A lecturer started the lesson with a large empty jar in his hands and proceeded to fill it with stones until no more stones could be put inside. He then asked the students if the jar was full. The class agreed it was. The lecturer then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open spaces between the stones. He asked the students again if the jar was full. The class all agreed it was. The lecturer next picked up a box of sands and poured them into the jar. Of course, the sands filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The class unanimously agreed it was.
The lecturer then explained, "Now, I want you to recognize this jar represents your life. The stones are the most important things like your career, your family, your health or your favourite passions. If everything else was lost and only they remained, your life will still be full. The pebbles are other less important things like your job, your car or your vacation. The sands are just small and trivial things like playing games, napping or simply doing nothing. If you spend effort in the most important things first, your life will be full, and yet you still have rooms for handling the less important things and small matters, just like what we did with the jar. On the other hand, if you put the sands into the jar first, there will be no rooms for the pebbles and stones. Thus, if you spend all your time and energy on small matters, you will never have rooms for the things that are important to you. So, remember the main point of today's lesson:
Establish your priorities and work towards them."
The class all nodded in agreement. The lecturer then poured the remaining cup of coffee he was drinking into the jar. The coffee quickly got mixed up with the stones, pebbles and sands. A student asked what it meant. The lecturer smiled, "There's always room for another cup of coffee. Let's go."
No comments:
Post a Comment