My friend Mark Victor Hansen has achieved some remarkable success (including selling
130+ million copies of the Chicken Soup books) and there's no question that he had
to build a great team to do it. In this excerpt from his great newsletter,
Rich Results, he talks about the
importance of concentrating on what you do best and letting others do the rest.
In my experience, this is one of the very best (and most important) lessons you
can learn that will instantly translate to success. Within weeks, and even days,
of adopting this principle, you will begin to see dramatic increases in production
and results. Put it to work today!
"Focusing on your primary goal is your job - it is what you have to devote most
of your time to. You can't be great at everything, so while you're concentrating
on what you need to do, hire others to do the things you don't have time to do,
or aren't talented at doing.
For example, if someone's primary goal is to write a book, that's what they need
to focus on - writing. If they are spending the majority of their time balancing
books and sorting through their finances they're not writing. That person should
hire a bookkeeper - someone who has a knack for numbers.
Or take, for instance, someone is a brilliant businessperson, but they don't enjoy
(and aren't very good at) making sales calls. That person would have an experienced,
successful telemarketer or telemarketing service make their calls for them.
THIS WEEK'S LESSON:
Concentrate on What You Do Best - Pay Someone Else to Do the Rest
Why bother doing something yourself that you don't love to do, are not talented
at, and takes up your valuable time and energy?
Delegate undesirable activities to those who can do them faster and better than
you can. The principle is: delegate or stagnate.
THIS WEEK'S ACTION STEP
A good way to decide what to do with tasks is to label them as they come in - don't
let them pile up. A great system is the 4-D Formula:
1. DO IT - these are urgent tasks that need to be taken care of
right away. Take action immediately and finish the task.
2. DELEGATE IT - these are things that need to be done, but don't
have to be done by you. Hand these over to someone else immediately so you don't
have to think about them at all. Make that person responsible for these tasks from
start to finish.
3. DEFER IT - these things need to be done, but not right away.
Put them in a pile marked "later" and handle them after the urgent tasks have been
completed.
4. DUMP IT - these are things that you don't want to do and don't
necessary have to be done at all. On your computer it's the ever-present "delete"
key. That handles our junk e-mail.
As you really get going on your primary aim, the workload is going to increase.
If you are a person who wants complete control of every little thing in your life
and business you're going to be in trouble. Control is an illusion. No one controls
anyone or anything. You will need to continue to focus on your primary goal and
allow others to help you. It will help to practice the 4-D Formula."
"Build your own dream team. It starts as a concept, but it projects your future
into reality." - Mark Victor Hansen