How Do You Know Your Axe Is Sharp?
A call to leaders who refuse to drift.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about sharpness — about staying ready, focused, and effective.
It’s easy to lose your edge without realizing it. You get busy. Tired. Distracted.
And suddenly you’re swinging an axe that used to cut clean and now barely makes a dent.
This thought stuck with me so much that I ended up texting the Grow or Die Club about it the other day:
“At the Ruck, I was telling Devin how tough it is to stay sharp these days. So many people are dull mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, professionally, relationally, and the list goes on. I don’t want to be dull. I want to fight to stay sharp. The world needs leaders who will sharpen their axe (grow) every day. Let’s be those leaders.”
Most people don’t realize their edge is dull until something breaks.
It made me step back and ask:
How do you actually know if your axe is sharp?
When Your Axe Is Sharp, the Work Moves With You
A sharp axe doesn’t remove effort. It makes your effort count.
You swing with rhythm, not desperation.
You hit the wood and feel it respond.
You’re not forcing everything. You’re aligned.
In everyday life, that sharpness shows up in simple ways:
You make decisions without being paralyzed
Conversations build trust instead of confusion
Your habits repeat because they fit your identity
Opportunities move toward you because you’re consistent
You feel energized by the day, not drained by it
A sharp axe takes the same amount of effort. It just creates more impact.
Your life always mirrors the sharpness of your habits.
A Dull Axe Works Against You
Any woodsman will tell you: a dull axe is dangerous.
You swing harder.
You grip tighter.
You sweat more.
And you get far less done.
Life works the same way:
You overreact to things that shouldn’t bother you
You procrastinate simple tasks
Everything feels heavier than it should
Your patience gets thin
You lose clarity and drift into survival mode
If everything feels harder than it should, it’s not because life got heavier. It’s because your blade got dull.
The danger of a dull axe isn’t that it slows you down.
It’s that it convinces you to keep swinging even though you’re not cutting anything.
Sharpness Is a Discipline, Not a Feeling
You don’t stay sharp by accident. You stay sharp on purpose.
Why Sharpening Matters and What It Always Requires
Abraham Lincoln said,
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
People quote that line all the time, but they forget the principle behind it.
Sharpening has always required the same things:
Attention — noticing when the edge is fading
Intention — slowing down to address it instead of ignoring it
Friction — the pressure that creates improvement
Consistency — steady passes, not rushed effort
Maintenance — protecting what makes you effective
Anything with an edge grows dull without intention, including you.
The methods may look different today, but the principle behind sharpening has stayed the same.
You don’t wait until the moment you need strength to prepare for it.
You sharpen before you swing.
Dullness Shows Up Before You Notice It
You don’t go dull in a moment.
You go dull in a drift.
Here’s how it shows up:
You’re busy but not productive
You can’t name your top priorities
Emotions get loud, clarity gets quiet
You choose ease over growth
You avoid conversations you need to have
You lose passion for things that used to matter
Dullness always whispers before it shouts.
A Simple Rhythm That Keeps Your Edge
There are countless ways to sharpen your life: habits, workouts, prayer, reading, community, solitude, accountability, reflection.
But here’s a rhythm that sharpens people faster than almost anything else:
End your day with a 5 minute review.
Every night:
Write your top 3 wins from today
Write your top 3 priorities for tomorrow
Identify one adjustment that will make you sharper
Five minutes a day keeps your blade aligned with your mission.
It keeps you intentional instead of reactive.
It turns growth into a lifestyle instead of a moment.
Your Axe Tells the Truth
Most people blame the tree.
Leaders inspect the blade.
Your energy, impact, clarity, and effectiveness all come back to the same question:
Is your axe sharp?
(If you’re unsure, look at your habits. They’re the blade of your leadership. You can’t fake sharpness. Your habits always tell the truth).
Because if it’s not, you’ll always work harder than you need to.
And if it is, even the hard things start to move.
Check your blade today.
Don’t wait until it costs you.
Do one thing today that sharpens your edge.
Stay sharp.
Fight for it daily.
And help others do the same. 💯