Sharpen Your Axe

“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have laboured hard for.” - Socrates

Have you heard the story of a very strong and skilled woodcutter who asked for a job with a timber merchant?

The story goes, the woodcutter got the job with a good salary and decent work conditions. And so, the woodcutter was determined to do his best for the boss. His boss gave him an axe and on his first day, the woodcutter cut down 15 trees. The boss was pleased and said: “Well done, good work!”

Highly motivated, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but could only fell 13 trees. The third day, he tried even harder, but only 11 trees were chopped down.

Day after day, he tried harder but he cut down fewer trees. “I must be losing my strength,” the woodcutter thought. He apologised to the boss, claiming he could not understand why.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked. “Sharpen my axe? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been too busy cutting down trees,” said the woodcutter.

He sharpened his axe and immediately was back to 15 trees a day. Since then, he begins the day by sharpening his axe.

Most people 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 something, 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 popularised the term, believes 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 off, 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, analysing new woodcutting techniques, exercising to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters.

Sharpening the axe is an activity. As Muslims, we can sharpen the axe of our lives in many ways. Try and read a book every day. But there are so many books, so where should you start? A good tip is to start with the Qur’an. It’s surprising the number of Muslims who never took the time to read this book. You will learn many things you never knew that you never knew.

Get out of your comfort zone by changing your surroundings. Help those in need. A new environment gives you more exposure and forces you to learn from others’ experiences. It is said that a good person is someone who learns from his own mistakes. But a great person is someone who learns from other people’s mistakes.

Sharpen your axe through interaction, such as picking up a new hobby and increasing your potential in it. Play sports, play music, paint. Learn the martial arts. Have a beneficial conversation with someone with a different world view. Talk to the elders, talk to the children, talk to someone of the opposite gender or different faith. Have you ever seen the world through their lenses?

Stretch yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Study something new and broaden your view of the world. Write a book or keep a blog. Take photos. Make a movie. Sing and dance. Overcome a specific fear you have or quit a bad habit. Have a daily exercise routine or take part in some competition. Identify your blind spots. Understand, acknowledge, and address it. Ask for feedback and get a mentor and learn from people who inspire you.

You have to do it as often as possible. Because if you're so focused on your task at hand with no time for discussion, introspection, or study, you're not really moving forward. Just as a car needs to be refueled to keep going, we too need refueling through learning.

And when you have learned, teach others. Give good advice. Ali ibn Abi Talib once said, “You cannot give something you do not have.” So master your skills and pass them on to someone else. Unless we are sharpening our axe daily by observing the changing world and changing ourselves accordingly, we risk becoming irrelevant. 

In Japan, the “Kaizen mindset” means that every day, you find ways to learn something new and apply it to what you're doing. This makes you alert, mindful and constantly improving.

Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs have a continuous appetite for learning and growth. They always listen and watch in the hope of learning new ideas and discovering new truths and realities.

Many of us do just the opposite. By staying in the same environment for many years, although we become experts and our roles become easy, our learning flattens.

We don't like change as there is pain and struggle in taking on new roles. But “On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can withstand.” The more we fail, the more we struggle. The more we struggle, the more we learn. It makes us more mindful of the things around us.

Harvard Professor Ellen Langer, reminds us of our natural inclination to be mindless. Mindlessness is our human tendency to operate on autopilot, whether by stereotyping, performing mechanically or simply not paying attention.

We are all victims of being mindless at times. Like during our five daily prayers. It has become some sort of ritual in our lives, one that has diminutive meaning. By sharpening our axe, we move from a mindless state to a mindful state; from “blind faith” to “true faith.”

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

Religious leader David O. McKay once said: “The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul.” Probably the first battle of the day is struggling to get up versus going back to sleep.

Sharpening the axe is a daily inner battle. Self-educated president George Washington and sharpened his axe daily by cultivating the discipline of reading. It is no wonder that God’s first instruction to man was “Read!”

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

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

Abraham 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?