You may have heard the saying:
Do what you do best. Delegate the rest.
It’s catchy. It sounds good. It even rhymes.
We should follow that advice, right?
I believed so. The advice sounds great. I can do the things that I do great. The other tasks, I can get off my plate by getting rid of those tasks.
This approach is based on the belief that doing what you enjoy will bring you extra income, business capital, and more. It will free you up to do what you excel at.
But…
What if what you do well isn’t what you enjoy? What if what you do well is enjoyable but you need a break from it?
Then you’ve got a problem if you follow the advice of doing what you do best and delegating the rest.
We’ve been told to delegate or outsource tasks within and outside our businesses. For example, I’ve had people tell me to outsource my lawn care service, home appliance repair, and car repair.
As I’ve thought about taking some of those things off of my plate, I think about what those tasks bring me. Sure, there’s a bit of frustration when one of those tasks doesn’t go well. However, when I complete one of those tasks, I feel accomplished, proud, and excited. I realize I can do the things I didn’t think I could do.
I would lose the reward of those feelings.
I might spend more time on a task. I might even find myself bloodied. Or I could find myself looking at another repair because the first didn’t work.
I want to remind you that your reward isn’t always in making more money. It’s not in finding more value. It’s not about no longer working.
Your reward can be the feeling you get from a job well done. It could be from accomplishing something you thought you couldn’t.
Don’t fall into the trap of delegating everything or finding the most efficient method of completing a task.
There’s joy, reward even, in the process. Find the reward in what you enjoy doing.
Remember, the greatest reward isn’t always money, time freedom, or recognition. Sometimes, your greatest reward will be the self-satisfaction of a job well-done by your own two hands.
