Brian Johnson explores Covey's seventh habit through a parable about a man too busy to sharpen his dull saw. He reframes "hero" as someone who builds strength through love and compassion, not dominance, and argues that renewal and deliberate self-maintenance are how you become one.
You're watching an Optimize One with Brian Johnson. Unlock the full Optimize experience and join over 10,000 premium members at Optimize Me. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Stephen Covey's seventh habit of highly effective people is to sharpen the saw. He tells us about the importance of renewal if we want to stay at our best and shares this parable to bring the point home. He tells us to imagine walking into a forest and you see a guy sawing a tree. He's working and working and working, but not getting very far. His blade is clearly dull, so you suggest he step back and sharpen the saw a bit. He says that's simply not possible. He's way too busy to slow down to sharpen anything really. But with a sharp blade, you'd hammer right through that tree. So the question for today is, which guy are you? And what's one tiny little easy thing you could start doing today that would help you build a chainsaw? Let's do that. One, one, one. Do you know what the word hero meant in ancient Greek? Get this. It didn't mean tough guy or killer of bad guys. It meant protector. A hero has strength for two. A hero's secret weapon, Love, Compassion, Empathy. Quite simply, a hero cares. And very importantly, a hero is willing to do the work required to optimize and build the strength to make a difference in their families, communities and world. And you know what? Our world needs heroes. Today more than ever before, we need you to be a hero. And helping you optimize your life so you can actualize your heroic potential is what optimize is all about. We have dozens of what we call wisdom packs to help you optimize every facet of your life. From getting more clarity on your purpose, to setting and achieving goals, dialing in your energy with the best wisdom on nutrition or movement, sleep and meditation, and creating grounded confidence and the ability to show up at your best day in and day out. Our wisdom packs are filled with hundreds of philosopher's notes, which are 20 minute book summaries that help you apply the most powerful ideas from the best books to your life today. And members get dozens of hour long masterclasses to master the most important facets of their lives. Every hero has a guide on their hero's journey. Harry Potter had Dumbledore, Dorothy had the Good Witch of the North, Luke Skywalker had Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda. I'm kinda like your virtual Obi Wan with a little less hair and well, no lightsabers, but otherwise. Or perhaps more accurately, I'm kind of like your philosopher guide who stuffs your wisdom packs with all the best ancient wisdom, modern science, and practical tools from all the best Yodas, Dumbledores, and good witches out there so that you're supercharged and ready to rock your epic, heroic quest. If that sounds like fun, we'd love to have you join us. Optimize your heroic potential. Actualized it.
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