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 the 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 try really 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? A project that YOU
want to accomplish?
Time with your loved ones?
Your faith, your education, your finances?
A cause?
Teaching or mentoring others?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them
in at all."This is a great anecdote used in all of the Covey training classes. Covey
pushes the idea of "sharpening your saw" (doing things that YOU want to
do and taking care of YOURSELF). If anyone is interested in time and
stress management, his books are worth a read.
alx