Sharpen Your Axe

6 May 2023 · 1 min

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0:47

A short motivational/business talk using King Solomon's 'sharpen your axe' metaphor to argue that improving skill and efficiency (rather than brute force) reduces effort. The speaker gives concrete ways to 'sharpen' — e.g., expand vocabulary, read and write more, listen to others, observe salespeople — and emphasizes attentive listening as key in sales.

Chapters

King Solomon was the wisest, wealthiest man who ever lived. He said, if you sharpen your axe, you don't have to put as much strength to the task. So many people are working far too hard because their axe is not sharp. Here's what we got to do. We all have to sharpen our axe. What does sharpening your axe look like? Well, in business, it looks like becoming more proficient and more efficient in all of the things you do in your business. For me, I communicate. So how do I sharpen my axe? I increase my vocabulary. I listen to other people speak. I read a lot, I write a lot. That's how I sharpen my axe. Whatever you do, if you're in sales, one of the things you have to do is you have to watch people sell. You have to sell yourself and you have to, most importantly, listen to people. What people say when you are selling to them, you'll listen closely enough, people will tell you everything you need to know or sell them. Darpen, your axe don't have to work as hard.