One of my favourite stories is about two woodcutters who are given the same challenge: cut down as many trees as possible over the course of a month. The first woodcutter gets straight to work, chopping trees every single day without stopping. The second woodcutter takes a different approach. One day he cuts trees, the next day he sharpens his axe. Then he cuts again, then sharpens again, alternating between the two throughout the month.
If I asked you which woodcutter cut down more trees, most people would choose the first one. After all, he spent thirty days cutting trees, whilst the second woodcutter only spent fifteen. Surely more time and more effort should produce better results.
But it didn’t.
At the end of the month, the second woodcutter had cut down more trees. Whilst the first woodcutter continued working with a blade that became duller and duller, the second understood that maintaining the quality of his tool was just as important as the work itself. Every swing of his axe was more effective because he had taken the time to sharpen it.
I think this is such an important lesson because so many of us believe success comes from doing more. More hours. More effort. More pushing. More sacrificing. We assume that if we simply keep going, the results will eventually follow. Yet what we rarely stop to consider is the quality of the energy we’re bringing to the task in the first place.
This lesson became very real to me when I was studying for my maths degree. I was surrounded by students who I genuinely believed were geniuses. Whilst I spent hours revising, they seemed to study for a fraction of the time and still achieved incredible results. For a long time, I assumed they were simply more intelligent than me.
What I eventually realised was that they weren’t necessarily studying more than I was. They were studying better. They understood that learning isn’t just about putting information into your brain. The brain needs rest, sleep, hydration and recovery to perform at its best. Whilst I was trying to force more hours into the day, they were making sure the quality of their energy remained high.
I see the same pattern with many women today. They spend their lives looking after everyone else. Their children, partners, parents, friends and colleagues all receive their time, attention and energy. They keep giving, keep helping and keep showing up, often running on empty themselves. Then they wonder why they feel exhausted and unable to focus on their own goals.
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do isn’t to work harder. It’s to sharpen the axe. It might mean getting more sleep, taking a walk, exercising, drinking more water, protecting your boundaries or simply giving yourself permission to rest. These things can feel unproductive in the moment, but they are often the very things that allow you to perform at your best.
The goal isn’t to do more. The goal is to become more effective. Because when your mind is clear, your body is energised and your energy is protected, everything changes. The people who achieve the most aren’t always the ones working the hardest. More often than not, they’re the ones who remembered to sharpen the axe.
Nisha x