Sharpen Your Axe

From Sunburst issue August 2001, a publication of Singapore Technologies

 

Once upon a time, there was a very strong woodcutter. He asked for a job from a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

 

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought down 18 trees. The boss was very impressed and said, ‘Congratulations, keep it up!”

 

Very motivated by his boss’ words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but brought down only 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, only to bring down 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing down less and less trees.

 

“I must be losing my strength,” the woodcutter thought to himself. He went to his boss and apologised, saying that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees.”

 

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the axe. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy as well. Why is that so? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?

 

There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we become mechanical, like machines. We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take time to sharpen our axes, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. So starting today, think about the ways by which you could do your job more effectively, and add a lot of value to it!