A time management expert was lecturing his business students an unforgettable analogy. To drive a point, he used unique materials as an illustration. He stood in front of them and blurted out “Time for a quiz”.

The instructor pulled out a one-gallon Mason jar and put it on the table in front of the class. He scooped roughly a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully slid them inside the jar, one at a time. When the jar was filled to the top and not a single rock could fit inside anymore, he asked his audience, “Is this jar full?”

Everyone almost immediately answered, “Yes.” To which he replied, “Really?” He reached under the table and showed a bucket of gravel in his hand. He dumped some gravel in the jar and shook it causing pieces of the gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks.

He then asked the class once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time, the group was on to him. “Hmmm… maybe not,” one of them shouted.

“Good!” he answered. He once again reached under his table and took out a bucket full of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it made its way down into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more, he repeated the question, “Is this jar full?”

“No!” the class answered uniformly.

“Good,” he replied with a smile. Then he brought up a pitcher of water and filled the jar to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, “What do you think is the point of this analogy?”

One eager student raised his hand and said, “No matter how full your schedule is if you try really hard you can always fit some more stuff in it!”

“No,” the speaker replied, “That is not the point. What this analogy teaches us is that if you do not put the big rocks in first, you will never get them in at all.”

Now, ask yourself this question: What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Quality time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your career, your dreams? A worthy cause? 

Whatever you decide it is, remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all.

-Source Unknown