Who Chops the Most Wood?

My hunting buddy Mike Tuttle of Dallas told me this one many years ago.

It seems there were 2 men out cutting wood.

They were very competitive. It mattered who cut the most wood. But they were strong minded and had different ideas about how to go about getting the job done. There was no reason to argue about it, the results would show who was right.

One was relentless.

He never took a break. From 8 in the morning until 5 at night chopped steadily. An occasional drink of water and at lunch a few bites of food were his only interruptions. All day long he attacked with singleminded intensity.

The other worked in shifts.

He took a 5 minute break every hour.  During his break he took out his file and sharpened his axe.

He felt that while working hard was necessary you also needed to be sure it was effective. He didn’t mind working but he wanted to get the most out of his work.

Who do you think cut the most wood? Right. The one who took the breaks and regularly sharpened his axe. It proved that just flailing away at the job would only get you so far. So next time you are wrapped up in a project, take some breaks, keep yourself sharp.

It's one thing to work hard. It’s another to do it in a way that insures your hard work is going to get the most possible results.