Take the time to sharpen your axe

Here's a tale to remember:

A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job.

“That depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you chop down this tree.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully chopped this humongous tree. The foreman was beyond pleased and told the young man he could start on Monday. 

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by. Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.”

Startled, the young man replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.”

“That’s true,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.”

“But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first, leave last and even have worked through my coffee breaks!”

The foreman, sensing the young man’s integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?”

The young man replied, “No sir, I’ve been working too hard to take time for that!”

It’s the weekend. Don’t get so busy that you don’t take the time to “sharpen your axe.” Dull is never effective in any area of life, including the job search game.

To your success,

Rita