MANAGEMENT PARABLE

My Priorities in Life

We try to achieve excellence in all areas of our lives – we want success at work and advancement
in our careers. We want to give our families the time and attention they deserve, and we want to
provide the very best for them. However, after a while, it becomes obvious that perfection is nearly
impossible to attain in all aspects of our lives. We lead a busy life. There never seems to be enough
time to do things you really want to do, the things that make you happy. You’re too preoccupied with
work, errands and other demands placed upon you by the outside world. The big idea is you must
schedule time for your most important priorities first. If you don’t, you will never get to them. Without
getting your big rocks in place first, they will never ever get in. You can be busy pandering around with
the gravel, sand and water in your life( the peripheral, miscellaneous day-to-day activities) and your
big rocks will always be left at a side, with no room left for them.

In our modern world, it would be so easy to get distracted and forget what are our real priorities
are. In the search for wealth, fame and glory. We let our loved ones be the last on the line. Only when
we are down do we remember that things are actually worthless when we don’t have people to share it
with. The story of the Rocks, Pebbles and Sand concisely illustrate and bring to focus the importance of
knowing and acting on right priorities. According to the Bible, we have to seek the kingdom of God
and his righteousness first and all these small things would eventually be added unto us--and of course
not the other way around.

The power of simplicity- that is what the story demonstrates. The story underlines the need to give
priority to the IMPORTANT over the URGENT. Once the Important is in place, we can attend to the
Urgent. If we fail to do that, we become perpetual slaves to the great tyrant called Urgent. It is a story
that explains and then deal with the lesser stuff later. It is a story about recognizing what’s important
and prioritizing. “Rock, Pebbles, Sand- The Important Things in Life” assures us we may have time to
do everything that we want to do, only if we prioritize and manage our time wisely. That would lead to
happiness indeed.

So, the lesson in all of this is to remember the sequence. Resist doing the little things first. Making
the best use of your time everyday means putting the rocks in first, then the pebbles and, lastly, the
sand. If you fill your bucket with sand, you will never have time for the rocks and fail to get to what is
truly important and have the greatest impact on your job, career and life. The great news is that, as a
time management master, everyday from now on, you have the choice to decide on how to spend your
time on the tasks and activities that will give you the greatest return on investment.

Think “rocks, pebbles and sand”, get your life back and give yourself the opportunity to become
what you have always promised yourself to become.
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