Have you ever felt unsatisfied in your speaking business? Like maybe you wanted to take all of your marbles and go home? Perhaps you should just call it quits and get a “real job?”
If you have ever felt this way, know that you are not alone. In fact, there was a time in my career when I was ready to pack it in as well.
Several years ago, I wasn’t happy at all. I was doing ALL of the jobs in my business, and it was running me ragged. We’re talking learning new technologies, running marketing campaigns, writing, editing, posting blogs, and more. I managed all of the ‘outside’ work, while I was still coaching clients and foraging for new business. Something had to give.
And eventually, it did. I can’t recall what, or who, got me moving in the right direction but finally things clicked into place, and I became 100 percent more satisfied in my work. I had moved into The Zone.
What made the difference?
I decided to focus my efforts on my core competencies and outsource the rest.
Now, each morning when I wake up, it is crystal clear to me what my jobs are: writing, selling and coaching. These are my three core competencies, which allow me to work every day in The Zone. Everything else is outsourced so I can focus on what I do best. And my happiness level is through the roof!
3 Steps to Getting Into The Zone
This can happen to you too. If you are dissatisfied, stressed and tired of doing work that you don’t love, here are the three steps to getting into The Zone and staying there.
Step 1: ASSESS
Recognize what tasks your day is made up of by writing down all of the things that you do each day over the course of one week. At the end of the week, rate each task in terms of how enjoyable you find it, using a 1-5 scale. This will help you identify what your passions are and what tasks are simply draining your energy. If you are doing many, many things that you don’t love, it is definitely time to consider hiring.
Step 2: DECIDE
Decide which areas you are going to outsource. The tasks with the lowest ‘enjoyable’ ratings are the first candidates, but you must also decide whether it is a task that someone else can do (with training, of course) or if it is something best handled by you. Also, if you have a lot of highly rated tasks, you may contemplate which would be best to let go of in order to better concentrate on your true core competencies. MANY tasks can be outsourced, so you will likely end up with a quite a list.
If you’ve had a bad experience with hiring, don’t let that stop you from proceeding to step 3! Perhaps you got someone who was a wrong fit, but this time you can try a different implementation strategy (for example, hiring based on your values is often successful). I can tell you without a doubt that hiring a virtual assistant was the best thing I ever did for my business.
Step 3: HIRE
Just do it. It’s time to invest in your business, and you can start off with just one small project. Once you get that project rolling, add more tasks to this person’s to-do list or add more team members who can bring in new skills. To gain clarity around what you want this person to do for you, check out our hiring checklist in The Wealthy Speaker 2.0 starting on page 228, “Hiring Staff that Are Winners.”
The bottom line is that when you have clarity around what your core competencies are, you can say goodbye to those energy-draining tasks and find someone to take them off of your plate.
And when you effectively communicate the scope and expectations of your project to potential candidates during the hiring process, you will be more likely to find the right team members for your business and have a good outsourcing experience.
And the better your outsourcing experience is, the quicker you’ll be able to get in The Zone, be clear on your daily tasks, and enjoy your business once again.
I did it and you can too!
See you soon Wealthy Speakers!
