“Schedule your priorities, do not prioritize your schedule.”
-Stephen Covey
Do you believe that you can be both a go-getter and stress-free?
I’ll confess that until recent years, and mainly based on my life experiences, I thought those two things were paradoxical.
That’s not uncommon, especially for those of us who’ve had to or are still navigating the waters of hustle culture. It’s easy to lose track of what’s really important; but that comes with grave consequences.
Sooner than later, and for the sake of our own happiness in life, we’ll have to learn how to prioritize.
Enter the concept of putting in your “big rocks” first, super simple in theory but most of us struggle with the implementation.
Before I tell you about the idea behind the “big rocks”, and in case you’ve forgotten amidst all the things vying for your attention, YOU always come first. Keep than in mind as you read on…
Right, now to the story of the “big rocks” which beautifully illustrates that you get to decide what is most important to you and what gets your time and attention.
It goes something like this….
There once was a teacher who showed his students a large empty jar. He filled it to the top with big rocks and asked “students, is this jar full?”.
“Yes!” said the students.
Next, the teacher added smaller pebbles into the jar and those pebbles filled in around the rocks. He asked, “and now…is the jar full?”.
Again, a resounding “yes!” from the students.
He then added a bag of sand into the jar. The sand filled the rest of the space around the pebbles and rocks. He said, “now, is it full?”…and they said “yes!”.
The teacher then dumped everything out and started again with an empty jar.
This time, however, he added the sand first. As he did, the sand took up all the space in the jar that neither the big rocks nor the pebbles could fit.
The teacher said…
“Students, the jar is your life. The big rocks are the important things that make your life worth living. You must know your big rocks and put them in first. The pebbles are the next group of things that matter to you — the things you have to fit in. The sand is the small things of life, the things that will take up all the space if you put them in first, leaving you with no room for the most important things in your life.”
So, what are the “big rocks” at this point in your life?
Remember, no matter whose opinion shaped what you might believe about yourself or your needs it’s only the things YOU truly want that are the biggest rocks of them all. Prioritize going after those.
P.s., If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all that’s in your jar right now but want to consistently prioritize your “big rocks” then book a Complimentary Discovery Session to learn how I can help you.
Erina Haile 