Climbing mountains

Many would have heard the sharpening of the axe story (see below if you haven’t). The picture we have in our minds is the lumberjack with an axe  chopping trees down. I used this other visualisation instead — the mountain climber with a pick-axe. The lumberjack story was told in a different time. Today chopping down trees is negative. Also, we have moved from a production economy to a skilled- and knowledge-based economy. And climbing mountains is more like what we do.

Regardless of which image you have in your mind and what you do in your life, it’s true — we need to take the time to sharpen your tool set in order to be effective. Why? So that you can increase your capacity and effectiveness. Here’s where the dilemma is — many are too busy to take that time.

Stay home

A majority of us are now impacted by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) which causes the Covid-19 disease. We are asked to #StayHome. Some of us are working; some are catching up on social media or binge-watching our favourite TV series. We are the lucky ones. This means we are not one of the front-line heroes who risk their lives daily to battle the spread of this disease.

How to sharpen your axe

You know where I am going with this. Yes, consciously take the time to sharpen your axe. Here are 5 easy ways:

1. Read a book. Many e-book providers and libraries are providing free access during this time.
2. Sign up for online courses. There are courses from reputable universities that are available for free right now. There’s even one that teaches you how to be happy. Many trainers are also offering free or low-cost online training. Invest in your learning if you need to.
3. Challenge yourself — learn or do something totally new.
4. Declutter your space — physical, spiritual and mental. It’s amazing how much clarity you can bring to your life when you do that. (Yes, I know this is a challenge. See #3).
5. Consciously, seek out positive and inspiring people to connect to (digitally). Your conversations during this time will be a great impact when this is over.

If you need help to find resources or want to share what you are doing to sharpen your axe, leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading. Keep safe, everyone. We shall beat this. We will.

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The story of the 2 woodcutters:

Once upon a time, there were two woodcutters named Peter and John. They were often at loggerheads over who chopped more wood. So one day, they decided to hold a competition to determine the winner. The rules were simple—whoever produce the most wood in a day wins.

So the next day morning, both of them took up their positions in the forest and started chopping away in their fastest possible speed. This lasted for an hour before Peter suddenly stopped. When John realized that there was no chopping sound from his opponent’s side, he thought: “Ah Ha! He must be tired already!” And he continued to cut down his trees with double the pace.

A quarter of an hour passed, and John heard his opponent chopping again. So both of them carried on synchronously. John was starting to feel weary when the chopping from Peter stopped once again. Feeling motivated and smelling victory close by, John continued on, with a smile on his face.

This went on the whole day. Every hour, Peter would stop chopping for fifteen minutes while John kept going relentlessly. So when the competition ended, John was absolutely confident that he would take the triumph.

But to John’s astonishment, Peter had actually cut down more wood. How did this even happen? “How could you have chopped down more trees than me? I heard you stop working every hour for fifteen minutes!”, exclaimed John.

Peter replied, “Well, it’s really simple. Every time I stopped work, while you were still chopping down trees, I was sharpening my axe.”

(source: https://screeble.com/blog/2017/03/07/story-of-two-woodcutters/)

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About the Author: Gina Phan is a consultant and trainer with Zinfinity Consulting. She currently conducts courses in sales, business communication and negotiations. Click here to contact her, follow her on Facebook or connect with her on Linkedin.

Read her other posts.

* Feature image by TeeFarm from Pixabay

#trainergina  #GinaPhan #MCO #Covid19 #MovementControlOrder #restrictionofmovement #quarantine #sharpenyouraxe #wfh #workingfromhome #stayhome #survivingalockdown #gp #pkp