My favorite analogy regarding continuing education goes like this: A man spends hours chopping down a tree with an ax that has become dull. Another person walks by and says, “Sir, why don’t you sharpen your ax?” The man replies, “I can’t stop for a moment because I need to chop this tree down quickly.” He could have chopped the tree down in half the time if he had stopped for a few minutes, sharpened his tool, and resumed. I understand the importance of stopping to learn and keeping my tools sharp in real estate, and it has worked out very well for my career.