
The Blacksmith
Life is not unlike molten iron or wet clay. In it’s natural state it, is without form and meaning.
Let’s take a second to look at a blacksmith’s process. He heats up the ore in preparation, filters out impurities, adds important strengthening elements, pours the molten magma into a mould, then proceeds to beat the iron into the perfect shape he wants. This is when a sword, knife, cutlery can be useful and deemed completed.
I’ve been thinking a lot about systems in business and life in general, and I realized that getting the results you want takes a lot of hard, deliberate, and unpleasant effort. You can’t simply leave things (your organization, your life, your career, your family) to be in their natural state. You have to filter out impurities (bad habits, people, environments etc.), add important elements (education, good habits etc.), pour it into a mould (build a system that defines acceptable behaviour), and beat it into a perfect shape (constantly improve and optimize to get the results you want.)
In the beginnings of building anything, a lot of hard work is required. You can easily see how hard at work a blacksmith is by looking up videos on YouTube. However, the end result justifies the hardwork.
Alas, one thing you have to be mindful of is the constant sharpening of your systems. A perfectly smithed knife will go blunt with use. So also, your systems will go blunt and even corrode without constant sharpening and care.
Work hard to build systems. Continue putting in the work to ensure they remain sharp and effective. Never stop optimizing.