How to Fill a Bucket

I apologize in advance if you've already heard this story. It's an old one, but it stands repeating...

A time management expert is giving a presentation. He has a giant plastic bucket, which he fills to the brim with large stones.

"This is full, right?" Heads nod vigorously. 

He reaches under the table and brings out a bag of pebbles. He pours in as many as he can, shaking the bucket to make room.

"Is the bucket full now?" This time the nodding is a little more tentative. 

He pulls out a bag of sand and packs it in until every pocket of air has been filled.

"Now, at last, it really is full, right?"

"Yes!" comes the cry.

Yet again the teacher reaches under his desk. His hand emerges with a jug of water. He pours until, finally, the bucket overflows.

"So what's the moral of this exercise?" he asks.

An audience member thrusts her hand enthusiastically into the air: "If you are determined and creative, you can squeeze far, far more into your life than you would ever think possible."

"That's true," replies the teacher, "but it's not the right answer. The moral is this: if you want to fit in the big stones, you have to start with them."

How about you? Are you a successful business or professional person? Have you found that success is good, but not enough? Maybe that's because you're filling the years of your life with pebbles and sand.

What are your big stones? Work that out. Then put them in first.