Hard Work Doesn't Always Equal Success
Most of us, at some time in our lives have bought into the idea
that hard work equals success. I would say that this is only
partially correct. My grandfather worked very hard his entire
life, but never saw great financial rewards. Success is
ultimately determined by results, not by effort. Working smarter
comes from a person's ability to leverage his time so that most
of it is spent on the activities that matter most.
Many people who decide to start their own business think that
their financial success will be measured by the number of hours
they invest. Tell that to the 20 year old webmaster who earns
60k by investing 3 hours a day updating the site content for his
e-business. If time audits were conducted in many companies, we
would find that most workers do not spend a full 8 hour day
doing productive work.
The problem is that many people have been conditioned to think
of productivity in a time based economy instead of a results
based economy. Jim Rohn puts it best when he says, "Don't
mistake movement for achievement. It's easy to get faked out by
being busy. The question is: Busy doing what?" Many first-time
entrepreneurs spend much of their time organizing desks, filing
paperwork, and shopping for office supplies. While these may be
tasks that need to be done, they can be delegated or put off
until a later time.
An important rule to keep in mind when being your own boss is
the 80/20 rule - 80 percent of the results come from only 20
percent of a person's effort. In my experience in sales and
running a business, I have learned the value of applying this
principle. My wife - a tremendous gift from God - helps take
care of many of the administrative details of our business that
would take me away from meeting with clients.
Time is a precious commodity. Learn to use it wisely by working
smarter. A helpful exercise is to spend one week logging your
activities into a notebook. At the end of the week count up all
of the hours you spent in non-productive activities. You might
be surprised at how much time you can fr^ee up in your schedule.
Or check out the book First Things First by Stephen Covey for
more detailed advice.