A while back I was reading about an expert on the subject of Time Management. One day, this expert was speaking to a group of business students and to drive home a point he used an illustration those students will never forget.Rocks in a Jar
As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is this jar full?"
By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" "No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!"
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you really try hard, you can always fit some more things into it."
"No," the
speaker
replied, "that's not the point. The truth this
illustration teaches
us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first,
you'll never get them
in at all."
What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all.
So what are the 'big rocks' in your life?
Sent in to Across by Donald Macgregor
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