Sharpen Your Axe

Once upon a time there were two men who lived in the same forest and decided to have a contest chopping wood.  The first man was in good physical shape and very muscular.  The second man was in good shape but smaller in stature and wiry.  They would chop wood all day and at the end of the day compare to see who had chopped the most wood.  The first man laughed to himself, there was no way this wiry little man would beat him and so they began the contest.  Every 45 minutes the second smaller man would take a break and seems to just wonder off somewhere.  The first man laughed again to himself and said "Yep there's no way this wiry little man is going to beat me."  This happens several times during the day.  At the end of the day the two men compare their piles of chopped wood and unbelievably enough the wiry little man has chopped twice as much wood as the bigger man.  He says "I don't understand.  First I'm twice your size and twice your strength!  On top of that every 45 minutes you rolled off and took a break or a nap or something.  You must have cheated!"  The smaller man says "I don't cheat.  It was easy to beat you because every 45 minutes when you thought I was taking a break, I was out back sharpening my ax."

There is a famous saying, “time will teach you about the life”, and probably every one of us has heard the above sentence. I think time won’t teach you until we realize, accept, or meet an incident. There is another saying "If you’re not getting better you’re getting worse".  To continue to be successful you need to remember to sharpen our ax by reading books, that are related to your passions, go to seminars or surf the web for blogs/videos and content related to your passion, consult experts, etc...  One of the greatest obstacles to sharpening our axe is our own knowledge and our own ego. “I already know what I know and you can’t tell me anything else!” Make sure to keep an open mind even on things that you think you know well. You should be constantly striving to learn and improve because if you’re not getting better you are getting worse.

Most leaders are too busy doing and trying to achieve, that they never take time to learn and grow. Most of us don’t have the time or patience to update skills, knowledge, and beliefs about what we do, or to take time to think and reflect. Many assume that learning ends at school and so sharpening our axe is not a priority.

So, what exactly is sharpening the axe? Dr. Steven Covey, who popularized the term, believes that it means “increasing your personal production capacity by daily self-care and self-maintenance”.

Most people fail to understand what it means and mistake it for taking a break or vacation. If you’re overworking yourself and your productivity drops, take a break. However, that isn’t sharpening the axe – that’s putting the axe down.

When you put down a dull blade and rest, the blade will still be dull when you pick it up. The woodcutter does need downtime to rest, but it is not “sharpening the axe”. The woodcutter only becomes more productive by sharpening his blade, analyzing new woodcutting techniques, exercising to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters.

A human’s natural inclination is to be mindless. Mindlessness is our human tendency to operate on auto pilot, whether by stereotyping, performing mechanically or simply not paying attention. We are all victims of being mindless at times. By sharpening our axe, we move from a mindless state to a mindful state, from “blindly going with the flow” to thinking and “breaking boundaries”.

Why then do so many people fail to sharpen their axe? Well, axe sharpening isn’t as fun as whacking away at the trees. And it is painful and tedious work.       

David McKay adds that, “the greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul”. Sharpening the axe is a daily inner internal battle. Research reveals that self-educated presidents like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln sharpened their axe daily by cultivating the discipline of reading.

Of course, too much axe or aimless sharpening can become another form of procrastination. Many like to attend trainings and classes but never end up using the axe. After sharpening the axe, use it or all is in vain.

How are your various blades doing? Your skills, knowledge, mind, physical body, relationships, motivation, commitment to succeed, capacity for growth, emotions – are all of them still sharp? If not, which ones are dull, and what can you do to sharpen them?

Lincoln once said “give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first four sharpening my axe”. What are you doing to sharpen your axe? Take a step back and start sharpening your axe.

Sharpen your axe: Daily personal growth critical for leadership success

Sharpen your Axe

Sharpen Your Ax