So you want to Escape the Rat Race. But suffer from Busyness.Once you've decided to escape the rat race, you'll be absolutely amazed at how many obstacles will spring up to deter you. These "Dragons of Derailment" will hinder you at every turn. Unless you recognize them. And know how to slay them.
So, back to your escaping the Rat Race. To get that done, you have to do a lot of work in the spare time you have. "Spare time? WHAT SPARE TIME???" Have you ever felt like there simply aren't enough hours in the day? Have you ever felt like the more you get done, the more there is TO be done? Time has become even more scarce than money and therefore more valuable. Finite time + Infinite stuff to do = Time Bankruptcy Sometimes, it feels like we're spending time as if it's lottery winnings. Neither time nor lottery winnings are finite. Neither will last forever. Even when we have the best of intentions, somehow our days and weeks get bogged down with the mundane. The routine. Work. More work. Chores and more chores. Never-ending to-do lists. It's the end of another week, and we didn't work on our plan to escape the Rat Race.
The Parable of the Rocks, Pebbles and Sand Let me share a parable with you. A wise old teacher sought to teach his student a solemn lesson.So he pulled out an old jar. And gathered together some rocks. pebbles. and sand. As the student looked on in puzzlement, the teacher proceeded to fill the jar, to the brim, with rocks. "Is the jar full?", asked the Sensei?"Indeed, it is completely full", said the eager student without hesitation. The teacher went on to pour all the pebbles into the spaces between the big rocks.The pebbles flowed into the cracks, settling comfortably. Now the jar was really full. "Is the jar full?", asked the Sensei?"I... um.. no?", said the doubtful student. Smiling, the Sensei gathered all the sand, and poured it with ease into the jar. Standing back, the Sensei asked his student: "What have you learned?""That there is always room for more!", exclaimed the student. Keeping the Sandstorm out.Shaking his head in disappointment, the sensei emptied the jar. And asked the student to fill the jar again. But this time, in reverse order.So the student filled the jar with sand. But found that there was no room for the pebbles. And found that there was no room for the rocks. The Lesson of the Big Rocks Parable? You do not have an infinite capacity to fill your life with STUFF. Prioritization matters.If you put the BIG ROCKS into your life first... there will be room for the PEBBLES. If you put the PEBBLES into your life next... there will be room for the SAND. But if you put the SAND in first, you will be overcome by a Sandstorm. Sand is limitless, and always eager to flow into any available space. If you let the Dragon called Sandstorm take control, he will leave room for nothing else. You will forever be a rat running on a wheel. You will unfortunately not escape the Rat Race.
What are your big rocks? What are the big rocks in your life?
What are the pebbles in your life?
What is the sand in your life?
You have to decide what fits into each category, for you. There is no absolute or right/wrong answer. There is only your answer. Take a few minutes now, to determine 3 rocks, 5 pebbles, and as many "grains of sand" as you can think of. Be sure to give thought to where your "Escape the rat race" fits in... along with the other important examples given above. :) The Myth of Efficiency There has been great debate in the modern era, about the value of efficiency. Efficiency is broadly lauded as a virtue. A great thing. The ability to cut through massive amounts of work with the minimal effort is the stuff that legends are made of. But let's put that into context, for your escape from the rat race. You could become an expert at traversing and surviving sandstorms. OR You could avoid sandstorms completely, by filling your jar with ROCKS. To get the maximum done with the minimum effort - that's EFFICIENCY. To get the right things done - that's EFFECTIVENESS. Once you've figured out how to be EFFECTIVE (by putting the BIG ROCKS into your jar first...) You can THEN practice efficiency. But try to master EFFECTIVENESS first, without significantly limiting your focus, will just make you a master of the wrong trade. A master of sandstorms. How to slay a Dragon called Sandstorm
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