When Times Are Tough, First, Sharpen The Saw

“You have personal habits that would make a monkey blush.” – Red Dwarf

I know a lot of broken pencil jokes, but they’re all pointless.

Stephen Covey made roughly a bazillion dollars with his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which at least makes his marketing pretty effective. I read it back in the early 2000s when I found a copy sitting on a shelf in an office when I started a new job. This was lucky for me, since I could never find the self-help section at the library. The librarian just would say, “Well, if I told you where the self-help section was, that would defeat the purpose.”

I couldn’t name most of the 7 Habits unless I cheated with Duckduckgo®, but I do remember the last one of the seven: Sharpen the Saw.

You might think that this would be a reference to Jason or Michael Meyers, but no. In the book he relates a story about Abraham Lincoln, who, when asked if he were to race to cut a tree down, how he would do it. “Well first, I would sharpen the saw, and then I would hire the neighborhood kid to do it and then I would invade the South,” Lincoln replied.

Talk about a one-trick pony.

How many Amish people does it take to change a light bulb? None.

But Covey picked up on this idea: if you’re not sharp, you’re not at your best. You can look at that through several dimensions, and include things like fitness, but you know how to get in shape. That answer is simple – even if you don’t want to do it.

The dimension of sharpness that I want to write about is mental. I know how to exercise to get fit, but if I’m so burned out that I don’t have the motivation to do it, I simply won’t.

The first level of control I do is to control the intake of my mind.

Around 2016 I went full-stop on listening to NPR® radio. NPR™ had always had a lefty slant, but in 2016 they went Full Throttle Leftist. The conclusion that I came to is that if I felt like shouting at the car radio that the host was wrong, I should probably just stop listening to them.

And I did. The reason I did wasn’t that I was afraid of the facts – no. I embrace finding out when I’m wrong. The reason was that the opinion that had always been in the backseat of the car became the driver. And I don’t like the opinions of Leftist NPR© hosts unless they’re midgets: the midgets always know what’s up.

Cats kill more birds than windmills. Heck, I can’t recall the last time I heard of a cat killing a windmill.

The Mrs. relayed to me that some journalism schools were now teaching that journalists should be, rather than impartial reporters on a story, a good journalist should actively intervene in favor to further Social Justice narratives.

My site isn’t a news site. My site is generally an opinion site – your opinion and my opinion. We can all have them, and as long as we agree to that, it’s fine. But NPR® began peddling opinion as fact, and editorializing during straight news stories, “discredited” and “false” were used as modifiers in news, as in “Fauchi debunks the false and discredited idea that people should wear masks,” a week before Fauchi says you need to wear six masks.

NPR® was harshing my mellow without giving me anything that I couldn’t get elsewhere.

The next level of control is to rest.

If I’m going all out, working and blogging, I might average five hours of sleep Sunday through Friday morning. That’s probably not enough. I play catch-up on weekends, but that’s not quite enough. A few weeks ago I decided I wouldn’t go in to work until after lunch on Friday.

It was glorious. I started the weekend with a full tank and that Friday was amazingly productive.

There are only so many hours in a day, and I have a list of things I have to get done. I do often live with a sleep deficit, but I do try to at least monitor it. I did find a scientific test on sleep deprivation online. It told me how much sleep I needed: just five minutes more.

And Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch. He decides what time it is.

The third thing I like to control is chaos.

Okay, I can’t control chaos. But I can control what I care about. I can prioritize. I can plan. I can make lists.

Make lists? How does that help?

I find that when I’m feeling whelmed, that just making a list turns a chaotic list of things to do into something I can attack. And sometimes, I just pick something I can do, something I can complete from the list, and just do it even if it’s not the most important thing.

A shopping center burned down – nothing left but Kohl’s®.

The best catalyst for action is . . . action. When I start getting things done, more things get done. Then things begin to disappear from the list as I cross them off.

At the end of the day, I feel good. Things are done. Sure, some aren’t, but finishing tasks and crossing them off the list makes me happy.

The fourth thing I do is step away. Turn off the chaos by connecting with other people. By reading. By writing.

There is always the danger in distraction. If done too often, it is simply running away.

But a moment to pull back, reflect, and work with the important connections in my life? That’s keeping the reason I face the chaos in perspective. I do those things for the people I love, for principle, or because it’s virtuous and has meaning.

Reading? That’s how I get ideas. That’s how I hit the reset button by focusing on other ideas.

Writing? That’s how I work through ideas. When I put it in writing, I begin to understand where the holes are in my thinking. Then I research. Then I get closer to the Truth.

Again, done too often, it’s an escape, not a refresh.

When the aquatic mammals escaped from the zoo, it was otter chaos.

Finally? I pray.

YMMV, but prayer does wonders for me. Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards,” except when he said it, it came out more like, “Livet kan kun forstås baglæns, men det skal leves fremad,” and it probably sounded like Søren was gargling a mouthful of small wet frogs.

But Søren was right. Life is tossed by uncertainty and fortune, good and bad, and no one is getting out alive. As I get older, I begin to understand, and see the structure, though I have enough wisdom to know how little I really know.

Prayer brings me peace.

Thanks for sharing in my saw-sharpening. I hope it wasn’t too dull.

Author: John

Nobel-Prize Winning, MacArthur Genius Grant Near Recipient writing to you regularly about Fitness, Wealth, and Wisdom - How to be happy and how to be healthy. Oh, and rich.

57 thoughts on “When Times Are Tough, First, Sharpen The Saw”

  1. Excellent motivational piece, John.

    Regarding sleep…I have had terrible sleep for years. I would go to bed at 10, wake up at 2AM, couldn’t fall back asleep, surf the internet until I had to go to work, then drag through the afternoon at work fighting to stay awake. Since I have retired I have started taking 10 mg of melatonin every night. This is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in your brain. The difference in my sleep is remarkable. I still wake up two or three times per night, but somehow I am always able to get back into sleep and wake up much refreshed at a reasonable hour. And there is no doubt whatsoever that my dreams are more vivid.

    You might give taking melatonin a whirl. It’s even sold to kids in gummy form.

    1. My insomnia is similar. People are amazed that I have been awoken numerous times by mice. Time-released melatonin seems to be superior since it is hours after going to sleep that I have the problem. Melatonin wears off on me in 2 to 3 hours, so time-release is important.
      https://www.drugs.com/tips/melatonin-time-release-patient-tips

      Of course using that quiet time in the middle of the night is perfect for a prayer. Seems to put things in order and I can get some sleep. Of course I have been taking a short nap in the middle of the day since I was 40.

    2. Ricky,
      For most folks, melatonin has a ‘half-life’ of about twenty minutes.
      If I place a ten under my tongue before my long hot steamy [great to be American] shower, by the time I finish fussing with my teeth, any melatonin benefits are long-gone.
      .
      Then I discovered Keto.
      I might suggest experimenting with a ‘Keto’ diet… easing into it, and modified to fit the peculiar needs of your body.
      .
      In my case, carbs after about noonish blasted my cortisol, and my liver could not re-set until FOUR A. M. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (insert an extraordinary! amount of exclamation marks! Slam!, sitting-up and shoving off the covers!).
      .
      That re-set blasted me out of a sound sleep, and I was done sleeping until my siesta around 1pm.
      .
      After I eliminated carbs — grains, sugars, root-vegetables — my liver settled into a ketosis steady-state.
      Besides restful sleep, my labs show my liver enzymes are no longer leaking.
      I will be 70 in a few weeks, so a healthy liver is probably good, right?

      1. I first went on the keto diet about 2 years ago, and had similar results. I occasionally go off it for a week or so at a time, and I can tell the difference. An even bigger change to my health happened when I gave up soda about 5 months ago. W/o caffeine my sleep is so much better, especially with not having to get up and pee at least once a night.

      2. I was having a similar problem, but surgery and physio solved the worst of it. 😋

        Seriously, thanks for the keto and melatonin suggestions.

    3. Oh, I’m sorry! I can totally sleep! I could sleep 8 hours a day, every day. Going to sleep is a superpower I have.

      Just no time.

      1. Mine too, and I make the time! I’ve noticed though, that you smarter folks, with oodles of motivation, can burn the candle at both ends, seemingly, without dire consequence. Wayyy too risky for me:)

  2. John – – Your method of listing tasks as a way to feel and be in control, is a well practiced skill among successful people.

    Almost all of life’s lessons come after we have paid for them with our mistakes. But some come from wise parents and notable educators….and from watching our hapless compatriots bungle and stumble.

    Always good to see your sage advice sprinkled with humor.

  3. *** dear sleep-depraved ***
    .
    “You might think that this would be a reference to In the book he relates a story about Abraham Lincoln, who, when asked if he were to race to cut a tree down, how he would do it.”
    .
    Some wisdom/humor columnists are comfortable with ‘that this’.
    I tend toward one or the other:
    * ‘you might think that would be a reference..’
    * ‘you might think this would be a reference…’
    .
    As always, I think today’s column is fine as-is.

  5. Your windmill meme brings to mind a couple of travel stories I can tell on my wife, since she lacks the good taste to be a WW&W reader.

    First story: she and I are driving from northeast Indiana into northwest Ohio on US 30 one day. As soon as you cross the state line into Buckeye-land, there’s windmills everywhere, since Ohio no doubt subsidizes the damned things lavishly. As I drive, I notice that there’s a closely spaced row of four of them, three of which are churning away, and one is stationary. I can see no sign of maintenance work underway, and I’m thinking this is pretty odd, as the four were close enough together that you’d think they were all experiencing the same wind conditions. I remark on this to my wife, who says, “Maybe they just didn’t turn that one on.”

    Second story: some years ago, I was driving to Indianapolis with my wife and my grownup daughter (riding in the back seat). I stopped for gas at an exit which also has a “family restaurant” having a little playground out back, undoubtedly to attract travelers with restless children. For some reason, this playground features an enormous fiberglass rooster (maybe to make people hungry for chicken, who knows?). As my womenfolk returned to the car from the restroom, my wife pointed at the giant artificial poultry and said, “Look at that rooster!”

    My daughter, sarcastic as always, replied, “How do you know it’s a rooster?”

    My wife, with her hand sketching an imaginary comb over her head: “Because he’s got a big old cock on him!”

    For the remaining hour-and-a-half of that trip, every time I looked in the rear-view mirror, I made eye contact with my daughter, and we both “lost it” into uncontrollable laughter. And my poor wife still pays the price almost every time the family gets together. My daughter is merciless.

    1. I hate to spoil your sport about the windmills, but they ARE turned on and off as needed. Or, as “profitable”, to be more precise. If the power market is saturated, they might as well feather the blades and just let it sit, rather than put another day of wear on the gears and such. Power generated must always match power demand. There’s relatively little means of storing it, and a windmill is a lot easier to shut down than a coal, gas, or nuclear plant. (Solar panels, on the other hand, are easy to shut down. Just open the switch, and the electrons stay quietly in the panel.)

      1. I’m not sure about OH, but I know that in IN they have to turn them off at dawn and dusk (windiest times, usually) due to the fact that windmills are mini-holocausts for the Indiana bat, an endangered species.

    2. Shouldn’t tell those tales on your wife (and *really* not on your husband unless she’s (or he’s) in on the gag. Bad form.

  6. Retirement brought some revelations. One was how my working life was a continuous juggling act, and I was juggling figurative chainsaws. The juggling didn’t allow anything else but complete concentration on the juggling, and anything else became something that wasn’t as important. Sleep meant more juggling, and this sleep still demands my juggling occasionally, which means dreams of totally fubared projects, with no solution available.

    My mind wonders between wondering if I’ll ever really rest, or will the ravages of time succeed in robbing me of all my energy before I have a chance to catch up. Maybe I’ll wake up one day totally refreshed. If not, I need to go mix some more gas.

  7. KETO might be the fountain of youth. Carbs in overkill will go right to the waistline and this increases dullness of the mind.
    The most potent weapon in your arsenal should always be the mind.
    It is sad to see shuffling zombies with submission masks on but they can’t be helped.
    They were made that way for a reason and won’t wake up until it is too late.
    Old movies before the woke plague are good for morale booster and some of the later George Carlin routines.
    A good nap, even if it is less than 2 hours, will help with the sleep deficit and the weekend is a great time to catch up on sleep.

      1. I too like carbs, and while I was able to nearly live on carbs alone when younger, it’s not so much that way now. :-/

        I’ve taken to drinking my carbs, by way of good beer – on the rare occasion that I have to choose methods of ingestion. 😉

  8. No one “takes” a picture of Chuck Norris.
    His aura bitchslaps an impression onto film and microchips.

    Little Known Fact: Chuck Norris runs a rehab clinic for mimes. The graduates become auctioneers.

    In space, Chuck Norris can hear you scream. And you will.

    When he was in the military, Chuck Norris went swimming in Tokyo Bay.
    Godzilla realized it was time to get out of Chuck’s pool.

    Chuck once went camping in the Pacific Northwest.
    That’s why you’ll never find Bigfoot; it’s extinct. Now.

    There was a short-lived plan to make Predator 3 with Chuck.
    But test audiences didn’t like a 3-minute movie where he roundhouse kicked the Predator, and killed it, so they cancelled it.

    Part of the as-yet-unrevealed backstory of John Wick:
    Young John training under Chuck Norris.

    Chuck Norris scares the hell out of some people.
    He also scares some people out of Hell.
    We call them “ghosts”.

    2. When Chuck Norris went to donate blood he told the nurse to put away the needle, saying “I brought my own.” Then he handed her a bucket and a gun.

      Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

      When Chuck Norris was born, the only person who cried was the doctor. Never slap Chuck Norris.

      Some kids pee their name in the snow. Chuck Norris can pee his name into concrete.

      If you want a list of Chuck Norris’ enemies, just check the extinct species list.

      Chuck Norris proved that we are alone in the universe. We weren’t before his first space expedition.

  9. A minor quibble on your Red Dwarf quote:
    Yes, it’s a line from RD, but was uttered by ‘The Cat’. The last surviving member of the Felix Sapiens species.

  10. Chuck Norris was born May 6th 1945
    The Nazis surrendered May 7th 1945
    Coincidence?
    I don’t think so.

  11. John, I think your advice is really good. It is wild how sometimes people have similar ideas at the same time. The msm has become pure gibberish. Earlier today I wrote a comment elsewhere I hope relates and will post below. It also touches upon where it seems things are going and also makes me think of your recent article about shortages.

    “ Bifurcation amongst the hospitals is what is so desperately needed. We need to establish safe zones where our dignity is respected. Something like a society existing within a society.

    The Doctor Inflicted Tyranny has become so grotesque that at all levels within it they only speak to us in terms of gibberish. Whether it be their upper level mouth pieces Joe Biden or the MSM or the even the local doctor at the local hospital. As they have the country operating at only a fraction of its potential capacity with ridiculous mandates because of the supposed “covid” immigrants unchecked for disease are invited and allowed to flood the border. As of this moment 10,500 Haitians have assembled under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas expecting admittance. https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/09/no_author/are-the-unvaccinated-a-threat-to-others/

    Lew Rockwell recently posted an article “Are the unvaccinated a threat to others?” In it he replies to the nonsensical assertions the vaccinated have against unvaccinated. Several commenters grounded to reality made comments such as “ There is no path to herd immunity through using a “vaccinating agent” which does not confer immunity. Why is this even being discussed?”
    https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/09/no_author/are-the-unvaccinated-a-threat-to-others/

    As I mention in a comment above, there is no mathematical way based on the established time frame that ANY vaccine could have passed long term trials and yet the establishment under the Doctor Inflicted Tyranny claims that there has been approval.

    For so long as we allow ourselves to be ruled over by an imbecilic psychotic nanny Doctor Inflicted Tyranny who gets away with speaking to us in nonsensical gibberish there is no alternative but for the country to collapse and the rule of law no longer exist. Our country simply devolved into rule by thugs who for the time being present as having some sort of tactical militaristic advantage.”

  12. Stolen from Casey Klahn at American Digest, who got it from a T-shirt at a gun show:
    What started out as a pandemic morphed into an IQ test.

  13. Concur in the lists… I use them regularly and also start with something easy to get motivated to tackle the rest.
    Ditto NPR. I used to listen to it on my morning drive. At first (1997 when I arrived in USA) it was ok and reminded me of the BBC I’d grown up with; I would even spot them $50 annually. By about 2005 I was noticing increasing bias and stopped financial aid. By 2009 I was timing it to see how long it would be before an LGBTQ-based article was on. Then I would switch channels to local talk radio which I detested due to the demagoguery of the host (Bortz) and the commercials, but ok slant and good traffic reoorts. Pretty soon, I was switching channels within the first third of my 30 min drive. Once the drivel was immediate on starting the car… I quit.
    Who even listens to them any more?
    Differ

  14. Sir,
    How thoughtful this post was…. my beloved wife and I have long since concluded that keeping ourselves sharp was of paramount importance, but we arrived at that idea through experience (‘Where’s your Messiah now, Flanders?’). The thing is, that regular exercising of the faculties is the difference between intelligent (and efficient) problem-solving, and the endless careening from crisis to crisis that many people endure (and become addicted to; all that drama is intoxicating).
    Of course, GIGO is still a thing; the quality of one’s decisions is a function of the quality of the information upon which they are based. NPR, like the CBC, is no longer a useful source of balanced, thoughtful information; the implicit (and up-your-nose nature) of their bias taints whatever value may still be gained from the listening. Understanding, and being able to accurately identify, this truth, is the key to avoiding the dullness such garbage must result in.
    Your observations are right on; the self-referencing, checks, reverse-examinations, all these ensure that the proper track is the one being followed. So many are oblivious to their plight; it is ironic that in an age where narcissism and self-absorption are so prevalent, those most afflicted are those least aware.
    My goodness, I do go on. Suffice to say that it is heartening to know that we are not alone in our solitude, if you will; that others are equally aware, and firing on the number of cylinders needed to accurately see what is happening.
    Not all who wander are lost.

    Thank you, as ever, for your crystalline insights.

    1. Thank you! Yes, I find that management by crisis is where my life is at the very worst. I don’t like the stress of “urgent because it is urgent.”

      1. Same, same. I have an ex-wife that was a real drama queen. Emphasis on ‘Ex-‘. If there wasn’t any current drama, she’d find a way to make some. For a time, as a young and foolish fellow – it was exciting.

        After a while, it got old, and expensive – as she liked to shop when restless (and she was restless when there was no drama). This was fixed by a very expensive divorce. And did I mind that it was expensive? Some, but I took solace in it being worth every penny. 😉

  15. I add stuff to my lists after I have done it, just so that I can cross it off.

    I wonder about natural immunity. I went and got an antibody test recently. Nothing. A year and a half of me living a normal life, not wearing a mask unless absolutely required to, not wearing a mask in my own business including interactions with customers who almost never wore masks, shaking hands like normal after the first couple months, and apparently I’ve never had the Wuhan Flu. Maybe I’m just lucky or maybe I have that immunity. No idea how you tell. Also no intention of getting the vaccine. Work situation is starting to get squirrely (I got a medical exemption the other day, need to drop it off at HR, and then wait to see if they “approve” it. Yes, true statement. Even though my doctor signed a letter, they don’t have to approve it. Public school teacher.)

    Today, off to make applesauce and cider. I have two hundred year old trees and many, many apples. Going to experiment with cooking the apples in my Instant Pot, which will cut over an hour off each batch. Hopeful. While the IP is cooking, I’ll be running other apples through my juicer for the cider. Going to shoot for five gallons of alcoholic cider. Although I’m not sure if I have yeast. Oh well, once the juice is in the carboy I can get yeast in town later this week.

    1. Not a brewer or distiller, but grapes provide their own yeast via the skins. I could be wrong, but I would expect the same would be true for apples. Thus cooking them first would probably kill the yeast and defeat the process. Crushing them whole, and then fermenting them, IIRC, is the approved method. You can add raisins and package yeast to the crushed apple juice, along with brown sugar to give the yeast something more to work with, and cinnamon for flavor. Figure on about 40 apples per gallon. You heat the juice slightly to aid in flavoring, and speed the fermentation once it’s bottled, but slightly warm only, not boiling. Once it’s bottled, 2-4 weeks in a cool dry place finishes the process.

      Save the sterilization for the implements, jugs, and bottles you use, prior to adding the product.

      I defer to a more precise explanation from those who do this sort of thing, but that’s my understanding of the correct process.

      1. To clarify, quantity two, age one hundred years.

        Appreciate the note Aesop. I’ve been doing this stuff for years but I wasn’t clear. I don’t cook the apples for cider. That is for the applesauce. I run the apples for cider through my Breville juicer, add yeast and a bit of sugar. I suppose I could just crush them but then I’d need large containers to make small amounts of cider.

        Put in about three hours this morning and I now have 5 quarts of applesauce and one gallon of cider. The Instant Pot is definitely quicker (and easier and tidier) for the applesauce but it is a bit smaller than the stock pot so you have to run it more. Also three hours included cleaning everything, so there’s that. If you want details you can head over to my blog where I did a full post with pictures.

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  18. As always, you spark several thoughts and recollections.

    The NYT OpEd email turned me into a conservative in the early 2000’s. I’d moved from Alaska to Missouri, and I thought I’d better get sophisticated by subscribing. Their opeds were so … wrong. They started my journey.

    Seven habits: your decision to control what you care about comes from there – being mindful of your circle of influence vs your circle of concern and acting within the circle of influence. You must be a highly effective blogger.

    Sharpening the saw: I’m seeing this post late because I just got back from a weekend solo camping. It’s how I unplug… although there were Poptarts and Chips Ahoy involved. And a hammock.

    1. Good for you! I haven’t been camping in forever. Mebbee I need to grab Pugsley and hit the forest. Great idea. Thank you.

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