Cutting Edge

In Steven Covey’s book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he highlights the habit he called “Sharpen the saw.” It’s amazing how the same thing appears over and over again in several places. George Clason states this as “Increase thy capacity to earn” in his book The Richest Man in Babylon. This is on one hand.
On the other hand, some years ago, I needed to define “Success” in a write-up of mine. I couldn’t! I wrote something like “Success, individually defined,…” One day I heard Rev Sam Adeyemi define success as the achievement of goals! So simple, simple true!
A few years after, Bishop David Oyedepo added a piece to it. He said, “Success is the achievement of goals in succession! If one keeps achieving the same thing every time period, then such may not be called success. There is need for progression in success. Weeks back, I added a little clause to my growing definition of success. I got it from Napoleon Hill. He pointed out that success must not infringe on the rights of others.
Hence, Success is the achievement of goals in succession, without infringing on the right of others. Who wants to succeed? Everyone!
As 2012 winds up, many people will inadvertently reflect on the gains (and losses) of the year, or as someone called them highlights. Some of us will look ahead into 2013 and imagine what it could hold for us. Some would go further and write goals and expectations, building on the gains of 2012. Many others will however not bother to plan either because they do not know how to plan, or because the plans never work out!
While somethings are really outside one’s circle of influence, there are many other things which we could do! I think it is good to do all you can do before asking for or expecting help to do those things which we cannot do!
If one chooses to remain at the same skill level, one should not expect miracle money! If one chooses to remain at the lowest level of excellence, one should not expect to be the preferred choice when opportunities and favours arise.

Proverbs 13:4 ==>; Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.
Sharpening the cutting edge is one of the ways by which we prepare ourselves for 2013; prepare ourselves to achieve those goals, and succeed.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”
We need to plan for self improvement for 2013. It’s only then that a personal improvement plan could be worth the effort. We could get a mentor, a trainer, enlist for a course, get some work experience, read widely, join free webinars, make new and good friends, etc.
But by all means sharpen your cutting edge!