Are You Wasting Your Time On Things You're Rubbish At?

Great post. This is some really important advice that many newbies will do well following. This is also where knowing how to properly outsource comes into play. You must focus all of your efforts on doing the things that MATTER and focus on outsourcing the trivial tasks.

While you might be right, that's not always the case. It's often a good idea to be a master at something and good at other related things. By learning about different subjects and understanding different crafts, your brain will form connections that didn't exist before.

If you want to become a good marketer, then you have to do your best to understand everything before you go out and waste your money hiring people who might be - or might not be good.

It IS a good idea to hire people and outsource the work that you're not good at, but if you have the "I don't want to learn that" mentality, you won't be as good as you could be. Look at all the masters in history, for example Da Vinci. If you can combine art with science you will be unstoppable.

How do you ever get good at something if you never attempt to better the things you are bad at?

Even your best skill is something you were not good at until you attempted it.

Some good points. It's true you should focus on what you do best and let others do what you're not good at but it's also true that it can be difficult to outsource something when you don't have a fundamental understanding of it.

Although I know what you're saying, I don't think its that simple.

For instance, lets say that I excel at sales, and own my own business.

I want to generate more leads, so I think about doing SEO or PPC.

I hire 3 SEO companies, over the course of a year, and all of them suck and fail to get me any results.

So then I try 2 different PPC companies, and both of them suck and can't generate a decent volume of calls. The same story all over again.

Although I do own my own business, and I'm also good at sales, this was the scenario for my former boss. The 1 thing I learned, is that his refusal to learn or do anything other than sales, is the same thing that is still destroying his business today.

So I made it my mission when I started my own company, to learn as much as I can about as many things as possible.

Local search.
Youtube
SEO
Craigslist
Marketing
Management
Copywriting
Reputation Management

etc etc

Everything so far but PPC.

This has allowed me to outsource things the RIGHT WAY, and I was able to generate more leads in 1 year, than my former boss could to generate in 1 year, over the course of 8 years of running his business.

I agree that what you are good at, you should nurture and develop as much as possible. But ignoring the value of being a well rounded individual, can prove a disastarous choice for both your life and business.

You should never neglect learning as much as you can, in as many different areas as possible. You just need to have 1 or 2 areas that are your primary focus, and that you excel at.

Some of the smartest business owners I've met, have been very proficient at many different things. Sales, marketing, copywriting, management, etc etc. You can't expect to just outsource everything, and keep your fingers crossed that you're outsourcing to the right people. Even something as simple as hiring someone to manage your company. If you don't know how to manage a company, you will very likely hire the wrong person.

Humans always feel this need to oversimplify things, because they become quickly overwhelmed. This is usually not because of too much information, but the potential meaning that they attach to information.

I'm not telling you to go out and become an expert at everything. But you sure as hell better know the fundamentals of every aspect of running a successful business, if you plan on running a successful business yourself.

You make some good points, but at the same you have to try things you're not good at. If we all only did what we were good at, we'd still be living in caves.

Trying and learning stuff that you are bad at, has it's benefits.

I agree with the idea that you should outsource the things you don't have great talent in, but I also agree that it's really important to have the basic skills when you're outsourcing or you'll most likely end up with terrible results.

I've created quite a few websites for clients and some of them have come to me after working with one or two other designers and tell me about the horrible experiences they've had. In all cases they were clients who really wanted nothing to do with understanding how their website worked or was going to be set up and I think that was a big mistake. While I didn't expect them to become experts in it I think it's so important you understand what you're hiring people to do before you do it.

Nah - once I've actually wasted time on stuff I'm rubbish at, I'm not longer rubbish at it.

Hi Butters,

There are too many variables to suggest that this a 'one-size-fits-all' rule.

Take an analogy - imagine a racing driver is *mediocre* at most aspects of racing, but is particularly poor at keeping the car on the track on corners.

Do you focus on improving his ability to overtake, which he is already quite good at, or do you improve his ability to stay on the track on corners? You can't overtake well when you're in the gravel trap.

Or a hairdresser who is average all round, but can't cut a straight line on edges/fringes. Is it wise to let her do most of the job but call in an assistant to help out every time the edges need trimming? Or is it better to train her to cut straight in the first place and create confidence in the customer that she is trained all round, in all required aspects?

Every time you practice it and improve, you are wasting less time, to the point where no time is wasted, because the skill is mastered and only a negligible amount of improvement is possible. Therefore, the time spent improving initially is not wasted time.

With respect, it could be suggested that this is what has occurred with the logic used to create the premise in the OP.

As I said, this may be a wise approach for some, but probably not for all. It depends on the circumstances. Of course, it's not likely that everyone can master everything. But there are benefits to mastering all areas in a particular field.

Like the business owner who (if required) can take a hands-on approach and show the person on the shop floor how to do their job better. Or the person who becomes so masterful in all relevant areas of their field that they are considered the go-to-guy for advice, who then charges a premium purely for consulting and their reputation precedes them (requires no marketing). Being completely useless in one important area can lead to someone considered to be an expert losing that reputation in the other areas.

It depends, on many things. In some circumstances though, you are absolutely correct.

This is so true!!!

This is a very common mistake, to want to do everything by yourself, it's better to accept what you can't do and even if you can do it and you are good at it, if you can outsource, then why to waste your valuable time doing so?

This is so. Frankly, my new you tube movie sux. Still, I consider it a learning experience. Also, it is an excuse. Yeah, to get a brand new camera. Just bought some video editing software that was max expensive. Most of us have our poor areas. Hey, that is how it is.

One of the best things I learned a few years ago was "do what you like best and outsoruce the rest". Internet marketing is a lot more fun for me now. Interestingly enough the things I like best are the ones I am good at!

Great post. I think we all have done this at one point especially in internet marketing because it is a vast field. It is also fast paced and so many products and services are thrown at you. Product launches everyday practically. It is easy to see how you would get caught up doing things you are not good at because the pitch was so believable.

It took me some time to realize what I was good at and my weaknesses. I do think you can turn your weaknesses into strengths its just a matter of taking the time to learn but it is more beneficial to work on your strengths and increase them.

One tool I used was Wealth Dynamics -wealth profile you can easily find some videos on youtube to see if you fit one of these profiles

Mechanic
Creator
Lord
Supporter
Trader
Accumulator
Star
Deal Maker

Any questions just message me anyone. Hope this helps anyone who may be stuck at this moment. Hope this helps you with your flow.

This starts in our schooling system. When children are weak in a subject, the focus becomes moved towards making them stronger in that subject. It is a serious failing of our educational system, though that is a different topic...

As adults, once we have enough exposure to a subject to know if it is a strength or weakness, we should spend the rest of our time maximizing our strengths. Most people will go much farther, have more success, and be happier by strengthening their strengths versus strengthening their weaknesses.