The 'Big Rocks' Secret

An expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of Business students. He stood in front of these high-powered overachievers,
pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar, and set it on a table in front
of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed
them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no
more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of
gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of
gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then
he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of
sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left
between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar
full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to
pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.
Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this
illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full
your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things into
it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration
teaches us is this: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in
at all."
The big rocks symbolize our top priorities. What are the "big rocks" in your life?
Are you putting them in first?