Monthly Archives: October 2012
Sharpening Ourselves
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” (Abraham Lincoln). “Sharpening the saw” is a phrase and idea that was publicized on a broad scale by Steven Covey in his bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and most of us can agree that, unless we are continually using what we know and are intentionally continuing our development, we will drift through life and what use to be clear and easy to do becomes hazy.
As an example, I use to be great at math in school. Now, except for a few “tricks” involving fractions, and simple math, I have lost most of the rest of it. I know what sine, cosine, and tangent are, and that they have to do with shapes and angles; however, I have no idea now 10+ years after my last math class how to effectively use these trigonometry functions.
But I am growing and developing in other areas that are less math-based.