How Sharp is Your Saw?
March 7, 2009 by Darlene McDaniel
Filed under Jobs
How sharp is your saw? Would you know that you are working with a dull saw? How much effort do you invest in all that you do daily? This morning I had the privilege of working with some leaders, facilitating a workshop on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was not the full blown workshop you might get at a FranklinCovey workshop. My focus today – Sharpen the Saw. The workshop was an opportunity to remind the participants that these principles are things we should be working on to ensure our effectiveness in the workplace and beyond.
- Habit 1: Be Proactive
- Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind
- Habit 3: Put First Things First
- Habit 4: Think Win/Win
- Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
- Habit 6: Synergize
- Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw – The habit of self-renewal
The workshop I facilitated today focused primarily on Habit 7, Sharpen the Saw. This habit
focuses on 4 key areas: Physical, Spiritual, Social/Emotional, Mental. The challenge for each of us is to ensure that we care for ourselves in the process of living, working, being. I gave my students a homework assignment, I thought I would share with you. Evaluate the 4 components of Habit 7, Sharpen the Saw. What are you doing daily to ensure that you are healthy physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally? The physical component speaks to nutrition, exercise, stress management. Social/Emotional speaks to healthy relationships, Mental speaks to education and increasing knowledge, journaling. And spiritual speaks to values, service, meditation, worship and praise.
As you rest this weekend, take a look at these areas. Whether you are employed right now or you are in a job search, take some time for self-renewal. Ensure that you are healthy in all of these areas. If you know there is an area that you need to work on, how about adding it to your daily things to do list. Find an hour to focus on one component of sharpening your saw and see if you might increase your effectiveness. Have a great weekend!
Image Credit: sxc.hu
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] rest I believe. I typically work until I fall asleep every day. But after my workshop yesterday on Sharpening the Saw, I realize that I am out of balance. I work all the time, every day. Rest is not even in my [...]