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Note
from Barb: A fellow Toastmaster did
a
speech on this topic
~ originally from Dr. Stephen Covey, of whom you
may
have heard as being the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
I felt
it was a very good analogy, helpful to anyone at any time in their
life,
but especially to
homeschoolers trying to "do it all."
_____________
Prioritizing
Your
"Rocks"
by
Dr. Stephen R. Covey
Stephen
Covey in his book, First Things First, shares the following story
experienced by one of his associates:
I attended a seminar once where the instructor was lecturing on time. At
one point, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." He reached under the table and
pulled out a wide-mouthed gallon jar. He set it on the table next to a platter with some fist-sized rocks on it. "How many of these rocks do you
think we can get in the jar?" he asked.
After we made our guess, he said, "Okay. Let's find out." H e set one rock in
the jar . . . then another . . . then another. I don't remember how many he
got in, but he got the jar full. Then he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone looked at the rocks and said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Ahhh" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of
gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar and the gravel went
in all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Then he grinned and said
once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," we said.
"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 of the little spaces left by the rocks and the gravel. Once more he looked and said, "Is
this jar full?" "No!" we roared.
He said, "Good!" and he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in.
He got something like a quart of water in that jar. Then he said, " Well,
what's the point?" Somebody said, "Well, there are gaps, and if you work really hard you can
always fit some more things into your life."
"No," he said, "that's not the point. The point is this: If you hadn't put
these big rocks in first, would you ever have gotten any of them in?"
Excerpted from
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey,
A. Roger Merrill, and
Rebecca R. Merrill copyright 1994.
Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.
For more information visit
www.franklincovey.com.
(or
click on the appointment book above!)
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