#223 Sharpen Your Saw Again (Please)

Habit #7 of Highly Effective People

Today we wrap up our tour of the 7 Habits. One more pop quiz. Can you recall each of the prior 6?

… Insert Jeopardy music here while you work out your brain…

#1. Be Proactive. #2. Begin with the End in Mind. #3. Put First Things First. #4. Think Win/Win. #5. Seek First to Understand. #6. Synergy.

And… Now, for the 7th Habit: Sharpen the Saw.

I love this one so much we already covered it a couple hundred +1s ago. (Hah!)

But, it’s so important it’s worth a quick revisit.

So… You’ve heard the story before. A man cruises into the woods. Sees another guy sawing and sawing and sawing. His blade is clearly dull. So, he politely says to the guy sawing, “Sir, your blade appears to be dull. It may benefit from a little sharpening!”

The man replies, “I’m way too busy to take any time to sharpen the saw!”

Um… Yah. Right.

Alas, are you the guy (or gal) with the dull blade?

Hints you might be: You feel tired/burned out/cranky/etc. 😃

Here’s another metaphor to bring the point home. You’re on a long road trip, driving from one place to another. Your gas tank is approaching empty. You still have a ways to go. Your friend in the passenger seat tells you, “Hey! We should stop for gas.” You reply, “What? No way. We need to get there on time and we don’t have time to stop for gas!”

Um… Yah. Right.

Again, back to you.

How’s your saw and your gas tank?

Could you use some sharpening and/or a quick stop to refuel?

Covey puts these renewal activities in Quadrant II. Those Important but Not Urgent things that can easily get pushed out by all the fires you’re putting out.

Eating. Moving. Sleeping. Meditating. Time with the family. Doing whatever it is you do to reboot and renew.

So… What’s one little thing you can do TODAY to give yourself a little reboot?

Get on that.

Keep that saw nice and sharp!

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