Let’s do a little exercise here. Close your eyes and imagine a typical work day. You push through a full schedule, feeling the stress but trudging along anyway. You look at your to-do list and realize that there are just too many tasks and not enough time to complete them all.
Do you:
- Call your spouse or partner and tell them you’re going to miss dinner because you have to get this work done and you couldn’t possibly inconvenience anyone else by adding to their to-do lists
- Burst into tears because you’re obviously a total failure if you can’t get all your work done in an 8 hour work day and proceed to question every decision you’ve ever made, including the one you made to start this business
- Examine your to-do list for tasks that really don’t belong to you and delegate to the members of your team who were actually hired to do them
- Realize you’ve been a one-person show for too long and you can’t do it alone. You make a plan to hire some help
Hopefully, it’s obvious to you that there is more than one right answer there – and neither of them include you missing out on time with your family or curling up in fetal position and practicing extreme self-doubt.
Who knows why it’s so difficult for us as entrepreneurs to ask for and accept support – maybe we’re just hard-wired to think we can do it all. But that mentality isn’t going to lead you to fulfillment. Instead, it’s more likely to lead you to burnout, resentment and regret. Because there are other things in your life that deserve your time and attention. Your business is NOT your baby, no matter how many #mondaymotivation posts say it. You have a life outside of work that deserves your 100% – YOU deserve your 100%. And by eliminating the idea of asking for help as an option to get all the things done, you’re not allowing yourself time to learn, to rest, or to grow.
So here is your reminder that you’re not supposed to do this alone – not in business and not in life. People are placed in your path who can contribute to your success if you let them. Recognizing that fact is a total power move. Here’s why:
It Allows You to Stay Connected to Your Purpose
Think about this: when you’re doing it all on your own, how much time do you have to dedicate to the things you really love, the things that inspired you to start your business in the first place? Probably not a whole lot. If you’re not asking for help, you’re spending way too much time doing things that aren’t your strong suit and not nearly enough time focusing on the dream. As entrepreneurs, we’re natural visioncasters – we dream big and we make those dreams a reality. But when you’re worrying about the day-to-day stuff, like administrative work, or social media management, or bookkeeping (none of which were likely the reason you got into the business in the first place), there’s no time to cast that vision. There’s no time to innovate and pursue new paths forward.
When you finally see just how much you can get done by delegating the stuff you’re not meant to be doing, it will Blow. Your. Mind. That’s a promise.
It Allows Others to Grow in Their Purpose
Believe it or not, there are people out there who LOVE bookkeeping or social media management (we just might know someone who fits that category ????) or public relations – or any other thing you might struggle with or simply hate doing. That’s what’s beautiful about the way we were created. We’re all different, we all have different callings and passions, which makes us perfect complements to each other.
Do you know what a complement is defined as? It’s a thing that completes or brings to perfection. You cannot bring anything to perfection by yourself – you just can’t. Maybe that’s hard to hear, but it’s just the truth. None of us are able to achieve perfection alone. But by finding our helpers, our complements, we are able to bring things to perfection – like puzzle pieces completing a beautiful picture. And these helpers aren’t just bringing YOU to perfection. By allowing them to do what they do best, you are bringing THEM to perfection, too. It’s a symbiotic relationship of sorts where everybody gets what they need. If you deny help, you’re not allowing others to bless your life and your business, and you can’t bless theirs. It’s that simple.
The Bottom Line
It’s time to stop glorifying burnout, and praising people for hustling themselves to an early grave. Yes, hard work is valuable, but working hard at things that make you miserable because they just aren’t meant for you is counterproductive. When you realize why you were put on this earth and at the same time realize why others were put on this earth, you can leverage that knowledge to build something truly amazing. Take advantage of the people who nerd out over numbers, the marketing geeks (✋✋✋) and the process management fanatics… Make the power move and prioritize your time to do the things YOU were born to do.
Is Decision Fatigue Sabotaging…Everything?