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Feb 27, 2023 Make home-buying one of your big rocks

Gary Sandler

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Published 27 February 2023

Most people have goals. Some are as simple as being on time for an appointment. Others, such as buying a home or planning one’s future, can be a bit more challenging to formulate. In the book “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-Smart Executive”, author Mark McCormack shares the story of a goal-setting study conducted with a class of Harvard MBA students.

The study revealed that only 3 percent of participants had written goals. Another 10 percent had goals in mind but didn’t write them down. The remaining 87 percent had no goals at all. In a follow up study conducted 10 years later, the 3 percent who had written goals earned, on average, 10 times more than all of the other participants combined. The 10 percent who merely kept their goals in mind earned twice as much as the 87 percent who had no goals at all.

As the late author Stephen Covey illustrated in his best-selling book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, substituting “the big rocks of life” for personal goals is an easy way to create a roadmap for a successful future. While speaking to a packed ballroom at NMSU a few years ago, Dr. Covey clarified the process by telling the story of an instructor who was mentoring a group of over-achievers on the importance of goals. The exercise began with the placing of a large glass cylinder on a table. The instructor then dropped into the cylinder a dozen-or-so fist-sized rocks, until the vessel would hold no more. He then asked the class if the cylinder was full. A majority said “yes”.

The instructor then placed gravel into the jar, filling the spaces between the big rocks. He again asked if the jar was now full. The class was beginning to catch on. Next came sand, which filled the voids between the rocks and gravel. The class awaited the instructor’s next and final move, which was to fill the jar with water. At last, the jar was indeed full at this point, but that was only half the exercise.

The mentor then emptied the contents of the jar into a bucket and poured everything but the big rocks back into the cylinder. He then tried to add the big rocks. Thanks to the rearrangement of the various substances originally placed into the jar, the big rocks would no longer fit. In the end, the message was “if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all”.

So, what are your big rocks? In a nutshell, they are your life goals. They could be buying a home, raising a family, spending time with your loved ones or planning a successful career. They could also be good health, faith, an education or financial security. The choices are unlimited and unique to each person. In the end, goals are like a roadmap for life. It’s difficult to get from here to there without knowing what route you plan to take. Covey summed it up with this quote: “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”.

See you at closing!

Gary Sandler is a full-time Realtor and owner of Gary Sandler Inc., Realtors in Las Cruces. He loves to answer questions and can be reached at (575) 642-2292 or Gary@GarySandler.com.

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