HAVING IT ALL AND MORE
Have you ever come across a woman who seems to have it all figured out? A typical “super woman”, who has somehow gotten the secret formula and is successfully juggling a promising career, and successful marriage, motherhood and a business of her own, Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying having all of these defines how successful a woman is, however, if this is what you are all about and would like to achieve, then this article is for you.
The major key to having it all is PRIORITIZATION. Yup. You need to prioritize. Nobody sets out to having it all on day one. So to start off, you need to consider what the end game is. Not all you seek to achieve will grow at the same rate and as you know, the grass is greener only where it is watered so you need to determine what you want to achieve at each stage in your life, and focus more energy on it.
There is this popular story about prioritization where an old professor of the School of Public Management in France, was invited to lecture on the topic of “Efficient Time Management” in front of a group of 15 executive managers representing the largest, most successful companies in America. The lecture was one in a series of 5 lectures conducted in one day, and the old professor was given 1 hr. to lecture.
Standing in front of this group of elite managers, who were willing to write down every word that would come out of the famous professor’s mouth, the professor slowly met eyes with each manager, one by one, and finally said, “We are going to conduct an experiment”.
Jar of rocks
From under the table that stood between the professor and the listeners, the professor pulled out a big glass jar and gently placed it in front of him. Next, he pulled out from under the table a bag of stones, each the size of a tennis ball, and placed the stones one by one in the jar. He did so until there was no room to add another stone in the jar. Lifting his gaze to the managers, the professor asked, “Is the jar full?” The managers replied, “Yes”.
The professor paused for a moment, and replied, “Really?”
Once again, he reached under the table and pulled out a bag full of pebbles. Carefully, the professor poured the pebbles in and slightly rattled the jar, allowing the pebbles to slip through the larger stones, until they settled at the bottom. Again, the professor lifted his gaze to his audience and asked, “Is the jar full?”
At this point, the managers began to understand his intentions. One replied, “Apparently not!”
“Correct”, replied the old professor, now pulling out a bag of sand from under the table. Cautiously, the professor poured the sand into the jar. The sand filled up the spaces between the stones and the pebbles.
Yet again, the professor asked, “Is the jar full?”
Without hesitation, the entire group of students replied in unison, “NO!”
“Correct”, replied the professor. And as was expected by the students, the professor reached for the pitcher of water that was on the table, and poured water in the jar until it was absolutely full. The professor now lifted his gaze once again and asked, “What great truth can we surmise from this experiment?”
With his thoughts on the lecture topic, one manager quickly replied, “We learn that as full as our schedules may appear, if we only increase our effort, it is always possible to add more meetings and tasks.”
“No”, replied the professor. The great truth that we can conclude from this experiment is:
If we don’t put all the larger stones in the jar first, we will never be able to fit all of them later.
The auditorium fell silent, as every manager processed the significance of the professor’s words in their entirety.
The old professor continued, “What are the large stones in your life? Health? Family? Friends? Your goals? Doing what you love? Fighting for a Cause? Taking time for yourself?”
What we must remember is that it is most important to include the larger stones in our lives, because if we don’t do so, we are likely to miss out on life altogether. If we give priority to the smaller things in life (pebbles & sand), our lives will be filled up with less important things, leaving little or no time for the things in our lives that are most important to us. Because of this, never forget to ask yourself,
What are the Large Stones in your Life? And once you identify them, be sure to put them first in your “Jar of Life”.
With a warm wave of his hand, the professor bid farewell to the managers, and slowly walked out of the room.
Identify the pebbles, stones and water in your life and you will be surprised at how things will change once you change the way you look at things.
Most Nigerians are trapped in the Wok-Traffic-Home rat race. Live a little, go dancing, goof around with your kids, learn something new, don’t say there is no time, you know you can make time.
You were not born to pay bills and die.
I will love to hear from you. Are you good at juggling? Do you find yourself with little or no time to do anything apart from work every week day? How do you maintain that work life balance? Please share and comment in the section below.
REMEMBER, YOU HAVE THE SAME 24HOURS IN A DAY JUST LIKE BEYONCE,…
