Are you sharpening the axe or waxing the surfboard??

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

That says a lot about preparation before execution.

But don’t let this preparation stop you from doing the hard work.

Are you preparing, or are you avoiding?

In the awful 1990s movie Surf Ninjas, Zatch asks Iggy if he will come surf. Iggy says he will come, but he’s gotta wax his surfboard first.

Here’s the scene.

In the end, Iggy waxes his board until the evening… and he never surfs. He never surfed because he was scared.

Does the surfboard need more wax, or are you afraid?

Don’t fall into either of these traps.

Abe Goes Overboard

Let’s take this one step further.

If it was me vs. Abe in a tree-chopping contest, and we both had one giant tree and one dull axe, which approach would be better?

They say, “GO!”

Abe immediately starts sharpening the axe.

I immediately get up and start to bludgeon this tree with a dull blade.

Who is going to win? I bet that it would be close, and I would be exhausted. Abe would have saved a lot of effort, but we both would achieve the goal.

UNLESS…

What if Abe falls in love with sharpening the axe? He obsesses over the most suitable sharpening stone, the angle to grind, and the best oils to use. Finally, he becomes so meticulous that the six-hour timer is up, and he forgets to take a swing at the tree.

He got a little too good at the other stuff. Stuff that is NOT the MAIN THING.

And falling in love with sharpening the axe is what has happened to me, and I have seen it happen to many entrepreneurs.

I once had a mentor who would say, “It’s always sad when entrepreneurs start to sit around and count their money.”

I.e., they get too focused on spending, investing, and saving that they forget to go bigger.

As a result, they get to a level of success that pacifies them and hinders future success.

Charlie Munger said, “A majority of life errors are caused by forgetting what one is really trying to do.”

Have your efforts, and day-to-day activities made you forget the actual goal?

The 2-Step Sticky Note Habit

Planning is great.

Preparation is awesome.

Goals are helpful.

But the only thing that matters? The reps you put in AFTER those things are complete and known.

Here is the easiest way to keep me on track regarding GOAL ACHIEVING (not goal setting). It can be of use to you.

Step 1: Write Your Goal on a Whiteboard

Step 2: At the end of EACH DAY, assess your work. If you COMPLETED a thing that will move you forward, write it on the sticky note and put it on the board. If not complete, no sticky note.

Don’t get creative. Don’t pretend some tiny meaningless task is of any meaningful value. Don’t BS yourself. You either DID, or you DID NOT complete a THING that day that led to achieving your goal.

And that’s it.

This habit has been transformational for me. I have to move some pretty damn big rocks to move forward at this point. So most days, I don’t have a sticky note to put on the board. I may have worked on something, but I DID NOT COMPLETE IT.

You only get the sticky note once the thing is done.

I’ve been doing this since January of this year. I have 26 sticky notes on the board.

Do you see how this works? It can take me a week or a month to complete a THING that is moving us forward.

Sure I have a lot of work to do. But I need to distinguish the work that has to be done from the work that is moving us forward.

Sharpen your axe, Abe.

Wax your board, Iggy.

But we are spinning our wheels if I don’t see a tree on the ground or a wave being surfed.

Try harder,