Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Welcome to the conclusion of the science (or not) in the 7 habits of highly effective people.

Habit 7 involves sharpening the saw. In this case, the saw is you. You will only effectively cut that metaphorical tree if you are sharp as … well … a saw.

Stephen Covey’s opening parable drives this home. We meet a hard-working chap furiously cutting a tree with a blunt saw. A passer-by suggests he needs to sharpen his saw. He says (irritably I suspect) “I haven’t got time” and returns to his furious sawing. This is laughable in its absurdity – who would do this? Now, look closer where are you or someone in your life: working long hours; running from task-to-task; grabbing food on the run; skipping exercising; or drinking more than you should to unwind?

Time to stop the absurdity and sharpen the saw. Consider sharpening yourself in these four domains:

1) Physical – sharpen by good eating, exercise and all that jazz

2) Social – sharpen by connecting to others

3) Mental – reading, writing, learning

4) Spiritual – meditation, nature bathing (yes its a thing), prayer, art … whatever is your thing.

I can boldly say the science in this is there as I did my PhD in wellbeing and it covered most of this. Email me for a copy if you want all the gory details (and an insomnia cure).

It is also a bit of a no-brainer to say that taking time to sharpen your saw is important to achieving all the other habits.

So Habit 7 has come good, not a moment too soon.

Thanks for sharing this journey with me. It has been a tricky one. However it has also started me on a bigger journey, that will be tricker by far, but perhaps the most rewarding yet.

Yours as ever,

The Wellbeing at Work Dr.

References links and all that jazz

https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits/habit-7.html

This is part of a larger series on Stephen Covers 7 Habits, being:

Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wood-tool-saw-9280/

References links and all that jazz

Share this:

Like this: