The expectations of life depend upon diligence the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.

Preparation is not separate from the work; it is the part that decides what the work can be. Time spent on the tools looks like delay and behaves like a multiplier, and people who skip it spend their effort fighting their own equipment. Tools here means anything you work through: your skills, your health, your attention, the systems you lean on daily.

Name the blunt tool you have been working around for months. Spend an afternoon this week sharpening it instead of pushing harder with it, and count what that returns over the next month.