The Goodness Blog 

Put the big rocks in first

Talking about exercises, meditation, yoga etc, we frequently hear people say: "I just wish my life is not so busy. When I have finished my degree, work project, painting the house...I'll start doing exercises, meditation, yoga...

More often than not, when we finish one project, another one follows. That day when we finally have enough spare time to do the things we wanted to do always seem so distant. Here, I would like to share with you the following story. When I read it, it made me realise that time is never the issue.

One day an expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students and to drive home a point used an illustration those students will never forget. As this man stood at the 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 into the jar, one at a time. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, 'is this jar full?'

Everone 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 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 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.'

- quoted in Stephen Covey First Things First

What I've learnt from this story is the importance of prioritising. No matter how busy we are, the thing is, time is very generous and fair to everyone, as we all have 24 hours a week and seven days a week. Nobody can save it for future use and nobody is given more time than others. I don't believe that time is ever the issue that stops us from exercising, praying, meditation etc. Rather, the problem is how much we value them. The fact is that, if we haven't done it already, it's simply means it's not important for us to do it yet. In other words, they are not the 'big rocks' in our lives, and not worth putting into the jar of our lives in the first place.

Start to think now, what's important for you and what's not. Once you've sorted out your list of priority, I am sure you will not complain that you can't find time to do the things you want to do. Instead, you will surprise yourself as to how much more 'content' you can still add to your jar!