生命中的『大石頭』

One day， an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and， to drive home a point， used an illustration those students will never forget.

As he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said， “OK， time for a quiz.” He pulled out a one-gallon， wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also took out 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 yelled， “Yes.” The time management expert replied， “Really？” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar， causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more， “Is this 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 the jar and it went into all of 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 at the class and asked， “What is the point of this illustration？” One eager student 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 in！”

“No，” the speaker replied， “that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is if you don’t put the big rocks in first， you’ll never get them in at all. What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life？ Time with your loved ones， your education， your dreams， a worthy cause， teaching or mentoring others？ Remember to put these big rocks in first or you’ll never get them in at all.”

一天，時間管理專家為一群學生講課。為了使觀點表達明確，他做了一個演示。這個演示將使學生終生難忘。

站在那些成就突出的學生前面，專家說：“我們來做個小測驗。”他拿出一個一加侖的廣口瓶放在面前的桌上。隨后，他取出一堆拳頭大小的石塊，一塊一塊仔細地放進玻璃瓶。直到石塊堆到高出瓶口，再也放不下了，他問道：“瓶子滿了嗎？”

所有學生應道：“滿了！”時間管理專家反問：“真是這樣？”他伸手從桌下拿出一桶礫石，倒了一些進去，并敲擊玻璃瓶壁使礫石填滿下面石塊的間隙。“現(xiàn)在瓶子滿了嗎？”他第二次問道。

這一次學生有些明白了。“可能還沒有。”一位學生應道。“很好！”專家說。他伸手從桌下拿出一桶沙子，開始把沙子慢慢倒進玻璃瓶。沙子填滿了石塊和礫石的所有間隙。他又一次問學生：“瓶子滿了嗎？”

“沒滿！”學生們大聲說。他又一次說：“很好！”然后他拿過一壺水倒進玻璃瓶直到水面與瓶口持平。抬頭看著學生，他問道：“這個例子說明什么？”一個心急的學生舉手發(fā)言：“意義在于，無論你的時間多么不夠用，如果盡最大努力，你總能做更多的事情！”

“不，”時間管理專家說，“那不是它真正的意思。這個例子告訴我們：如果你不先放大石塊，那你就再也不能把它放進瓶子了。那么，你生命中的‘大石頭’又是什么呢？和你愛的人共同擁有的時光，你的學習，你的夢想，某件值得的事，教育或者指導他人？千萬記住，你得先去處理這些‘大石塊’，否則，一輩子你都無法處理它們。”