一个让我深受启发的故事 -What are your big rocks?
An exert in time management was invited to speak to an MBA class. After a brief introuction she reached down and produced a very large manson jar and set it on a table in front of her. She then reached down again and produced a box filled with big rocks. She proceeded to remove the rocks from the box and carefully placed them, one at a time into the jar. When no more rocks would fit inside the jar, she asked the class, is this jar full?" everyone yelled, yes. She then reached under the table, pulled out a bucket of grael, dumped some in, and shook the jar. This caused pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. She continued this process until no more gravel coupld be placed into the jar. She then asked the class, is this jar full? one student getting the idea, answered, "No". She then reached under the table, brought out a bucket of sand, and started dumping the sand into the jar. The sand began to fill the sapces between the rocks and the gravel. She continued until no more sand could fit into the jar. Once more she asked, "is this jar full?" this time everyone shouted, "No." she then grabbed a pitcher of water and poured until the jar was filled to the brim. She then asked the class, "What is the moral of the story?" An eager student raised his hand and said, "The moral of the story is that no matter how full your schedule is, you can always fit in one more meeting！“
The speaker replied," Nice try, but that is not the moral of the story. The truth this illustrtion teaches us is that if you do not put the big rocks in first, you can never get them in." To each of us, "big rocks? mean something different, but at the core, the big rocks are those things that provide the richest meaning to our lives.
As passive investor, when you get home from a busy day, you get to sit down with a glass of wine, and ask your wife about her day and how your kids and grandchildren are doing. because you did not spend time trying to beat the market, you also got to coach your youngest kids softball, soccer, and bastketball teams. you read about 70 books each year, do community service, play tennis, and focus on the other big rocks, the really important things in your life.
Investors following an active management strategy spend much of their precious leisure time watching the latest business news, studying the latest charts, reading financial trade publications, and so on. What they are really doing is focusing on the gravel, the sand, and the water. Therefore, even if they are among the very few who are successful at the game of active investing, the "price" of success may be that they lose the far more important game of life.
The question for you to consider is, what are the big rocks in your life? is the big rock in your life trying to generate extra return through active management strategies that require you to "invest" large amount of your time? or are the big rocks in your life itme spent with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, or teaching or mentoring others?
