And God Said Thou Shalt…

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Focus on the things that matter.

I was sitting in a hotel in Barcelona. I’d been there three days and it was supposed to be a holiday. My mum was at a conference there and I’d flown out to spend some time with her.

What had actually happened was that I was working my ass off.

Everything was going wrong and I was getting that feeling of panic when you know your drowning.

Two days in, over dinner, I was chatting with my mum and I said that I couldn’t do this anymore. It just wasn’t worth it.

I was stressed, exhausted and was fighting to control the urge not to scream.

Seriously, I was considering shutting up shop to go and teach scuba diving.

But my mum did what mums do best… gave me a big glass of wine and then started talking.

And we talked and talked and talked.

Damn that was cathartic. Sometimes you just need somebody to talk to. Someone who you can discuss problems, ideas and things you’re struggling with.

Because saying them to yourself, or in your head just doesn’t do the same job.

So what did I do?

I made a list of every job I was doing at that time.

Then I did the same for everyone who worked for me.

On my own I was doing, or attempting to do, ninety seven jobs.

WTF!

That’s impossible.

No wonder I felt like shit.

I removed every single job that didn’t directly add to the revenue or took more time to do than was worthwhile for the revenue it generated.

The result?

I ended up with four jobs a day.

From ninety seven to four in one fell swoop.

Then I did this for every job that each of our staff were doing.

I’ve got be honest it was scary. I had no idea how it would affect my business. All I knew was that I couldn’t go on the way I was.

Six months later I’d doubled my business and slashed my working hours to less than part-time.

The lesson… only focus on the things that matter.

Michael

P.S. I’ve been invited onto a well-known podcast in May, I’ll let you know when it’s published so you can check it out.

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