I was thinking about the stones the other day. Oh, not the Rolling Stones — although “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” might apply pretty well here. No, I’m mean the stones that were part of an old motivational-speaker trick I once saw at a time-management seminar. The speaker was lecturing about setting priorities in our lives (and I’m sorry I can’t remember his name — it’s been 15 years since I saw the show in San Diego). He plopped a jar with some sand in it on a desk. Then he tried to put some stones in it, too– and failed. Each stone represented a priority in our lives. And the sand was the small, unimportant stuff that eats up our time.
It would have taken a miracle to fit everything into that glass container.
The speaker smiled and then dumped the sand out on the desk and started putting the stones back into the jar one at a time. He said the big rocks represented the most important things in our lives. In my case, that would be family. He then put in the next size down. They represented career. And so on and so on. Finally, all the stones were in the jar. Then he scooped the sand up and poured it in: It all fit!
I’ve got a jar full of sand, that’s for sure. Lots of little things that get in the way of the important stuff. Now that I am starting my own company and working for The Clarion-Ledger part-time, my time has become more precious. I need EVERY second — And I need a plan to fit everything into my life’s jar. I need to decide exactly what are stones and what is sand.
I’ve put a jar full of stones on my drawing board to remind me that I can’t always get what I want but if I plan my time carefully enough, I just might get what I need.
I saw that speaker once, myself. Or someone who borrowed his idea. Thanks for the reminder.
I had a friend tell me once, about the glass half empty analogy, I need a bigger glass. But for now your jar is the size it is. We work in our lives for bigger jars. The question is, how big of a jar do you need?
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