Sharpen before you build

Confucius said: if a craftsman wants to do his work well, he must first sharpen his tools.

A disciple was going to take up a post and asked what to do. Confucius didn't give him a list of tasks. He told him to make himself fit for the job and to get to know the people he'd be working with.

Which is a strange answer if you think of the tool as a spreadsheet. It's the right answer if you think of the tool as yourself.

Most people preparing for something big prepare the material. The deck, the plan, the numbers, the outfit. Almost nobody spends the week before on the instrument that will actually be doing the work: sleep, attention, warmth, the ability to be in a room without needing to win it.

Then the big day comes and the material is immaculate and the person presenting is running on four hours and a disagreement from Tuesday.

Sharpen first isn't about efficiency. It's about noticing that the tool that gets dull is you.

The next thing you have coming, whatever it is, give the week before to the instrument instead of the material. Sleep, one honest conversation, one thing finished. See what the immaculate material does in the hands of somebody who is actually sharp.

MOJOWAY is that hour of sharpening on a schedule. A weekly check-in with the truth is a low-cost way to keep the instrument in condition.