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Strategies & Market Trends : Roger's 1998 Short Picks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ploni who wrote (5244)	3/22/1998 12:48:00 PM
From: Ploni	Respond to of 18691

KEEP SKILLS HONED TO ACHIEVE GOALS by Jim Pawlak, Career Moves column Palm Beach Post, March 1, 1998 Once upon a time deep in the great north woods there lived Dickinson Wright, the self-anointed king of all lumberjacks. Packing 270 pounds of solid muscle on a 6-foot-8 frame, his mighty ax had cut a wide swath through many a stand of virgin timber. Even the mightiest of the oaks and redwoods could not withstand the awesome stroke of his blade. The people of the region were in awe of his feats. Stories of his prowess with his ax grew, as stories tend to do. Sidney, a gangly youth from the other side of the mountain, heard the stories of Dickinson Wright and was so impressed that he decided to become a lumberjack, too. He wanted to be just like Wright. He went to Wright and asked to be his apprentice. Wright responded with a smirk and a laugh, "You? An apprentice to me? Just look at you. What do you know about being a lumberjack? You're too scrawny to wield the big ax from dawn till dusk seven days a week." Undaunted, Sidney replied, "But I can learn from the king of all lumberjacks. Think of how your reputation will grow if you can turn scrawny me into a lumberjack. Besides, I can be a valuable resource to you. I can hunt, cook and clean the cabin while I train. This will give you even more time to fell virgin timber. Your legend will grow in proportion to the timber you cut." Succumbing to Sidney's flattery and recognizing the truth of his words, Wright's ego responded, "You can work with me for two years. You will do all the chores and in your spare time I will teach you about lumberjacking. At the end of your apprenticeship, we will have a contest to judge just how good you are with the big ax. The rules of the contest are simple. We will clear separate sections of oak near my cabin in one, eight-hour day. If your output equals mine you will have earned the right to call yourself a lumberjack." Sidney nodded his agreement to the one-sided terms and began his apprenticeship. He hunted, cooked and cleaned. He observed Wright's technique and first applied it to chopping kindling with a hatchet. He learned to hone the big ax to razor sharpness. Wright showed him how to chop big timber. Two years passed quickly. The night before the contest Sidney looked at his reflection in the lake as he drew water for supper. He was no longer scrawny. He had neither the height nor the weight of Dickinson Wright, but he was wiry and strong. And he was ready. The contest started at 8 a.m. Wright took the stand of oak in front of the cabin. Sidney took the stand of oak behind the cabin. At 8:55 Sidney stopped cutting and went into the cabin, ax in hand. He came out at nine. Wright just kept chopping. At five minutes to each hour Sidney would go into the cabin. On the hour he would resume cutting. Wright smiled at Sidney's five-minute breaks and just kept chopping. At the end of eight hours it was time to count output. Wright had cut 16 trees. Sidney had cut 19. Sidney was the new king of all lumberjacks. Wright was astonished and broken. Amid tears he asked, "How did you chop all those trees when you took a five-minute break each hour?" Sidney replied, "What breaks? I was sharpening my ax." The morals of the story? Often, one has to do jobs one doesn't like to do in order to open the door to opportunity. Commitment propels achievement. When odds appear stacked against you, knowledge, skill and self-confidence will create success. Work smart and hard. Keep your skills honed. Legends in their own minds usually fall victim to their egos.