THE POWER of PLANNING, 3.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." - Abraham Lincoln

Laura M. Stack, is a capacity development expert, otherwise called "The Productivity Pro" She said "Planning will keep you on course in achieving your goals and objectives."

Did you hear, Abraham Lincoln? "If I had six hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first four sharpening the axe..." what an instruction. Dale Carnegie told a story of two men who were out chopping wood. One man worked hard all day, took no breaks, and only stopped briefly for lunch. The other chopper took several breaks during the day and a short nap at lunch. At the end of the day, the woodsman who had taken no breaks was quite disturbed to realize that, the other guy had cut more wood. "I don’t understand. Every time I looked around, you were sitting down, yet you cut more wood than I did.", he lamented. His companion asked, "Did you also notice that while I was sitting down, I was sharpening my axe?"

Laura M. Stack makes reference to the fact that Steven Covey, calls planning "Sharpening the axe" You have to take time, to make time. Planning is the difference between being REACTIVE and PROACTIVE. When you don’t plan, you end up reacting, instead of responding to daily events as they occur.

A few things in life can only be done for you - PLANNING is chief among them. A wise man said, "It pays to plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark." A goal without a plan, Antoine de Saintis said, "Is just a wish." And, in the words of Rick Riordan, "Always, Always have a plan"