Good Morning Son,
Well, here we are again! It’s the start of another amazing week ahead! I hope that your weekend was wonderful and everything that you wanted it to be.
This already feels like a great day and it’s just getting started. There’s much to do today, but something I have to remember, especially with all the projects I have going, is to “Sharpen the saw.” Have you heard that phrase before?
“Sharpen the Saw” is one of Stephen Covey’s key habits in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This book is a classic and an absolute must read. One important component of the “sharpen the saw” habit is the mental component. In that component there is reading, visualizing, planning, and writing.
Let’s say that you’re a lumberjack and, of course, as a lumberjack you are spending your day cutting down trees. The more trees you cut down, the duller your saw gets. The duller your saw gets, the harder it is to cut down more trees. When you’re cutting down fewer and fewer trees, it becomes more and more difficult for you to reach your goal.
Now, let’s say you’re a lumberjack who steps away from his busy schedule of cutting down trees add periodically and meticulously sharpens his saw. As you go through your day cutting down trees and periodically sharpening your saw, you will find that you will cut down a lot more trees and eventually reach your goal.
We can think about this concept in many areas of our lives. Can any of us really imagine working feverishly on a project without evaluating the progress of our project along the way? I would venture to say that periodically evaluating your progress and making the needed adjustments applies to virtually every area of your life. Another key component of “Sharpen the Saw” is the physical component. For me, I get a minimum of one thorough physical examination per year. I couldn’t even imagine getting only one physical examination every 10 years. A lot of things can happen and go wrong silently in the body in that period of time. If we stop and think about it, none of us really wants to suffer the consequences of something that was easily preventable through regularly schedule checkups.
Well, that’s all for now!
Have an amazing day and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers!
Love,
Dad