2 min read

The Big Rocks in Life

A reflection on prioritizing life's "Big Rocks" over work during a hectic Silicon Valley trip, aiming to find balance and leave a meaningful legacy.
The Big Rocks in Life
Photo by Toa Heftiba / Unsplash

I was in Silicon Valley in 2019 for a few days to attend our yearly Sales Engineering (SE) training. It’s a great way for the growing SE team to get together and talk shop. I find these yearly meetings very useful but they’re hectic.

Fun but hectic.

I love being in California. It’s such a wonderful place for the outdoors and ‘chilling’ in cities like San Francisco. I’m a big fan of the SoCal desert areas and Joshua Tree is one of my favorite destinations. Ever since I lived in Albuquerque, I’ve had a pull toward the mountains and deserts. Yet it seems that I won’t get away this time for much-needed fun out in those mountains.

There’s always time for work, but never enough time for yourself or loved ones.

I pondered this as I was flying 36,000 feet over the United States and it reminded me of Stephen Covey. I’ve learned that YOU have to take the time for yourself. You have to make it a point to go work out, hike, and have fun. It’s those “Big Rocks” that Stephen Covey once wrote about.

The Big Rocks are those essential things in your life. Family, love, personal care/growth, etc/ Put those in a jar and you’ll see that space is still there. Then you add sand, and the sand fills everything up. The sand is your work life. There’s always time for work, but never enough time for yourself or loved ones.

It’s easy to lose track of this habit and I’ve been guilty of this for sure. Still, it’s not a bad thing to lose your way from time to time, the really bad thing is not to course correct.

To achieve this I plan on digging out my old 7 Habits for Highly Effective People and giving it another read-through. I will focus on all the habits but spend time revamping my Google Tasks to accommodate something called “quadrants.”Covey broke down tasks into four subcategories and when you do that you identify the tasks that are noisy.  This is important because noise robs you of your precious time. Spend more time on important tasks and don’t do the unimportant ones.

What legacy am I leaving behind?

Once you do that you can free up your time to focus on those Big Rocks, which become your legacy, and I ask myself what legacy am I leaving behind?

What legacy are YOU leaving behind?