“Just add better coffee,” everyone said. “Fix the chairs. Lower prices.” But Anna knew that tweaking wouldn’t save her father’s legacy. She needed to find what truly mattered—her First Important Priorities.

🟀 Why FIP Matters: The Priority Paradox

We live in the age of infinite priorities. Everything is urgent. Everyone needs something now. Our tools make it easier to do more, so we do—until we’re doing everything except what matters. The word “priority” originally meant THE ONE THING. Now we have 47 “top priorities.”

FIP isn’t about working harder or managing time better. It’s about the courage to ignore good opportunities to pursue great ones.

🔬 The FIP System: Finding Your Vital Few

De Bono designed FIP to cut through the noise with surgical precision. It’s not a to-do list system—it’s a thinking tool for identifying what deserves your limited attention.

💡 The FIP Formula

Impact × Feasibility ÷ Everything Else

The Three-Filter Process

Filter 1: The Future Test

Ask: “Will this matter in…”

• 10 minutes? (Probably not a FIP)
• 10 days? (Maybe urgent, rarely important)
• 10 months? (Potential FIP candidate)
• 10 years? (Definitely examine closely)

Filter 2: The Leverage Analysis

For each potential priority, calculate:

Score 7-9? True FIP. Score 4-6? Regular priority. Score 1-3? Delegate or delete.

Filter 3: The Subtraction Test

What happens if you DON’T do this?

• Nothing: Not a priority at all
• Minor inconvenience: Nice-to-have
• Significant problems: True priority
• Cascade failure: First Important Priority

💡 FIP in Action: Real-World Applications

Example 1: The Naxxar Cafeteria Crisis (2022)

The overwhelm: Anna inherited her father’s 60-year-old cafeteria in Naxxar center. Busy Bee and Starbucks had just opened nearby. Sales dropping. Customers nursed single teas for hours. Her boyfriend wanted her to keep her stable job. Her wedding was in less than six months. Grief clouded every decision.

The breakthrough: Anna took two days off, grabbed a notepad, and went for long walks in Selmun to clear her head. Away from the daily chaos, she could finally think big picture.

What she was doing (minor fixes):

• Adding a biscuit to the tea service
• Trying to get a fancy coffee machine (suppliers said no to a free one—sales too low)
• Replacing broken chairs one by one
• Tweaking prices slightly
• Cleaning more thoroughly

The FIP Analysis that changed everything:

🎯 The Three FIPs She Executed

1. 💰 Capital First: Sold her Naxxar apartment (painful but necessary). This unlocked everything else.
2. 🎨 Concept Second: Not another sterile franchise—authentically Maltese. Ghana nights, bebbux (when available), gbejniet, hobż biż-żejt, local liqueurs. Her father’s memory lived in every detail.
3. 🏢 Expansion Third: Used business loan + apartment money to buy next door property. Ground floor became extended cafeteria with proper kitchen.

What She Didn’t Do (The No List):

• Compete on coffee quality with Starbucks but compete on more ethical sourcing.
• Match franchise prices
• Make it modern and minimal
• Listen to “safe” advice
• Keep her day job

Results (2024): Open 6 AM to midnight. Three Maltese employees. Speed dating Wednesdays. Winter meetups with topics ranging from RC aeroplanes to startup networking Thursdays. Yes, drinks cost as much as Busy Bee—but people pay for experience, not just coffee. Now eyeing Bugibba for location #2.

The FIP Lesson: Anna could have spent years making tiny improvements while franchises ate her lunch. Instead, three bold FIPs transformed a dying cafeteria into a thriving community hub. Her father would be proud.

Example 2: Parent’s Weekend FIP

Saturday morning: Kids’ sports, birthday party, grocery shopping, house cleaning, family time…

🎯 FIP + AGO: The Perfect Partnership

FIP becomes exponentially more powerful when combined with AGO. Your AGO provides the framework; FIP ensures you focus on what advances it most.

The AGO-FIP Alignment Matrix

This matrix becomes your instant decision filter. No AGO connection? Not a FIP. Direct aim advancement? Always a FIP.

🧠 Advanced FIP: The Multiplier Method

Masters of FIP look for priorities that create cascading benefits:

The FIP Multiplier Categories

🔗 Chain Breakers

Tasks that unlock multiple blocked items. Example: Hiring that key person who can handle five stalled projects.

🏗 Foundation Builders

Work that makes future work easier. Example: Creating systems that eliminate recurring decisions.

💥 Force Multipliers

Actions that amplify everything else. Example: Improving team communication affects all projects.

🛡 Risk Eliminators

Preventing future crises. Example: Backing up critical data before it’s needed.

Anna’s FIP Evolution

Here’s how FIP continued to guide Anna’s daily choices after the transformation:

⚠ Common FIP Pitfalls and Solutions

🎮 Practice Exercises: Mastering FIP

🌟 The FIP Transformation: Anna’s Victory

Two years later, Anna’s story had become legend in Naxxar. The cafeteria that nearly died was now the heartbeat of the community. Her wedding? She held the reception in her own transformed space—her father’s portrait watching over 150 guests enjoying bejniet and local wine.

The franchises still flanked her, but they served different worlds. Busy Bee got a certain crowd. Starbucks caught the laptop crowd. Anna? She owned the soul of Naxxar—the place where first dates happened, where startup founders met investors, where RC aeroplane enthusiasts debated motor specs over obż biż-żejt.

By focusing on three FIPs instead of fifty fixes, Anna saved not just a business but a legacy. Her father had served coffee. She created community. And that second location in Bugibba? The landlord approached her—he wanted what Naxxar had.

Anna’s FIP Wisdom

“Everyone told me to compete with the franchises on their terms. Better coffee! Faster service! Lower prices! But FIP thinking made me ask: What can I do that they never could? The answer wasn’t in my coffee machine—it was in my roots.”

Signs You’ve Mastered FIP

• ✓ You can name your 3 FIPs instantly
• ✓ You say no without guilt
• ✓ You calendar has protected FIP time
• ✓ Urgent rarely derails important
• ✓ You feel focused, not frantic
• ✓ Others notice your clarity and calm

📊 Summary: Your Focus Framework

FIP gives you permission to ignore most things so you can excel at the vital few. In a world designed to distract, this is a superpower.

🎯 Next Steps

You now have seven powerful tools in your mental toolkit. PMI for balance, CAF for completeness, OPV for perspective, AGO for direction, and now FIP for focus.

But what about the long game? In the next article, we’ll explore C (Consequences and Sequels), the tool that helps you think through time and see the ripple effects of today’s choices.

For now, identify your three FIPs for tomorrow. Feel the relief of knowing exactly what deserves your best energy. Everything else can wait—and most of it should.

Anna’s story is a fictitious example.