Disclosure: I did not originate the story, "Bob, the Lumberjack." This story was passed on through chains of emails from friends and colleagues. Since I was unable to find the true source of the story, I couldn't give proper credit to the author. If you know who originated this story, please do tell me in the comments.
Relentlessly working hard isn't always the answer in becoming successful in everything that we do. Becoming successful requires strategic thinking, finesse, and constant vigilance in improving oneself. The story about "Bob, the Lumberjack" is a perfect way to illustrate that. Hope you enjoy this story as much as I did.
"Bob, the Lumberjack"
A few years back in the annual World Lumberjack Championship, the final competition came down to two lumberjack finalists. Bob was in his 40s and had been a lumberjack all his life. The other lumberjack, Alex, was half his age – a strapping, young, muscular 24-year old who had been the favorite to win throughout the days of competition. The final round of competition would be simply to see who could chop and saw the most logs in a 30-minute period of time. The lumberjack with the biggest pile of wood at the end would win.
The whistle blew to start the competition and both lumberjacks began in earnest, chopping and sawing as hard as they could. About 10 minutes into the half-hour, the young lumberjack Alex looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Bob, the older lumberjack, sitting down. He was happy to note this, thinking that the older fellow was already wearing out after the days of competition. Bob was back up and going in just a few minutes and both continued the chopping and sawing. Then again, about 20 minutes into the competition, Alex noted that Bob had sat down again for a few minutes. He was sure these few extra minutes of rest would be the margin he needed to win the competition.
When the final whistle blew at the end of the 30 minutes, the referees stacked up the wood and counted. Lo and behold -- Bob, the older lumberjack had a bigger pile of wood and was declared the winner.
Alex graciously came over and congratulated Bob on the win.
“Congratulations, Bob. You did a great job. Hey, I was sure I had beat you, especially when I saw you sit down to rest twice.” Bob looked puzzled for a moment and then smiled. Bob replied, “Oh, I wasn’t stopping to rest. You see, I just stopped a couple of times to sharpen my saw.”
"End of story"
Pause. Just take a minute to pause and sharpen your own saw. Working hard is just not enough. You need to always position yourself to look at the bigger picture, improve yourself, and find better ways to reach your goals.