What's in your jar?

A reflection this week on what's really important in life, illustrated by a story that many of you will already know. I came across it most recently in the delightful book "Who ordered this truckload of dung?" by the leading Buddhist monk, Ajahn Brahm.

The teacher, the jar, the stones and the other stuff

The teacher stood before his class with a large jar made from clear class. Reaching into a nearby sack he removed some stones, placing them one by one into the jar, until it would accommodate no more. He asked the class,

"Is the jar full?"

"Yes" they replied.

Reaching for another sack, the teacher recovered some gravel and shook in down into the gaps between the stones already occupying the jar.

"What about now?" he asked the class. "Is it full now?"

"More than likely not, knowing you" replied one of the students.

From a third sack the teacher poured fine sand into the jar, watching it settle between the stones and gravel.

"And now?"

The class didn't reply - they suspected, correctly, that the teacher was still to finish his demonstration. Taking a jug from beneath the table the teacher carefully poured water into the jar until it threatened to overrun the lip.

"And now? What does this teach us?"

"It teaches us that by organising ourselves properly we always have enough time and resources to achieve more than we initially thought." replied one student.

"No, no." said another, "What it teaches us is that the small things in life are always present and we must take care of them."

"What it teaches us," said the teacher, "is that if you want to take care of the small stuff, you have to look after the big stuff first."

The big stuff

The story is a story about priorities - something I see so many companies getting wrong. And as companies are only collections of people gathered around a common cause, then it must be the people who are coming up with the wrong priorities.

From an economic perspective we're all sailing in uncharted waters in bad weather. I'm not saying that you can blame any down turn in business on those bad conditions, any more than a sailor can blame the weather - it's just there - your job is to deal with it. Any sailor worth his or her salt will tell you to check the basics before getting into bad weather. Check the safety gear, the life lines, the lifejackets, the distress flares. Check the charts, check the alternative ports to run to, should the weather turn too rough. Get your priorities right - and in bad weather sailing, the priorities revolve around preserving life.

What are the priorities for your business?

• Making sure the market knows about you?
• Staying in touch with your existing clients?
• Finding new clients?
• Finding new ways to marketing your business?
• Finding new untapped markets?

Given that we are all where we are, should you really be fussing about the colour of your logo, or worrying about the thickness of your business cards? This is all displacement activity.

Find the big stones - get them into the jar. And do it today.

That's it folks for this week - as usual, your comments welcomed and appreciated, particularly with reference as to what you'd like to hear about. I do get quite a few emails by the way, and I read them all, so please don't feel shy about getting in contact.

Best wishes for the coming week.

Chris Davidson
Editor, Professional Speakers Journal
editor@professionalspeakersjournal.com