The Lumberjack Story

There was once a lumberjack who needed money badly. He was hardworking, but no matter how hard he worked, he could not cut down trees fast enough to make both ends meet. He then heard that there was a new technology called the chainsaw, which could cut down trees three times faster than what he could do manually.

He hurriedly went to the hardware store to buy a chainsaw, went back home, and excitedly used the equipment without reading the instruction manual on how to use it. After few hours, he went back to the owner of the hardware store frustrated, with hands bleeding. He angrily shouted, "Your chainsaw does not work! Instead of cutting down the tree half the time, it was taking longer than how I used to do it!" Then the hardware store owner asked him what he was doing with the chainsaw. "I was using it just like an ax, hammering it away against the tree trunk, but the chainsaw was not sharp enough to bring down the tree!" Hearing that, the hardware store owner picked up the chainsaw, pulled the string, and got the motor running - Vrroomvroomvroooooooooooooooooooom!

Sometimes, we are just like lumberjack - so eager to earn, but neglecting to learn. We need to learn before we canearn. People often complain that they are too busy to learn, and that seminar fees and books are too expensive. People often complain aboutthe high cost of education and learning, but allow me to reason with you about the high cost of ignorance.

I have witnessed many people who joined the business without understanding and learning its fundamentals. Instead of making some money, they lost a lot of money. Instead of gaining more friends, the lost all their friends. Instead of making their dreams come true, their dreams became nightmare.