Have you ever went to church and heard a sermon that you were absolutely certain the pastor wrote it with you in mind? Today was one of those days for me. You may have read my post from two weeks ago “Put a Fork in Me…” where I talked about my decision to quit my direct sales business to pursue opportunities that were a better fit for my family.
Have you ever heard the term, “put the big rocks first”? If you haven’t, here’s what it means…in a nutshell. Picture an empty jar. You can fill it with sand, small rocks and then try to add the big rocks on the top. Odds are, you won’t have room for the biggest rocks. However, if you put the big rocks in first, add some pebbles and then the sand, everything will fit.
So, what are the big rocks in your personal life? Chances are, your big rocks are spirituality, marriage, children, finances and health. Of course, everyone’s may be a bit different. What are the small rocks? Things like cleaning, returning phone calls, vacations, and other activities (to name just a few). In my personal life, my “sand” would probably be magazine reading, internet surfing and television watching.
While I don’t want to water down my pastor’s important message about managing the priorities in our personal lives, I thought that the “big-rock” analogy would easily apply to our home businesses as well.
On a personal note, when I started my home business several years ago, I filled the jar with sand first. I was so excited to have my very own business that I created business cards, I went shopping for decorative baskets, files, pens, and other office tools. I also spent hours creating cute fliers and promotional materials.
After that, I started throwing in some pebbles and big rocks. I networked with fellow home business owners and I told my friends and family members about my new business. I also started to book parties. Problem was, I was so busy filling my jar with sand, that I was exhausted by the time I started putting in the big rocks.
My biggest suggestion for those of you who are considering joining a home business (or those who are just starting out) is to start with “big rocks”. What are the most important things you need to do today to move your business into the future? Are you pouring in a lot of sand by surfing the internet, spending too much time “chatting” with fellow home business owners or creating cute business cards, websites or fliers?
Our home businesses aren’t too different from our personal lives. While it is always more fun to play in the sand versus lug around heavy rocks, the more time we spend playing in the sandbox, the less energy we will have to grow our businesses on a firm foundation.
Related Reading:
Do You Really Need Business Cards?
Are You Really “Multi-Tasking” or Just Doing Several Things Poorly – All at Once?