The jar of life

A finance professor stood before his MBA class and instead of talking about WACC, ROIC and NPV, he told them a story.

Take a large empty jar and fill it with rocks. Then pick up a box of pebbles and put them into the jar. The pebbles, of course, will roll into the open areas between the rocks. Next pick up a box of sand and pour it into the jar. Of course, the sand will fill up everything else.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things -- your family,your spouse, your health, your children -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the rocks first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."