Once upon a time there was a very strong wood-cutter. He asked for a job from a timber merchant and he got it. His boss immediately gave him an axe and showed him the area in the forest where he was to work.
During his first day in the mountains he worked hard and cut many trees.
The second day worked as much as the first, but its production was scarcely half of the first day.
The third day was proposed to improve its production. From the first moment he struck the ax with all his fury against the trees. Even so, the results were worse.
When the boss realized the poor performance of the young wood-cutter, he asked: "When was the last time you sharpened your axe?".
"Sharpen my axe?" the wood-cutter replied. "I have never sharpened my axe. I have been too busy trying to cut down enough trees."
Source: Anonymous.
Effort and hard work don't guarantee success on their own, they should always be accompanied by preparation. Sometimes, like the wood-cutter, we can try with all our strength to cut more and more trees, we can do it until we become fatigued and even more, however, we will only show our stubbornness, and instead of improving our results, we will make them worse.
I hear many people complain because their hard work does not bear fruit, they spend themselves since the sun rises until it hides pursuing their goals, and even then, they can not get them. Others, on the contrary, seem never to work hard, but with a majestic ease they manage to break through to get what they want. This is not due to injustice of nature or of divinity, but on the contrary it is precisely to nature working with his fair hand to give each one what corresponds.
Hard work without learning is suffering without benefit, and it is a behavior that instead of making us advance makes us go back. Many wise people manage to move astutely without having to spend themselves, because due to their intelligence, they have been able to observe the mistakes of others to avoid them.
Don't misunderstand this, everyone must cut the trees, but those more wise can learn from the techniques of others.
Something I have learned in life is that all things, absolutely all, have a positive side, even the worst and most painful situations bring us in turn the most magnificent opportunities, those of learning. If we go through very bad situations, and we are wise, we can learn from the mistakes made to avoid them, if on the contrary we only complain and victimize ourselves, we will find that we have suffered in vain, and there is nothing worse than suffering without knowledge, because it is useless, and it condemns us to live it again.
Remember that whatever you want your goals to be, you will not achieve them with hard work and effort alone, because although these are necessary, they are not everything, preparation makes the difference, you must be willing to learn more than to suffer, and you must be willing to learn from suffering.
Also doesn't waste a lot of time sharpening the ax if you never plan to use it, because that would be even worse, there should always be a balance. Sharpen first, cut later. Success does not lie in acting or being prepared, it lies in acting and being prepared at the same time.
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Hard work is detrimental.
An exchange of health for whatever the payment is.
The story is a good metaphor for employment.
The lower level managers want to increase the productivity of their workers.
I think higher level managers whom reached shareholder level want the same.
Those above shareholders, the ones owning corporations and benefiting regardless of some individual corporations' outcomes care not about the output, but for them the employment itself is the goal, as it keeps their livestock too busy, as explained by holocaust denier Eustance Mullins:
So for them, it is just as good if the lumberjack has his axe worn.
They will have whatever supply of lumber they need, regardless of how well a certain lumberjack does.
It is their lieutenants' job to care for it.
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To me, this sentence is the most critical one to consider. It is not possible to be a creator and a victim at the same time. We must choose one or the other. We literally create our own reality, beginning with our thoughts. No amount of hard work will bring "good" results to a victim because their victim mentality is continually attracting "bad" things to them.
I totally agree with that. In fact, I think that people who victimize themselves like to be victims, because in that way they don't take responsibility for their lives. People who are not responsible for their lives can not improve it, because they don't control it. It's about owning our lives.
Hard work is... well it's hard, but only working smart can guarantee you can maintain your energy levels, sanity and control over your life.
Hard work is not only not enough, but is the wrong way to go. Your energy input is very high, your focus is high, but you quickly drain yourself, you lose the big picture, and you also lose your life in the process... and in the end you become miserable.
And I'm saying this, cause I live among people for whom life is work, who can't even enjoy themselves without working. In fact they become sick when they can't work! The mentality of hard work is that bad!
And in the end of the day work is supposed to bring you money or resources to live, it should make you happy if possible, and if you can make others happy with your work, you're definitely doing the right thing.
This can be done by observing nature, which flows freely, which doesn't push, which adjusts, and which takes the road of no struggle to achieve its goals, and in the end has a lot of resources to spare. Now that's being really smart!
In fact I have nothing against hard work. The problem is that some take hard work to fatigue, and that usually happens when you're not smart, or have no prep. This of course, if we see hard work not only as physical or office work, there are people who work hard, but at the same time do it for a short time.
Cheers!
Working hard ... can mean two things: 1) Someone who works hard without rest. or 2) Someone who works effectively fulfilling their duties but without exceeding their limits of endurance.
As in the post focuses more on the hard work where the individual gives up the last drop of energy to improve their performance, I think the following: This really is counterproductive, you can never fulfill the duties effectively if you force more of what your body can hold, what you do is wear yourself out, fatigue, get tired and therefore every time your efficiency will be lower despite your efforts. Therefore it is necessary to do things calmly, but safely. Plan on activities and time, as you say you have to be smart. It is not always necessary to exceed our limits to improve, sometimes we should only have a good plan where our work does not affect our health in order to give a better performance.
So is. The point is to realize that to improve you should not always work more, but think more.
I love this story, it really hits hard an important lesson. Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks!
What the hell is with your stories! I've heard 90% of the stories you share. The one you shared today is something I heard while I was in 5th grade (a slightly altered version with 2 wood cutter twins with one who doesn't sharpen his axe).
Human civilization wasn't built by hard work. No hard work is ever going to produce the results of a mobile phone processor. Our work should be to improve our knowledge, understanding and through that the control we have over our surroundings
The problem is not with my stories, the problem is that you have read all the eastern and western stories, fables and legends... lol
I don't believe that hard work is dispensable, I think it is necessary, considering hard work as an effort of course, and not only as physical work. The fact is that not only with effort and action will things be achieved, but preparation is also necessary. It's like in a fight, you have to hit hard and have good technique, otherwise, you will not have much success.
I see hard work as a catalyst. Apollo Guidance Computer was 2.048 MHz processor. These days even a washing machine is more powerful. Martial Art is actually a perfect example. More brute force you have, the better it is. But it's only a 2nd tier priority.
I do spend an obscene amount of time reading and watching stuff. But I'm barely into my 20s. I couldn't have finished all that all too soon! In case I have finished most of them, I still have Netflix and some books to read. (I've been wanting to read Ender's Game for some time)
but it took a lot of hard work to make that processor
Compared to the amount of work that can be done using the original creation of the processor, the effort that was put to create the processor seem trivial. Mental work result in enhanced efficiency. These days anybody can drive a truck with tons of material across the country instead of carrying them on the back and walking. It takes a lot less effort to build that truck.
Indeed, consider how far and fast one gallon of gas will move a car compared to trying to push it with human power. Fossil fuels have made a lot of human labor obsolete.
Other developments are only going to make things better. Solar Panels with increased efficiency could continuously produce energy for decades after its initial creation. Zero Point Energy is pretty much going to eliminate all energy crisis but that'll take a lot of time.
and it takes a lot of resources.
Save up to buy a chain saw!
there is a saying " if you give me three hours to chop down a tree I will spend 2 sharpening my ax."
Actually is a quote, supposedly, of Abraham Lincoln.
there you go, same ratio.