Take Time Out

One day, two men were splitting wood. One man was a 6’6”, 250-pound lumberjack in great physical shape. The other was a 130-pound nerd, all skin and bones. Both men began splitting wood at about the same time. They worked until coffee break, at which point the nerd quit splitting and took his break while the lumberjack just kept on splitting. The same thing happened at lunchtime, and again during the afternoon break. This went on for two weeks. The big lumberjack noticed that, despite his longer hours of work, he wasn’t far ahead of the nerd. He worked extra hard into the nights while the nerd left at 6:00 p.m. each evening. After three weeks of working, the lumberjack saw that the piles of split wood were about even between the two men.

By the end of the fourth week, it was really obvious the nerd had the advantage. One morning just before he left to have coffee, the lumberjack angrily accosted him. “I cannot understand why you have more wood split than I do,” he sputtered. “You are smaller than I am, and you don’t have the strength that I have.” The nerd answered, “Ah yes, my friend, but you never stop to sharpen your axe!” This story is a good reminder that we all need time off from work to think and refresh our creativity. Remember, you can only make so much money with your hands. It is unlimited how much you can make with your brain.

Excerpt from 'LifeManual' by Peter H. Thomas. www.lifemanual.com. Copyright 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.

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