Sharpen the Saw for an Ideal Life

An hour a day could change your life.

What if you took just one hour of your day, a mere 60 minutes and transformed it from an hour of sleep into an hour of POWER? What if during that early morning hour you focused on what Stephen Covey calls “Sharpening the Saw” (His 7th Habit). A lot of people don’t understand the analogy….but it’s really quite simple. A woodcutter who continues to saw and saw and saw without taking the time to sharpen the saw actually becomes less and less productive because of a dull blade. You might be thinking….I’m not a wood cutter, so how does this relate to me?

If you’re overworked and your productivity begins to fall off, common sense says to take a break, maybe even go on a vacation. However, that isn’t sharpening the saw…that’s just throwing the saw into the back of the tool shed. When you put down a dull blade, it’s still doing to be dull when you pick it back up if you haven’t done anything with it.

“Sharpening the Saw” is an activity….just like the analogy suggest. So what kind of “activities” would be included in your list of “saw sharpening”? Let’s take a peak at what the Master of Sharpening the Saw (Covey) has to say about it in an exclusive interview with Zen Habits:

ZH: To give us some insight into your life, what is your typical morning routine on a work day, that incorporates some of your principles into your everyday life?

Covey: I make an effort every morning to win what I call the “private victory.” I work out on a stationary bike while I am studying the scriptures for at least 30 minutes. Then I swim in a home pool vigorously for 15 minutes, then I do yoga in a shallow part of the pool for 15 minutes. Then I go into my library and pray with a listening spirit, listening primarily to my conscience while I visualize the rest of my entire day, including important professional activities and key relationships with my loved ones, working associates and clients. I see myself living by correct principles and accomplishing worthy purposes. One of my favorite quotes is, “The greatest battles of life are fought out every day in the silent chambers of one’s own soul.” (David O. McKay) Much of this listening and visualizing work is very challenging, so I win the private victory when I have made my mind up and commit to live by correct principles and to serve worthy purposes.

This sounds much like my own personal power hour (which I’m a HUGE advocate of). Power Hour is a tool that I utilize each morning that dedicates one hour in focusing on my mind, body and spirit. During this hour (give or take) I spend time reading, praying, meditating, writing (in blog and journal) and watching a 10 minutes motivational video (related to business or personal).

This is the best way to get my day off to the right start and ensure that I’m spending time doing the things that are most important to me. It not only rejuvenates me, but gives me the motivation, clarity & focus I need for the day. I follow this up with an additional hour of exercise (while listening to my LifeVision of course).

Putting a morning routine in place for sharpening the saw is a common theme for successful people. What routine do you use? If you have a Power Hour…. what results are you seeing from it? If you aren’t doing it yet….what barriers are standing in your way?

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