Tag: effort

Sharpening the saw

Just like the analogy of “sharpening the saw,” you need to take time to sharpen your body and mind. Take the time to prepare for the future. When you a sharpening the blade of a saw, you may feel unproductive because you’re not actually “using” the saw to cut something down. But, in reality, you’re being extremely productive. Because of you being proactive in sharpening the saw, it ensures that when you do go to use it, it will be more efficient and cut more effectively with less energy being expended.

This is why it is important to work on “sharpening” your body and your mind. Eating healthy foods, working out, and stretching (which I enjoy the least, but need the most) are a few ways to sharpen your body. Reading, writing, drawing, painting, doing puzzles, building things, and meditating are ways you can sharpen your mind.

By working on yourself today, reducing your weaknesses or improving your strengths, you prepare yourself for the work of tomorrow to be easier. If your training is harder than the actual event, the event will seem easy to you and you’ll be able to perform better than the competition.

Quick wins are different than big wins

Make sure you balance between getting quick, easy wins and working to overcome a difficult challenge. Getting those quick wins can provide a boost to your energy, but if you only focus on the little wins, you won’t ever achieve the unrelated big wins, which are often going to take much longer and require more consistent effort.

The best way to win in each scenario is to tie the little wins to the big wins. What small project can you conquer that will act as a stepping stone to winning the bigger projects? If they are related, you can directly work on one project goal while indirectly bringing you closer to your other project goal(s). If the two projects are unrelated, you will have to make time to complete both projects.

Cutting corners

“How you do one thing is how you do everything.”

If you cut corners in one area of your life, it is much easier to justify cutting corners in other areas as well. Don’t give yourself permission to cheat in anything, no matter how trivial, otherwise it may lead you down a slippery slope to cheat on big things later. Even if you do something that isn’t considered cheating, is it reflecting your best work? Is there a cleaner, better, or more effective way of doing something and you just don’t want to put in the effort to do it correctly?

Practice doing things the “right way.” (Note: there are several correct ways to do things, you have to try to be objective in determining what is the best way to do something.) Don’t give into the temptation of doing what is easy, or if cutting corners when nobody is looking. Because if you do that, eventually it will erode you’re standards in everything you do. Remember, how you do one thing is how you do everything. Choose your actions wisely.

Changing your mindset

Ask yourself, “what’s the worst that can happen?” Often, our decisions don’t boil down to life or death, so don’t make them out to be more than they are.

Default to saying, “why not?” Instead of being pessimistic and thinking, “why should I do X?” You should say, “why not?” If you default to yes and then look for a reason why you shouldn’t (primarily looking at health and safety), you open yourself up to the possibility of experiencing new things. But if you never try anything new, your life will become boring and stagnant.

Instead of saying, “I can’t” ask yourself “how can I?” Think outside of the box. If someone else has done something, you can too. But what will it take for you to get there? How can you achieve a specific goal?

Changing your mindset – being optimistic and believing in yourself – is the best path to unlocking your potential. There’s always bumps in the road. Things won’t go as planned. But as long as you know this going into your next endeavor, plan for the worst, and hope for the best, you’ll be alright. Just keep moving forward.