Sharpen the Saw | A story for Success

One day two woodcutters have argued, which of them will cut more wood during a day.
In the morning two men took up their positions. First they worked at one speed. But in an hour one of them has heard, that the other one stopped cutting trees. Realizing that this was his chance, the first woodcutter started to cut trees with double efforts.
Ten minutes passed, and he heard that the second woodcutter started to work again. They were working almost synchronously, when the first woodcutter heard that his opponent has stopped again. The first woodcutter continued working, feeling the smell of victory.
This lasted all day long. Each hour one of the woodcutters stopped for ten minutes and the other one continued to work. When time expired, the first woodcutter, who worked without any stopping, was absolutely sure that he won the prize.
He was very surprised to know that was mistaken.
— How did that happen? — He asked his partner. — Each hour I heard that you have stopped the work for ten minutes. How could you cut more trees than I? It’s impossible!
— It is very simple, in fact, — answered the second woodcutter. — Each hour I stopped the work for ten minutes. And when you were cutting the trees, I sharpened the axe.
Source

This story of the woodcutters is a beautiful metaphor for "Sharpen the saw", the 7th habit in Stephen Covey's famous book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It's about self renewal in the four areas of life physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual as mentioned in the book. 

For me this book meant a shift in focus and has proven to be very beneficial in the way I work with people. I can only recommend this classic!