Sharpening Your Ax

I went to a lunch meeting with Business Among Moms today.  It is a great mastermind group for Moms who are also business owners.  We had a great speaker.  Her name was Jenn Williamson.  She is a Real Estate agent and life coach.  Her presentation had actually 2 parts, but I want to talk about the first half.  I will talk about the second part at another time.

Jenn talked about sharpening your ax.  She told a story about a man cutting down a tree.  a wise old man came along and asked how long he had been chopping and was told 5 or 6 hours.  This tree was not a very big tree so the wise old man asked is your ax sharp?  The man replied I don't have time to sharpen my ax.  the old man returned you don't have time not to.

Anything that we do takes a certain skill and mind set in order to have success.  Skill and mind set can be learned, but you have to take the time to do so.  What this means is that you need to set aside time on a regular basis to work on the skills and mindset that you need to be successful.


Skills can be learned through reading, workshops, podcasts, mastermind groups or classes.  Mind set can be learned both by the above named activities and by surrounding yourself with positive and motivated people.  Just being around people like that has an effect on how you view the world and your abilities.  These positive and motivated people have a way of making you feel like you can accomplish anything.

By working on personal development, you gain the skills you need to effectively work on the action plan you have created to achieve your goals and dreams.  If you are not progressing the way you had hoped, ask yourself what can I improve about me before deciding that the goal or dream is faulty.

Anybody can achieve their dreams.  They may take detours and meet dead ends along the way.  It may take way longer than they ever thought it would, but a positive mindset and a faith in your dream can make all the difference.