The Big Rocks

"The big rocks represent the most essential responsibilities like health, family, and relationships. The small pebbles are less important things like work and career. The sand are things like social media and doom scrolling."

— Effortless by Greg McKeown

We've all heard the story of the teacher demonstrating how to fit all the rocks into a jar. We rarely hear what the rocks actually represent, though. I love this framing from Greg McKeown, reminding us that career will never be part of what truly matters.

Of course, Oliver Burkeman reminds us in "Four Thousand Weeks" that there will always be more big rocks available than could ever fit in a human life, so we will inevitably be asked to cut things that truly are important.

As a parent, I'm always trying to balance my work, family, and health. I've been fortunate to be given a lot of autonomy over my own time, and I always put work third after life and health concerns. I take my work deadly seriously, but I will never sacrifice my health or my relationship with my children for it. This is what it means to be truly high-performing.