More good things (without "fwd:...")

"One day, a veteran professor of the National School of Public Administration was asked to give a lecture on "Making the most efficient use of one's time" to a group of some 15 CEOs of leading American companies. The session was one of five scheduled during their workshop, so the professor only had an hour in which to get the message across. As he faced the group of prestigious leaders, all with their pencils at the ready, the elderly professor looked at them one by one, and said: "Let’s try a little experiment." Reaching below the table which separated him from the students, he then pulled out a large earthenware pot, which he placed carefully on the table in front of him. Then he took out a dozen stones, each about the size of a tennis ball, and placed them delicately in the large pot. Then the pot was full to the brim and it was impossible to add any more, he slowly raised his eyes to the class and asked them: "Is the pot full?" All replied: "Yes." He waited a few seconds, and added: "Really?" He then bent down again and from beneath the table brought out a container full of gravel. He carefully poured the gravel over the large stones and lightly stirred the pot. The pieces of gravel slipped between the stones to the bottom. The old professor again raised his eyes to the audience and once more asked: "Is the pot full?" This time his brilliant students began to understand what he was up to. One replied: "Probably not!" "Well said," answered the elderly faculty member. He leaned down once more and this time brought out a jug full of sand. He gently poured the sand into the pot, filling the spaces between the stones and the gravel. "Is the pot full?" he demanded. This time, without hesitation and with one voice, these star students replied "No!" "Good!" rejoined the old professor. And as his high-flying class had expected, he took the jug of water which was on the table and poured it in, filling the pot up to the brim. He looked at the group and asked them: "What great truth does this experiment demonstrate?" The sharpest of the students, thinking of the theme of the workshop, answered: "This shows that even when you think that the daily schedule is completely full, if you really want to you can always fit in more appointments and more things to do." "Not at all," replied the professor, "it's not that. The great truth this experiment shows us is the following : if you don't put the big stones in the pot first, then you will never be able to get all the others in afterwards." There was a profound silence as this sank in, and everyone in the room realized how true it was. The old professor then said to them: "What are the big stones in your life? Is it your health? Your family? Your friends? Is it your dreams? Is it learning something? Defending a cause? Taking your time? Or… is it something else?" "What you have to remember is how important it is to put the big stones in your life in first, otherwise you are in going to be danger of wasting that life. If you attach too much importance to peccadilloes, like the sand and gravel, then you won't have enough precious time to devote to the really important things". "So, don't forget to ask yourselves the question: what are the big stones in my life? Then put them into your pot - your life - first." Raising his hand in a friendly wave, the old professor turned and slowly left the room."

(The source of this story in unknown.)

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fqxrkrqjk (Email) (URL) - 06-03-’10 14:57