Have you heard the story of the glass jar guy?
(I call him ‘glass jar guy’ because I have no idea what his actual name is).
Glass jar guy was a Professor of Philosophy.
One day he was giving a lecture to his students and in front of him he placed a big glass jar (yup, that’s where his nickname came from… so creative), a pile of 2-inch rocks, a bag of small pebbles, a tub of sand, and a bottle of beer.
He begins to fill the jar with the 2-inch rocks.
When they reach the rim of the jar, he asks his students, “Is it full?”
*students nod*
He asks, “Hmm… but is it really full?”
Then he picks up the jar of small pebbles and pours them into the jar, filling space in the nooks and crannies among the rocks.
Again he asks, “Now is it full?”
*students nod*
He challenges them, “Is it really full?”
Next comes the bag of sand. Well, you can guess what happened…
The tiny grains of sand found their way into every crevice of space within the jar.
Again, “Is it full?”
*students nod*
(They’re properly sure of themselves this time. It’s definitely full, they think to themselves)
Until the professor pops a cap and gently pours a bottle of beer into the jar, watching it soak up the remaining space.
NOW it’s full.
Do you know why I love this story?
Because it’s an awesome representation of prioritisation.
The jar represents your life.
>> The rocks are symbolic of what is important in your life.
>> The pebbles are symbolic of things that matter but you could live without.
>> The sand is symbolic of the small stuff that truly doesn’t matter in the long run.
(The beer… well there’s always room to squeeze in a cheeky drink…)
If you put beer or sand into the jar first you won’t have space for the pebbles or rocks – the things that matter.
And this was captured so perfectly among the most recent team to grace my leadership programme.
“How are we possibly going to find four hours a week to fit this in?”
It’s undoubtedly a concern for those who work in busy work environments.
And this team were *genuinely* busy.
They offer a mental health crisis service.
Which meant that when sh*t hit the fan, they had to bolt.
Yet…
They found this training so useful and so valuable, that it became a rock in their jar of priorities.
>> They found four hours every week.
>> There was a very low absence rate.
>> They had mad FOMO if they had to miss a session.
>> They were gutted when the training was over.
>> They’re going to continue meeting every week to keep the openness, support, momentum and camaraderie going.
(THAT’S how important they believe this work to be!)
Here’s what some of them had to say about the training we did together…
The lesson here?
Prioritise what matters most (Pssssst… that’s your people!) and there’ll always be room for beer.
>> Have you heard this story?
>> Did I totally butcher it?!
Keep rocking.
