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

    一天，一名時間管理專家在向一群在商業這一行打拼的學生講課時，為了清楚地說明一個論點，他用了一個令學生們永遠不會忘記的演示來表達。

    As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.

    他站在這群精力充沛、成就出類拔萃的學生面前，說道："好的，我們來做個測試。"然后，他拿出一個容量為一加侖的廣口玻璃瓶，放在他面前的桌上。

    He then 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 the jar full?"

    接著，他拿出十多個拳頭大小的石塊，將它們小心翼翼、一塊一塊地放進瓶子里。等石塊填滿到瓶口，再也塞不下時，他問："（你們說）,瓶子被裝滿了嗎？"

    Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

    上課的學生都說："滿了。"

    He replied, "Really?"

    他的回應是∶"真的滿了嗎？"

    He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel, then dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks.

    他伸手到桌下取出一桶碎石，接著，他將一些碎石倒進瓶子里，并搖晃著瓶子讓碎石順著石塊之間的間隙里漏進瓶中。

    He asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"

    他再一次地問這群學生："瓶子被裝滿了嗎？"

    By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.

    這一次，學生們領悟到了一些他的意圖。一個學生回答說，"可能還沒滿吧。"

    "Good!" he replied.

    他的回應是，"回答的好！".

    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 the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is the jar full?"

    他伸手到桌底下，拎出了一桶沙。他突然把沙往瓶子里倒，沙子漏進了石塊與碎石之間殘留的縫隙，到不能再倒進沙子時，他又一次問："瓶子被裝滿了嗎？"

    "No!" the class shouted.

    全班學生大聲回答，"沒裝滿！"

    Once again he said, "Good!"

    再一次地，他說道："回答的好！"

    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?"

    然后他又一把抓過一大罐水，開始往瓶子里倒，一直倒到水浸到瓶口。然后，他看著學生們，發問："這個演示說明了什么要點？"

    One eager student raised her 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!"

    一個學生急忙舉起了她的手，回答："要點是：不管你的日程安排得多緊，如果認真努力地想辦法，你總是能夠在其中安插更多的事情。"

    "Good answer, but no," the speaker replied, "that's not my 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? In my life they are my children… my wife… my loved ones… my education… my dreams… charities and worthy causes… teaching or mentoring others… doing things that I love… time for myself… my health… Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all."

    專家說："答案不錯，不過，這不是我想說的要點。這個演示教給了我們一個事實：如果你不是先放大石塊，它們就永遠就沒有機會被放進去。你生活中的"大石塊" 是什么呢？在我的生活中，那就是我的孩子、妻子、所愛的人、教學方法、夢想、對他人仁慈、有價值的事業、教導他人、做我喜歡做的事、我自己獨處的時光、我的健康，等等。要記住，必須先放"大石塊",否則它們永遠就沒有機會被進去。"

    If you sweat the little stuff then you'll fill your life with little things to worry about that don't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff （the big rocks）.

    如果你奔忙于瑣事，那么，這些無關緊要的小事就會填滿你的生活，讓你成天操心，你就永遠沒辦法騰出真正的"黃金時光"來處理你的大事和要事（即"大石塊"）.