Leverage Through People

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Summary

Let's speak to 2 different types of fears that stop people from seeking leverage. Leverage may help you overcome some of the fears and yes they are fears, but once you take that first step and overcome them, you will never go back.  Your life will change so drastically when you are able to run everything you do through a funnel and focus on the items that make up the 20% big rocks that will make you happy, grow your business or further you in your career and improve your relationships. If you make a list of the tasks that must be done in your personal life and highlight the ones that could easily be done by someone else you will be amazed how few things are left   Once you have the list made then go through and think about who you could recruit to do some of these items.  If cost is what is stopping you then think a bit outside the box.  Do you have kids that could step up or maybe even neighbor kids that can be hired extremely inexpensively?  Even if you could just take one or two of the things off your list for now wouldn’t that be a drastic time saver?  Do you know the story of someone who was in the process of building a business and was extremely busy, but very aware of what they ate, yet did not like to cook?  Well they found a chef in training at the local culinary school who needed the opportunity to practice. Plus they got to put the title of private chef on their resume at graduation.  No extra cost as the groceries they would be buying anyway.  Oh, which by the way the student would go shopping and all it cost was a fantastic letter of recommendation. 

 If you are a business owner, a manager of a fortune 500 company or you are the greatest mom in the world (the toughest of all those jobs).  You may believe or have at least convinced yourself that no one can do it but you, or it is just easier to do it themselves.  Well I am here to tell you that is a bunch of BS.  You may learn that not only can someone else do it, but find the right person, they will likely do it better.  Do you know how cool it is to surround yourself with people that are better than you at a ton of stuff?   The pressure it relieves and the speed at which you can reach your goals is tremendous.   All of a sudden you have more than just you to visualize and to be working towards the same end result.  You don’t have to do it all and in fact you shouldn’t do it all.  By doing everything you will hit your ceiling of achievement way too soon and find yourself frustrated because you are tapped out on time and talent.

Inspirational Quotes

Full Transcript

Have you ever wished that you had the ability to clone yourself into about 4 people so that you could get all of the projects done that you needed to and more importantly be able to work on the things that move you closer to the path that you want to follow in life?

Well, you kind of can.  Using people to gain massive leverage in every part of our lives has got to be one of the greatest gifts ever.  This is a lesson that I was slow to learn, and it was not because a ton of coaches, mentors, friends and family members didn’t try to educate me.  I was just too stubborn to listen and I am sure that I had a list of excuses as long as my arm as to why I shouldn’t do this or why it wouldn’t work for me.  Even though it had worked for millions of people much smarter and more successful than myself…likely because they learned to leverage.

When you leverage people it has so many wins that are tied to it.  First off you gain valuable time in your days, weeks, months and year that you can use for things that are much better suited to your passions.  Secondly, it can provide another person a way to gain knowledge in an area that maybe they are interested in becoming more proficient at.  It may even provide an income to another family or individual that desperately needs it, depending how you structure your arrangement.

I know that many of you, like myself, when I was first presented with the idea of bringing others into my circle to help with various projects, I thought, well, there is no way that I can afford to hire someone.  We will challenge that objection later.  You may be thinking that no one can do it but you, or that you would just have to do it over, when they screw it up.  That is your ego speaking and we will address that as well. Finally, when none of those excuses panned out there is always the I wouldn’t have the slightest idea where to find someone…Nope, that one won’t work either.

I am going to talk about 2 different types of people-leverage that may help you overcome some of the above fears and yes they are fears, but once you take that first step and overcome them, you will never go back.  Your life will change so drastically when you are able to run everything you do through a funnel and focus on the items that make up the 20% big rocks that will make you happy, grow your business or further you in your career and improve your relationships.

Number one – I am going to start with the one that most people leave for last because they carry great guilt over having someone else shoulder these responsibilities.  In my opinion though, this can be one of the greatest opportunities to give yourself some personal freedom, which in turn can give you more quality time with family and friends.  I am sure you have figured out where I am going with this…yep, the things around your home.   I would bet if I could see you and I asked how many of you spent your weekend doing yard work, cleaning the house or the garage that a pretty large majority of you would have to admit that this was you.  Don’t get me wrong if you love to do those things and it is your pride at the end of the weekend that you have the cleanest bathroom in your subdivision then you just keep at it.  I know I may sound like I am poking fun, and I don’t mean to but truthfully there are very few people that when I ask that question sit up taller with their chin held high and shout out “I do”.  No, most people actually drop their shoulders and their chins and raise their hands as if you had just made them confess to stealing the last cookie out of the cookie jar.

I will tell you that if you make a list of the tasks that must be done in your personal life and highlight the ones that could easily be done by someone else you will be amazed how few things are left that you absolutely must do.  You truly should make this list and don’t think about who is going to do the tasks and if it will cost money or where you might find these people…just make the list.

Once you have the list made then go through and think about who you could recruit to do some of these items.  If cost is what is stopping you then think a bit outside the box.  Do you have kids that could step up or maybe even neighbor kids that can be hired extremely inexpensively?  Even if you could just take one or two of the things off your list for now wouldn’t that be a drastic time saver?  Then as time moves forward you will often find ways to leverage out other pieces.   I even know of someone who was in the process of building his business and was extremely busy but very aware of what he ate, yet he did not like to cook.  He found a chef in training at the local culinary school who was extremely grateful for the opportunity to practice and he got to put the title of being a private chef on his resume when he graduated.  The only cost was the groceries which he would be buying anyway.  Oh, which by the way the student would go shopping for him and all it cost was a fantastic letter of recommendation when he finished.  The student would come by 3 days a week and prepare all his meals for the week. He did this for multiple semesters getting a new experience and amazing food prepared for him.

If hiring someone is an option, then make the list of what companies or individuals you know of that would be good to consider.  If you don’t know of anyone, then get online and start reading reviews of companies that service your neighborhood.  It could be for weekly yard maintenance, pool maintenance, housecleaning, grocery shopping, picking up the dry cleaning or any other of 50 errands that come up every week.  I can bet you that you could group all your errands that required driving in one batch and find a teenager that is just dying for a reason to hit the road and they would jump at the chance and it may only cost you a tank of gas and a pizza.    

My point is that there are ways to reduce the amount of task clutter in your personal world giving you your evenings and weekends to do things that are more important to your well being and likely your relationships.

Number two – this is where I want to jump into your work world.  This means if you are a business owner, a manager of a fortune 500 company or you are the greatest mom in the world, which in my opinion is the toughest of all those jobs.  As opposed to the above examples where I truly feel that people don’t incorporate help out of guilt or a feeling of obligation, I think the big reason here is what I referenced earlier.  They genuinely believe or have at least convinced themselves that no one can do it but them, or it is just easier to do it themselves.  Well I am here to tell you that is bunch of BS…sorry to be so frank, but I wrote that excuse.  What I learned is that not only can I do it, but if I find the right person, they will likely do it better than I could ever dream of doing it.  Do you know how cool it is to surround yourself with people that are better than you at a ton of stuff?   The pressure it relieves and the speed at which you can reach your goals is tremendous.   Suddenly you have more than just you, to visualize and to be working towards the same end result.  You don’t have to do it all and in fact you shouldn’t do it all.  You will hit your ceiling of achievement way to soon and find yourself frustrated because you are tapped out on time and talent.  So, don’t be like I was and decide where your shortcomings are you will go learn, because it probably is not a good use of your time and you are just getting that much more behind and stretched that much thinner.   

So if you are not yet in a position to hire a team that is ok…again make that list of everything that you do and highlight what you could have someone else do, either because they could do it faster or at a higher level or because you are better served to be doing something else.   There are inexpensive ways to acquire help.  Virtual assistants can be a great way to start getting support and they are project driven and typically much less expensive.  You do need to be prepared to be very clear on what you want and what your expectation is.  Another great option in an intern.  If you are in a city that has a college or university, they are a fabulous outlet for talent that needs on the job experience.  Contact the department that you feel would have the best fit of students for what you are looking for and I will bet that you will find interns looking for chances to gain experience and they will usually get credit for it or earn hours towards their degrees.

Finally, take a look around you and evaluate who you network with and what strengths they hold.  They may own businesses that do what you are looking for.  Often trading skills can be a great way to get some of those jobs you need done moving forward.  Sometimes, it can even work well to share an employee if you are in an industry that requires the same support but maybe you don’t need them full time, but the skill set is the same for both business owners.  This is a wonderful way to just lean into having help and learning what works best for you and what you might want to change in the future in regard to leveraging support.

I really hope that this has been helpful and has given you some ideas for how you can leverage people and in turn gain some personal freedom and potentially time to further your dreams and ambitions.  Please put your comments and questions below so I can answer them personally.   I would love for you to like or share this post so we can continue to serve.

Remember the choice is always yours to Focus Forward!