Keeping the Important Things Important!

We all get 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 52 weeks in a year. How do you choose to spend your time? In Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he shares his Big Rocks idea about the importance of focusing on the things that are important.

Take two big jars. One represents your life as a poor planner. The other represents your life as a good planner.

Let’s start with the bad planner jar. Our trivial life is represented by sand. Fill your jar first and foremost with the sand. Then add the medium-sized rocks which represent the extended trivial things of our life: the video games, TV or things that aren’t important. Then, add the really big rocks. They represent the big things in our life: faith, family and vocation. As you’ll see, if we put the big rocks in last, they are hindered. They don’t fit into our lives. They are topsy-turvy and may fall off.

Now let’s do the same thing with our good planner jar. Put faith first, followed by family and then vocation. Next, put the other important things secondary. Last, add the sand which represents the little crises, the intruders in our lives. They fit! And, we still have space left over where we can add another big rock. Perhaps that last rock is a new book you’ve wanted to read, a mission to attend or a trip you’ve always wanted to take. And, the jar is still flat on top!

Revolutionary! Now think seriously about what’s important in your life. Then ask yourself, how will I choose to spend my time?