Get out of your way to find success

You’ve probably heard the saying: "A little bit of knowledge can be dangerous."

And it makes sense to you.

After all, there are a number of tasks every day which you muddle through, because they have to be taken care of.

Sure, there may be better ways. But hey, you are getting things done.

Other daily tasks are right down your alley. You know exactly what you have to do, to address them.

So of course you take care of those tasks, too.

Yet for some reason your business is not growing. Even though you are working your butt off every day.

No matter how many hours you put in, success is still evading you.

Then maybe the problem is not what you know, but how you apply your knowledge.

A lot of knowledge can be dangerous, too.

While a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous, a lot of knowledge can be dangerous, too.
At least, when it comes to running your business.

All it does sometimes, is make you think you can and should do it all.

Here’s your problem: you are mistaking knowledge with action.

You think because you know how to do something, you should also do it.

Wrong.

The fact that you know how to do something, doesn’t mean you should also do it.

It simply means you know how to do something. And that’s a huge difference, which I cannot emphasize enough.

Don’t do it, just because you can

So let me repeat this.

The fact that you know how to do something doesn’t mean, that you should do it.

 It’s great to have knowledge.

It’s even greater to understand when to apply it.

And right now that understanding may be missing.

It’s about focus

Are you focusing on the most important tasks with the biggest impact to move your business forward?

Or are you get stuck doing all the tasks that need to be done, because you know how to?

In fact, may be you even believe no one else can perform these tasks as well as you?

Well, it’s time to rethink.

If you are stuck doing all the mundane tasks which keep your business going, you may have become the biggest block on your way to success.

You are wasting your time with tasks that not only could, but should be done by someone else, if you want to grow.

And it’s time to do something about it.

Create a list of your tasks

Start by creating a list of all the tasks you do every day.

But don’t do it by sitting at your desk and writing down all the tasks that come to your mind right now.

Instead take notes every day for at least a week, for every task you perform, no matter how small it is. Include the starting and end time, so you can see how much time you spend on each task.

Don’t short-change yourself: if you perform a task multiple times during the day, such as checking your email, write it down every single time. Complete with the time spent.

It won’t take long for a picture to emerge.

What you do with that picture, is up to you.

But ask yourself this:

Are those tasks helping you grow your business?

Do they leave you enough time to focus on the tasks you should be doing, to bring in new customers?

Are you really the only person who can perform these tasks?

If your answer is “No” to all of these three questions, then you have become the biggest hurdle on your way to success.

Am I the best person for the job?

One of the problems for small business owners and solopreneurs with many skills is, that they find it extremely difficult to delegate.

Often this is, because you have no money when you start out. So you have to do everything yourself.

But soon things get out of hand. You end up doing all the things that need to be done, instead of all the things that should be done.

Next step: consider changing your approach.

Stop believing that just because you can do something, you should do it, too.

Figure out which jobs really have to be done by you to grow your business. And start delegating the other tasks to free up your time.

You can do this with your own employees or by employing freelancers who come in on a need base. Or who help you online.

Either way, unless you change the way you are doing things, success will continue to evade you.

So get the hell out of your way and start moving ahead.

On your own you can only get so far.