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The story of a woodcutter

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”

Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

 

Reflection:

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy that ever.

Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to get close to our Creator, giving more time for our family, taking time to read etc.

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. 

Author: Stephen Covey
From: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

{ 88 comments… add one }
  • santhi September 9, 2016, 3:27 pm

    really…fab..!!

  • Mavusana September 2, 2016, 8:30 am

    rock on
    truly an eye opener

  • Sunil August 25, 2016, 7:36 am

    Very relevant in today’s world , nice story!

  • Allysonbasino May 5, 2016, 7:53 am

    So beautiful story.

  • tsering February 27, 2016, 6:37 am

    very inspiring n touching story. I really like it…..

  • Ajay January 10, 2016, 4:35 am

    I read this story. It is motivated story.through this story we should be updated our skill.

  • Digokwe Mokone November 28, 2015, 3:24 pm

    An interesting story!

  • Erik Aragon November 10, 2015, 3:14 pm

    Very very nice

  • Erik Aragon November 10, 2015, 3:14 pm

    Nice ^

  • maneesh October 27, 2015, 1:17 pm

    it is nice story

  • gigi May 15, 2015, 3:02 am

    very inspiring story. love it

  • DIPAK KUMAR ARYAL March 14, 2015, 5:26 am

    I was truely affected by this story. Thank you for giving me a chance to understand what is life.

  • Rani March 3, 2015, 8:23 am

    Very nice story… I believe in this..

  • Priyanka barse February 27, 2015, 1:31 pm

    It’s a beautiful story

  • Saroj December 4, 2014, 7:46 am

    Superb

  • Sid ghalay October 30, 2014, 3:49 am

    Wow. Very nice.

  • Ragni October 19, 2014, 9:26 am

    Its an AWESOME story!!!:) It touched my heart!!! I NEVER heard this story before!!! And it’s true that everybody in their lives are so busy that don’t even spend time with their children. I feel so sad how could even do that? I think they should spend some time with their children. At least 30 minutes which could be half an hour. You know when spend time with your children they feel so happy.

  • Arvind September 4, 2014, 12:55 pm

    Fantastic story…..!

    Very very important moral behind this story.
    I Like it.

  • Edgen sewen August 12, 2014, 8:12 pm

    Thank you, so encouraging!!!

  • Edgen sewen August 12, 2014, 8:11 pm

    Am really blessed and touched by the story

  • Anas July 17, 2014, 9:18 pm

    Nice 🙂

  • Maryam Uddin June 21, 2014, 10:04 am

    I like this story very much. This reflection was true we sometimes get busy in playing laptops computers, we do not know about our homework too .. I am justified with this statement..

  • Sreelakshmi.k.c June 10, 2014, 6:50 am

    Really nice. It’s true because today all are very busy. Thanks STEPHEN COVEY

  • Yaswitha June 5, 2014, 12:59 pm

    Nice story

  • Ragni March 25, 2014, 10:12 am

    Nice isn’t it. I love this story. Wonderful! Great job!!! 🙂

    Awesome! Love it!!!

  • Daurick Diaz Roy March 10, 2014, 12:11 pm

    Very, very nice.

  • Prisitha February 2, 2014, 10:37 am

    Very nice, it was perfectly matching with today’s world, and I like it.

  • Abhijit January 27, 2014, 10:05 am

    It’s Awesome 🙂 😉 -_- ♥ :-* 8)

  • Sharmila January 24, 2014, 7:49 am

    Gud 1.

    Work work work !!! and then one fine day we are lost! We can’t work.
    Work is necessary but one needs to keep a track of all things and the story here depicts this beautifully!

  • Samuel January 5, 2014, 11:58 am

    That was from Abraham Lincoln saying “Give me one hour to cut down a tree and I will spend the first 40 minutes to sharpen the axe.”

  • Gangaprasad December 20, 2013, 2:46 pm

    So good I like it.

  • Shesh December 1, 2013, 3:07 pm

    Best story, teaches us to lead life by sharpening ideas.

  • Stefano November 25, 2013, 5:46 pm

    Good short story

  • Aym shrestha November 19, 2013, 7:24 am

    Great inspiring story.

  • Robin October 24, 2013, 5:58 am

    Thanks for all of stories.

  • Stefi October 12, 2013, 5:25 am

    Nice story

  • Rine Kan October 10, 2013, 9:26 am

    Nice story.

  • Vinod October 9, 2013, 2:05 pm

    As a developer, I believe, this is real.

  • Paarth Gohlyan September 22, 2013, 10:42 am

    I like your story.

  • Gupta Kamal Alg September 19, 2013, 5:52 am

    It’s better to make a balance in life.

  • Karthik.C September 9, 2013, 5:25 pm

    I love this story which motivates all the ppl in all their ways. Work is not only putting effects and its depends also how the work is done in smart way.

  • Lilly September 5, 2013, 10:16 am

    It is true and so helpful to us and very funny.

  • Unwana August 30, 2013, 2:26 am

    Amazing!!!

  • Arzoo August 20, 2013, 9:57 am

    It’s a very nice story.. I like it..children must read this story they will surely get the inspiration.. How to use the time in a life.:-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-)

  • Ashwini August 17, 2013, 7:38 am

    Very true

  • Sathish August 16, 2013, 1:58 am

    Nice

  • Vinaya August 5, 2013, 7:15 am

    I love this story, in today’s world we are so busy.

  • Praveen Sharma July 25, 2013, 4:50 am

    Nice one, it’s a truthful story.

  • Partha Dutta July 13, 2013, 9:39 am

    It is a really amazing story.

  • Hari June 24, 2013, 8:50 pm

    Awesome and one of the most inspiring stories.

  • Wilmz June 23, 2013, 11:46 pm

    Great! An inspiring story!

  • Jegan June 18, 2013, 9:29 am

    Nice.

  • Mads May 18, 2013, 5:42 am

    Very fantastic..It help us to realize changes!!!

  • Vikas Bagul May 15, 2013, 9:41 am

    Nice one.

  • Sruthy April 25, 2013, 10:22 am

    It is an intresting story for children.

  • Sangeeta Gawali April 12, 2013, 3:34 am

    Very motivational story to axe our knowledge.

  • Himanshu Gupta April 11, 2013, 2:17 pm

    Good story, the same may happen in our daily working style so always remind this story.

  • Emvids March 10, 2013, 4:31 am

    I’m really touched. We need to go back to the basics

  • Diksha mahajan January 28, 2013, 8:55 am

    It’s really a very motivating story.

  • Soniya January 20, 2013, 12:39 am

    Nice one. I love this story, really motivational.

  • Judy Plunkett November 22, 2012, 5:29 am

    Enjoy reading these stories

  • Kalai September 26, 2012, 7:28 am

    It’s very interesting…… and think about to sharp brain.

  • PRANAV August 18, 2012, 7:42 am

    Very nice story, have meaning ful themes.

  • Margaret August 7, 2012, 8:49 am

    That’s so wonderful because it shows the importance of balance in life.

  • Shivangi July 4, 2012, 12:40 pm

    Amazing story…

  • Pike June 22, 2012, 10:48 pm

    So nice.

  • Atanas June 20, 2012, 7:16 am

    Superb. 🙂

  • Shweta June 19, 2012, 9:15 am

    Very inspiring and heart touching story, I really like it!

  • Ade June 13, 2012, 6:58 pm

    Nice story!

  • Bance Salifu June 8, 2012, 2:37 pm

    It is really a true story………We are always busy over things that ends at the grave.

  • Nihal Mahato June 8, 2012, 9:06 am

    That’s a really nice story…it’s true that we are being busy each day, running after money.. showing off.. what they can do.. and what they have.. bothering about the whole world but no time for family…

  • Avi... June 8, 2012, 3:16 am

    Really great story. So many things to learm from it.

  • Vandana June 6, 2012, 6:47 am

    Amazing.. !!! It’s true that ppl have become busy in lives, it’s really important to take time out for ourselves and our family and friends…:-)

  • Yonatan June 6, 2012, 3:11 am

    It’s a nice story. I love it.

  • shan June 5, 2012, 6:36 pm

    Great story….yea….ppl nwdays tend to forget they have life being so busy in their working lives….money is important but the most important how much u have live peace within that period……

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