The ‘Chopping Wood’ Secret to Success
Just keep swinging
Couple weeks ago, an arborist came over and fell a handful of Lombardy Poplars in our yard.
The trees were largely dead and wreaking havoc on the baseball field next door… often blowing big chunks at the kids rounding second and third.
Needless to say, it was time for them to come down.
Fortunately for us, we were able to keep all the wood. Some of it in the form of woodchips and the rest in big, unsplit rounds. The woodchips we’ll use to mulch our garden and the rest we’ll use to heat our home. Not a bad deal for the Manifest homestead at all.
But now we have all this wood we need to split, chop, and stack before winter. Otherwise, it won’t be any good to us. So for the past week or so, I’ve been out there Lumber-Danning and splitting wood the best I can.
Empowering? Yes.
A vision fulfilled? Damn straight.
Tough as fuck? You bet your ass it is.
But it’s also taught me an invaluable lesson.
See, when I first started splitting the wood, it would take me forever. Still does, but at first, I didn’t know it. I would swing and swing and swing at the wood to no avail. 5, 10, 15 strikes later, nothing. No splits. No cracks. Nada.
I felt like it was pointless, but I kept swinging anyway.
Then, something happened. Suddenly, a tiny little crack appeared. And with each succeeding strike, the crack would get a little bigger. Then a little bigger and a little bigger until BAM! The wood would finally split.
At first, I thought it would take no more than a few strikes to split the wood. I was wrong. In reality, it could take 10, 20, 30 strikes, or more. But eventually, the wood would always split. It was just a matter of more strikes.
And so it is with your goals in life.
Too often, people fail to keep trying. They take a swing at their goal and then quit when they find out how hard it is. From where they stand, success just doesn’t seem possible.
But what they fail to recognize is that, with each attempt, they’re making an impact. They might not be able to see that impact. They might not be able to feel that impact. But the impact is happening all the same.
And with continued effort, that impact becomes so great, the ‘splitting’ is inevitable… and the goal is finally achieved.
So the next time you’re having trouble with your goals, remember the ‘Chopping Wood’ secret to success…
As long as you keep striking, you will succeed.
Of that, I am certain.
Halt right there!
If you enjoyed this article, why not show it some love or share your thoughts below? Either way, you’re awesome & I appreciate you reading 😊
