Human Being: Different Activities

Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: Physical, Social/Emotional, Mental and Spiritual.

Physical

Physical activity involves caring effectively our physical body by eating the right kinds of food, getting sufficient rest and relaxation and exercising on regular basis. Most of us we don't have time for exercise because we think that we are too busy. We have 168 hours in a week and we can't give only 6 to7 hours in a week to our health. Exercise is very important for every person which can improve the working capacity of any individual. It's not necessary that we exercise to build our body and physical strength by using heavy weights and by joining the gymnasiums. We can also improve our capacity and strength at home by jogging or walking on daily basis. For instance a person is working in a bank then after the long working hours, he will not be able to do any exercise but if he loves to play cricket then he will definitely spare some time for this activity and he will find that his production capacity will increase day by day by the physical activity done by him.

Mental:

A large amount of our mental development comes through formal education and after our coaching. We don't really do any more serious reading neither we explore any subject outside our field of action.

Writing too is yet another powerful way to sharpen the saw. Keeping a journal of our thoughts, experiences, insights and learning promotes the mental clarity, precision and framework. Writing good letters and ideas rather than on petty events also effects our ability to think clearly, to reason accurately, and to be understood effectively.

Spiritual:

Spending time in nature, expanding spiritual self through mediation, music, art, prayer, or service can improve the leadership qualities.

Arthur Gordon has explained a wonderful story in his book a story "The Turn of the Tide". It tells the time of his life when he began to feel that everything was stale and flat and his writing efforts were not fruitful and the situation was getting worsen day by day.

Finally he determined to get help from a doctor whether he was physically fit or not, the doctor suggested him to spend the following day in the place where he was happiest as a child but he was not to talk to anyone or to read or write or listen to radio. He then wrote out four prescriptions and told him to open one at nine, twelve, three and six o'clock. According to the doctors prescription Gordon went to the beach and opened the first prescription and he read to "Listen Carefully". At that time he thought the doctor is insane but he had to obey, so he heard the sounds of the roaring seas and birds. At noon he opened the next prescription there was mentioned "Try Reaching Back". Reaching back means to remember his best moments of childhood and by remembering the past with exactness he found a growing love inside. At three he opened but it was different "Examine Your Motive" and he thought about his success, recognition, security and he justified them but at the end he realized that his motives are not good enough and that was the answer of his stagnant situation. He considered his motives deeply and at last answer came to him. In that time he wrote if the motives are wrong nothing can be right. Motives are very important in our life but we can't make it possible without motivational power and refresh mind.

Social/Emotional:

All the dimensions we discussed are related to Habit 1, 2 & 3 which are independent but this dimension is to do with the other three habits which are interdependent i.e. thinking win-win, synergize, seek first to understand; then to be understood.

Here are some examples to understand this concept. Let suppose we have a very