Imagine how much more your company could grow, how much more personal change you could see, or how much faster you could reach your goals if you stopped spreading yourself too thin trying to do it all, and instead focused on our unique ability?
So, how do you come to understand your unique ability?
I think of your unique ability as what sets you apart from everyone else. That thing that you may not understand why you’re good at because it comes so naturally to you? It could be accounting and finance, talking to people, working with your hands. Understanding what those things are for you, sets the foundation for not only understanding what you are NOT good at, but helps you build on your strengths. It helps you use your energy more efficiently in the long run and expedites personal growth.
I was told by my mentor, understand your unique ability and then outsource everything else that you suck at. Personally, I thrive working with people and I enjoy going on sales calls. I enjoy being a part of the sales process, the hunt. I’m energized by getting business and meeting people. This fuels me, brings me joy, and makes me feel alive. However, the operation side of the business…building it, doing the finance, hiring people, building teams. I can do it, I understand it, but I hate it. It takes away energy.
Think about how much more growth you would see if you could offload all the things that take energy away from you, and only do the things that bring you energy, charge you, and give you purpose. One example I can share with you is my experience with hiring a General Manager. Even though my mentor kept telling me to hire someone to run my operations, hire someone to run the building, etc., so I could just focus on what I’m great at and what I love, I had a difficulty relinquishing control. I felt like I could do it better – I had a certain way I did things. Because I was struggling to delegate, I was spread too thin. Then it finally hit me – I needed to change something.
I hired a general manager, and I’m not kidding, within months my sales doubled! I was able to focus my energy on just sales. I hired a guy whose unique ability was operations. He was in a spot to flourish and grow. This helped the company tremendously, and I had to help by getting out of the way. I made that part of the deal, I told him “make sure I’m not in the way!” The outcome of me hiring that general manager was increased sales and increased profitability for the business. For me personally, that meant a major reduction in stress, more time to do what energizes me, and better overall life quality.
Do you have a mentor?
The other way I believe we limit our own growth, is by not effectively using mentors. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing younger folks, or really anybody that wants education, experience, wants to grow, learn, do big things – they want to do what their heroes are doing, but they’re not willing to put in the work. They’re not willing to listen to a mentor and gain the information. I often see people not willing to concede – either pay money or work for free for your mentor to gain the knowledge. I promise you, when you’ve got a good mentor that’s doing what you want to do in your space, and you say “Hey look, I’ll work for free because I just want to be a part of your world,” you’re going to get not only more money, but amazing opportunities, life experience, and knowledge of the skills you really need to hone.
I spent the last four years of my life working around four people that were experts in specific fields in my life. I didn’t always agree with how they were doing things, but I wanted to understand the lessons they had to teach, and understand how they became an expert at whatever it was. Once I felt like I had honed my unique ability, I was ready to outsource all the crap that I wasn’t good at. I wasn’t trying to figure out how to make money now. I wanted to learn and develop the skills that they had spent so much time working on. Doing this gave me all the tools and resources I needed. I know who I am and what unique abilities I need to focus on. So I’ve outsourced all the things I’m not great at.
I listened to my mentors and put a lot of the stuff that they said into action. I’ve implemented their ideologies. I’ve got a great rhythm that works for me. Because I’ve done that, I’ve now increased sales in my business, profitability in my business, and maybe more importantly, my quality of life has gone through the roof. I’m more at peace, and I can actually focus on what is important, and work toward what I want my purpose in life to be.
Stop limiting your own growth! Figure out what it is that you’re great at, find mentors to help you along the way, and do whatever it takes to master your unique ability!
If you ever want to talk more about this, want to bounce ideas off of me, or you want a recommendation for a mentor in your space, hit me up and maybe I can help you!