tasks that matter, and they fail when nobody said what done means. In M-Tracker, each big rock has a brief tied to the goal it serves. When the work is sent, it is checked against the brief. The goal view shows which rocks moved this week and which gravel ate the time. Choice one and choice three, visible on Friday.
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Questions people ask
Is it the same as the Eisenhower matrix?
Choice one is. The matrix sorts tasks by urgent and important; the five choices add the other four habits.
Do I need the book or course?
No. The five lines above are the method. The rest is practice.
Which choice do teams struggle with most?
Four. Chat tools make everything feel urgent.
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