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INSIGHTS3 MIN READ

Sharpen the Axe - Learn everything you can be your best

JohnWiser

Published on August 4, 2014

Published on Wealthy Affiliate — a platform for building real online businesses with modern training and AI.

Most of us have heard at one point or another, some form of Sharpen the Axe or Sharpen the Saw. Any owner of a Franklin Planner has seen there is time set aside each day on the schedule for sharpening the saw.

There many different variations of this old adage, but they all have the same meaning.

A wise man was given the task of chopping down a rather large tree in 6 hours. He was asked, "How do you plan to accomplish this feat in the amount of time you were alotted?" His answer was "I will spend 5 hours sharpening the saw, and one hour cutting it down."

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This is true for anything that we do in our lives. We must practice our craft in order to succeed. Whether it be our relationships, our jobs, sports, or our online marketing efforts; we must hone our skills and do whatever we need to do to get better. When we spend time researching, learning new skills, checking out competition, training with our mentors, and taking it all in; we set ourselves up to be successful.

What I love about Wealthy Affiliate the most is that it is all about training and sharpening the axe. It doesn't matter what question I have, or what I want to research; there is always some form of training to help. There is no reason why anyone couldn't be successful by using the resources provided. That's why I officially call Wealthy Affiliate my "grindstone."

With all of the changes to the way that search engines rank sites and the way that social networking has become the way to find quality content, training is imperative so that we are not left behind. Another reason I love the training here. When the game changes, it's nice to have a coach that keeps up with the rules and how to benefit from them.

Every day, take the first part of your morning and "Sharpen your Axe." Learn something new or recap some skill relative to your chosen path. Learn what successful people in your field are doing and mimic their actions. By doing this, you are not only gaining knowledge, you are getting closer to realizing your potential and reaching your goals.

There are only so many hours in the day. Instead of running around trying to figure out what to do, learn from someone that has already done it.

To your success!

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