A dull blade doesn’t just make the work harder—it makes it dangerous. In woodworking, sharp tools cut cleaner, require less effort, and give you control over the material. A dull chisel will slip, gouge, and tear where a sharp one would glide.
The same is true for your skills. If you don’t invest in sharpening your tools—your craft, your strategy, your ability to execute—everything you do will be harder than it needs to be.
Musicians practice scales, podcasters refine their storytelling, entrepreneurs sharpen their messaging. When the blade is sharp, the work flows.
Subtraction
Woodworking isn’t about adding. It’s about removing what doesn’t belong. You can’t glue sawdust back onto a plank. You work carefully, carving away excess, revealing what was always there beneath the surface.
Michelangelo said it: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” – take away the stuff that doesn’t belong, and what you’re left with is what you set out to make in the first place.
Great creative work follows the same path. Editing a song, refining a script, stripping a business down to its essential value—this is the craft of subtraction. The most powerful work isn’t about adding more; it’s about cutting away what’s unnecessary until only the essential remains.
A Cut is a Commitment
A carpenter doesn’t make a cut casually. Once you saw through wood, there’s no undo button. Each cut requires forethought and precision. Where you commit your time, energy, and focus works the same way.
Every project you take on, every creative pursuit, every “yes” you give—these are cuts in the material of your time. And just like in woodworking, some cuts open up possibilities, while others back you into a corner.
Be deliberate. Measure twice. Cut once.
The Right Level of Finish
You can sand a piece of wood forever. You can keep polishing, refining, perfecting. But at some point, you have to decide when it’s done.
Some projects demand a glossy, showroom finish. Others need just enough polish to be functional. Over-finishing it would be wasted effort.
The same is true for your work. Some things need a bit of polish; more often they just need to be shared. If you keep sanding forever, you’ll never get your ideas into the world. Flawless work is a myth–seek out the appropriate amount of doneness so you can share your work, and move on to the next project.
Work With the Grain
Wood has a grain, a natural direction in which it wants to be cut. If you fight it, you’ll get splinters and tear-outs. If you work with it, the process becomes smoother.
Creative work, businesses, and even careers have a grain too. If something feels like constant resistance, maybe you’re pushing in the wrong direction. Finding flow means recognizing where the energy already wants to go and working with it, not against it.
Build With Intention
Whether you’re shaping wood or shaping your career, the principles are the same:
- Keep your tools sharp. Master your craft.
- Remove what’s unnecessary. Simplify and refine.
- Be intentional with every cut. Your time and focus are limited.
- Know when it’s done. Not everything needs endless perfection.
- Work with the grain. Flow beats friction.
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