His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought eighteen trees
"Congratulations," said the boss. "Go on that way !"
Motivated for the boss' words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring only fifteen trees. The third day he tried even harder, but could manage just ten trees. Day by day he brought less and less trees.
"I must be losing my strength." the woodcutter thought. He went to his boss and apologized, saying 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 than ever. Why is that?
We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to spend meaningful time with our growing children, learn to face obstacles and grow in our life. If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness and soon fail in our life.
So start today. Think about the ways in which you could do your job more effectively and make your life more meaningful and add a lot of value to it.
