Road Scholar : The Two Lumberjacks

It was the annual lumberjack competition. Out of the two finalists, one was an older, experienced man, and the other a younger, stronger lumberjack. The rule of the competition was quite simple, whoever cut down the most trees in a day would be the winner. 

 The younger lumberjack was full of enthusiasm. He went off into the woods and set to work straight away. He worked all day and throughout the night. As he worked, he could hear the older lumberjack further away, and he felt more confident that with every swing that he would win.  

 Throughout the day, the younger lumberjack would listen to the sound of the falling trees in the distance. However, he noticed that as the day went on, the noises in the forest would come and go. The younger lumberjack took heart from this, knowing that this meant the older lumberjack was taking a rest, whereas he could use his superior youth, strength and stamina to keep going. 

At the end of the competition, the younger lumberjack felt confident he had won. He looked in front of him at the piles of trees he had cut down as the result of his extraordinary effort. 

At the medal ceremony, he stood on the stage confident and expecting to be awarded the prize of champion lumberjack. Next to him stood the older lumberjack who looked surprisingly less exhausted than he felt.  When the results were read out, he was devastated to hear that the older lumberjack had chopped down significantly more trees than he had and was declared the winner. 

 The younger man turned to the winner and asked, “How can this be? I heard you taking breaks every hour while I worked continuously. I am younger, stronger and worked harder than you. How could you possibly have beat me?” 

The older man smiled and said, “It is true, I did take a break every hour to rest, but more importantly, I used this time to sharpen my saw.”  

Take the time to sharpen your skills, your tools, and your resources, and you will be more productive.