What are the Big Rocks you need to shape in your life and work, in order to move forward? Pause to think about the things you’re working on and how or if they will create value. It can been helpful to view your daily activities as rocks of varied sizes, from small pebbles to very large and heavy rocks. Which do you spend most of your time working with?

Pebbles are like those endless texts and emails that besiege us. It would be possible to spend virtually all of our time on those, but to what end? A certain amount of time spent there is required, yet how much is enough?

You can take particle size down even smaller if you’d like, to social media, which is more like spending your time collecting fairy dust. It appears and then quickly blows away without lasting evidence of its existence. And it certainly doesn’t help you with moving anything tangible forward.

Then there are projects, which are more like gravel. They have a bit more heft and can help you build a stable base, but you can’t construct much with those alone. Projects can been both personal and professional; typically some of each blend well together.

To make meaningful progress, to truly build something of value and scale, requires identifying and then shaping those Big Rocks. They may start out being in your way, but with the right focus, tools and energy they can be moved, shaped and even fitted together into something of greater value. Those Big Rocks are your Worthwhile Objectives at any given time; when you concentrate first on them, you can figure out what is needed to move and shape them into the desired form. Michelangelo saw the sculpture within the big rock and worked to release it; what do you see?

“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”

― Michelangelo

To move and shape the big rocks in your life and work requires focus and disciplined action, thoughtfully applied over a period of time. If your available time starts out like a large and clean container, what’s the best way to fit the most into it? If you start with all the pebbles, will be there be any room left for the larger material? You may find that, if you place the big rocks first, then give them the regular time and energy they require to take shape, that the other materials fit in around them without crowding them out.

Identify and make room for your Big Rocks first and then shape them into lasting value over time.

Tempus Maximize!