Delegate and Elevate: How To Work Smarter, Not Harder

Ep 18 [00:00:00] As a business owner and entrepreneur, you should be the first person in your company to only do what you love and are great at. The first time I heard this, it totally screwed up my head because my mindset was very different. I thought that as the business owner entrepreneur, I had to be the person that was coping with a lot of things I wasn’t good at and I didn’t like. This is what I’m going to dive into in this episode, and I’ll give you a very concrete tool to help you sort out what tasks you should be doing, what tasks you should definitely not spend your time on, and how you change your mindset to believe that you deserve to do only the things that you love and are great at. ​ [00:01:00] As a business owner entrepreneur, you should be the first person in your company to only do what you love and are great at. When someone first said to me, I told it was actually quite provoking because my mindset at that time was a totally different one. I thought that since I was the entrepreneur and the owner of the company, I had to do a lot of things that I didn’t like because I was the owner. So I had to deal with it. I had this mindset that there was a lot of super boring things in the company that I just [00:02:00] had to do because. Eventually, if the company was successful, it will pay me back. So I had to suffer to create and build my company. However, when this facilitator that told me this started to explain this, it made, of course, perfectly sense because my time is much more valuable when I do the things that I love and are great at than when I try to do a lot of things that I’m not good at. As a business owner and entrepreneur, your time is probably the most valuable time in the company. And if you spend time on not doing things because you’re just not looking forward to it, or you’re even dreading the tasks that are in front of you, you use a lot of time on them because you’re not good at it. And the result isn’t even good. Of course, that’s not a good idea. You need to spend your time where it’s more valuable. When we speak to entrepreneurs, a lot of them has these super big fear [00:03:00] of taking people onto their team. And also we always say that you should hire a person three months before you think that you actually need the person because you will have to take time to recruit them. You will take time to train them and you will take time to get them up to the level where they are at. But still people are super duper scared of taking other people into the team. But if you think about it. If you do the things that you love and are great at, and you have someone else do the things that you hate and are bad at, they will probably free up so much of your time that you can bring in more money, bring in more clients, serve more clients with the time that you free up. And that money that that brings in will most likely pay for another person to do those other things. If you follow me so far, let’s dig into the strategies for actually finding out what you should spend your time on. So this is a very practical approach that I always use for myself and that I always teach to [00:04:00] clients. And it just helps you figure out what tasks in the company should you focus on and what tasks in the company should you delegate or even find technology to do for you. So it starts with you. writing down everything you do in a week. And if you already feel this is a challenge, yeah, it is kind of a bit of a challenge because most people don’t want to know what they spend their time on in a week. You’ll probably figure out that you spend a lot of time procrastinating or getting distracted by social media or doing something totally different that you promised yourself to do. but that’s already creating a bunch of awareness that you can use to make better choices in your business. So you start by writing down everything you do in a week, and we can use AI tools to observe our screen time and sort the things that we do into different categories. Also, you could have just a sheet of paper beside you and just write down like every quarter you write down what you do, or even every hour, or you can have an Excel sheet where you fill it in. Just figure out a way to. Take notes of what you’re doing in a [00:05:00] week. if you are amongst these people that just have no idea how you can actually get that done. Hire a person to sit with you for a week and write down what you’re doing. Because that will create so much clarity that you can take better choices and you can spend your time more wisely in your company. This exercise that I’m going to show you is also actually really interesting and useful for your private life. So for example, start writing down what you do in your private life during the week. How much time do you spend cooking? How much time do you spend self love activities? How much time do you spend doing the laundry or cleaning? How much time do you spend on the things that gives you energy and brings value to your life? And how many hours do you spend on things that is necessary and maybe you even. Really, really despise them, but it takes your time and you feel like you have to do it. So when you write down what you do during your week, you also write down how much time do you spend on [00:06:00] each activity? So how much time in your workday, how much time do you spend checking emails, setting up Facebook ads, writing copy, doing live webinars, serving your clients, whatever it is that you do in your, in your work week, how much time do you spend on each of these? I will guarantee you that when you take a notebook around, or if you write down every hour what you’re spending your time on, you’re also doing a lot of things during your work week that you aren’t even aware of. If I told you to just sit down and write down everything, you would get up with maybe 80 percent of the things you do, but there will be a few things that you just totally forget that you’re using time on. And there will be a few things that you think you’re spending a little time on. Then you figure out that you’re actually spending quite a lot of time on. So this is a super, super valuable exercise. If you want to make conscious choices as an entrepreneur, how do you spend your time and where do you allocate your focus? All of us have only so many hours per week and so many hours per week that we spend working [00:07:00] and you want to make sure that you spend your time wisely. I think that one of the biggest differences between successful entrepreneurs and not successful entrepreneurs is that they are actually super conscious about where they focus, where they spend their time, where they spend their resources. People like Russell Brunson and Warren Buffett and super, super successful entrepreneurs, they have the same amount of time as everyone else. But of course, they have figured out a way to delegate. They figure out a way to use their genius in the best way. And they can’t do a lot of random stuff that isn’t adding value to the world, because then they wouldn’t be where they are at, at this time. So for me, this, this exercise of actually every quarter I do this, I spend time looking at what kind of tasks do I do? What kind of Things fills my calendar and I make conscious choices about how do I want this to be going forward. So this process that I’m going to describe to you, it’s called delegate elevate, and it is a tool from the [00:08:00] system called the entrepreneurial operating system. and if you’re interested in that, you can find links or more information in the description of this episode. the short version is that the entrepreneurial operating system is just a way to organize an entrepreneurial company. And Peter and I, we came to this stage in, in this company, awesome, where we’re starting to, to scale, where we’re starting to hire more people to the team and where it became a bit of. And we figured out we need to have a system, otherwise we’re going to lose control over this. And we did that with our previous companies. So, you know, we learned the hard way how it is to not be able to have a stricture as you build, build your company. So we found this entrepreneurial system and we started to use it. And for us, it made such a huge difference. But my favorite part of it, to be honest, is this delegate elevate. So after you’re written down everything you do in a week. And again, I challenge you to do this both in your personal life and your work life because it’s going to give you so much clarity about going forwards. So when you have written down everything, you sort these tasks [00:09:00] into four categories, and I’m going to describe one by one. the first one. is the things that you don’t like and you’re not good at. These are the things that you maybe sometimes say you hate. These are the things you’re dreading getting started with. These are the things you procrastinate because you don’t like them and you’re not good at them and you don’t really want to do them. So that’s why you’re spending a lot of time not doing them and probably just getting distracted with a lot of other things because you don’t really want to dive into the things that you need to do. You probably find it boring, or you find it challenging. And when you do them, you just feel like this is really not what I should spend my time on. And this is really not what I want to spend my time on. And this is some things that makes me just feel useless because I’m not good at this. And you hear, of course, in my description, This is obviously the things you need to delegate the first, because most of us, if we start struggling with these things and have the [00:10:00] mindset that I had, that I have to struggle with these things as an entrepreneur, you just aren’t effective because you can’t be, we will never be effective doing things we hate and procrastinate and, and can’t get done well. So most likely these tasks can be delegated to someone else for a fraction of the value that you free up if you start doing other things. So all the times that you spent on not doing them, procrastinating, doing them bad, like struggling, trying to figure out how to do it, trying to figure out how not to do it. All of that time, if you take all of that time and spend it on something that you love and are great at, you will most likely bring in much more money than it costs to have someone do these things effectively. The biggest difference here is that if you have someone that likes these tasks and love these tasks, they will do them quickly and effectively and well, because they like them. And here is a big game changer as well, because of course, when I started thinking that I had to struggle with all these tasks, it was from a [00:11:00] mindset that everyone would struggle and hate these tasks. But the truth is, and this is so liberating. There are people out there that loves doing the things that you hate and are not good at. They love them. It’s the best thing in the world. Even if you found them so super boring and frustrating and the worst thing in the world, there will be a person out there that loves them. so we just brought on a person in the awesome team that is doing a lot of admin and customer service and, and answering emails and organizing calendars and like sending out requests to clients and making sure all the things are on timeline. And I feel just so relieved because these things, even if I can do them, it’s really not where I want to spend my time. And just having someone in that position that loves what they’re doing. It creates energy for the whole team. This is a game changer as well. When you have people in your team in different [00:12:00] roles and yeah, it is a challenge. If you are ambitious, this is a challenge to you to actually think about where can I put other people into my team? I know as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, you have this, like, this is my baby. I can’t kind of give it to someone like I don’t trust the babysitter, but. If you want to scale, if you are ambitious, if you have big goals for your company, you need other people because you can never ever be good at everything. So in our businesses, in our type of business, we often hear people say like, this is the accounting. Most people already delegated that because they don’t know how to do it, but some people are doing it just because they know or they think they can save money from doing it. It is maybe like setting up the technical part of the funnel. It could be the copywriting that some people struggle with. Like, there are a few things that people say again and again and again, but there isn’t really a right or wrong about this. You have to ask yourself, what are the tasks that I don’t like, and I can’t do well, and I use too much time on because I don’t like them. In your personal life, it could be the laundry, the dishes, the driving kids everywhere, the [00:13:00] making breakfast, the preparing lunches, the planning the vacation or paying the bills, whatever. And again, it isn’t anything right or wrong here. and the first step is being honest with yourself and realizing and admitting. And. Easing into the fact that you aren’t superwoman or superman, and you don’t have to do everything yourself. So these things, the things that you’re not good at and you don’t like, these are the things to be delegated first. And even after delegating those things, you have freed up so much headspace and so much energy and you probably will feel super relieved. So the next thing I want you to make a list of now are the things that you don’t like, but you’re good at them. And these can be things that because you’ve done them for so long, you kind of forced yourself to do them for so long, you became good at them, or you used to like them, but you just came to a point where it’s too much, or you’re bored, or you can’t do it anymore, or you weren’t even liking it in the beginning. Even a lot of things that falls into this category is the things that [00:14:00] we feel like we should be good at that goes for the first category as well. But I’ve seen so many entrepreneurs struggling and kind of enduring the pain of doing things because they feel like they should be, or they must be, or as an entrepreneur, it’s you. You kind of. You should be doing this yourself, otherwise you aren’t a good entrepreneur. But again, there isn’t anything right or wrong here. This has to do with your passions and your talents and all humans are super individual and we don’t have the same strengths and weaknesses. So we need to ask ourselves, what do I need? What do I need to delegate? So the second category again, are the things that you don’t like, but you’ve gotten good at them. And I want to say one more thing, because if you don’t like them, you are never going to be really good at them. You will never be really good at things you don’t like, because somehow inside you, there’s this kind of opposing to do this, like you don’t really want to spend your time there, even if you’re good at it. So this category is the second [00:15:00] most important to get rid of. And if you rid yourself of this as well, you will feel much lighter. I can guarantee you. So as we move up now into the different categories, it is actually getting harder and harder to delegate it. Because you like it more and more and, and some of these things you can start, you can continue doing for a long time. So when you delegated the things you don’t like, and you’re not good at, and the things you don’t like, but you are good at, you’re coming to the category of the things that you like and are good at. And that sounds like something that you want to keep on doing for a long time. But the last and most important category are the things that you love and are great at. So the difference between the like and good at and love and great at is that the things that you like and are good at, those are the things you like and are good at, but they are not the things that really sparks the fire in you that really makes you wake up in the morning and like, Oh, I can go to work today. Okay. So. Sort these two categories out the most important [00:16:00] category for you to be doing and the one where you should be spending most of our time is the things that you love doing. and are great at. This is where you are using your talents. This is where you are using your passions. This is where you’re making a difference to the clients. This is where you light up the world. This is where you light up yourself. This is where you make everyone around you smile. This is where everyone around you says, wow, you’re such an inspiration and role model. And that’s a big difference between those tasks and the like and good and things, because the like at good and things are good. And you can spend your time there for a long time until these tasks are taking so much time that you can’t do the love and great at tasks. As soon as you figure out that there are more love, great at tasks that you could be doing, there are more love, great at tasks that you want to be doing. There are more love and great at [00:17:00] tasks that nobody else can be doing. You also need to start delegating the things that you like and are good at. And this can be a challenge, especially if you are a tiny bit like me, because I, I always kind of, in Norway, there is this expression to be a potato. And that really means fits in with everything. And, and if I say I’m going to, I’m a potato in my work workplace, it means I can do a little bit of everything. So in the region food, as you probably know, or may not know, potato goes with everything. So that’s kind of what it means. But I, I had took pride for a long time of being a potato. I took pride of being able to do a little bit of here and there and having like various talents and, and being good at a lot of things and can figure things out, blah, blah, blah. And that made me feel important. And it made me feel significant. So when I started to figure out that I actually have to let go of also some things that I like and are good at, um, and just focus on these small tasks that I love and are great at, it was like, yeah, but, but I kind of want to do a bit of everything. And I’m a hundred percent sure that if you listen to this, you maybe recognize [00:18:00] yourself in this because there’s so many multi passionate entrepreneurs that really likes that variety of doing different things. And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t create variety for yourself, but what I’m saying is that you need to know which tasks, which work, which things you do in your business that is really moving the needle. when you are worth the most, where you get the most back for your time. So let’s say that for example, if you spend your time doing a webinar, you can do a webinar for two hours and you can bring in 50, 000 euros. So now two hours is worth 50, 000 euros. So it means one hour is worth 25, 000 euros. But if you sit and do the, the Facebook ad or the accounting or the something, something customer service or something, is it then worth 25, 000 euros? So of course, one aspect here is the money, which is kind of easy to figure out, but the other aspect that is [00:19:00] also super important is your passion. It is what lights you up. There are so many entrepreneurial companies that are put down because they can’t grow because they can’t live longterm. And one of the reasons is because you as entrepreneur aren’t taking your time seriously enough. And you aren’t spending your efforts. Where it matters and where you actually get energy and where you get kind of filled up to continue to do the work that you’re doing. If you go to work every day and you kind of drain yourself with doing a lot of bunch of things that you shouldn’t be doing, of course, you’re not going to last. You aren’t going to last. So you need to take responsibility for filling up your days with the things that matters. And I’m still not saying that you never ever will have to do something that you find a bit boring because most of us will live in a very concrete world. And sometimes a person leaves or something urgent happens or la la and as an entrepreneur, you have to step in. But also if you spend [00:20:00] most of your time doing the things you lower a grade at, you have so much more energy to handle those challenges when they arise. If you spend most of your time just doing a bunch of boring shit that you hate and you’re not good at, you won’t have the extra energy to handle those challenges as they arise. So the low and great at things, these are the things that don’t even feel like work. It feels like joy. It feels like, yay, I’m so lucky to be able to do this. Put your things into four categories, and I’ll repeat them so it’s 100 percent clear. You start with the things you don’t like and you’re not good at. Then you sort the things that you don’t like but you are good at. Then you sort the things that you like and are good at. And the last and best and most valuable category are the things that you love and are great at. And now everything you do is to start delegating the things from the first categories first. And as soon as you finish the first category and delegated those tasks, look at the second category [00:21:00] and delegate those tasks. And when you’re left with the things that you like and are good at and the love and are great at, Start being really conscious about when the things you like and are good at is taking too much time so you don’t spend enough time doing the things you love and are great at. And then you start delegating them as well. And then when you’ve done this, and I’ve said this already, but you’re going to free up so much time, you’re going to free up so much energy, you’re going to feel so much lighter. And you can afford it. Because when you spend the time doing the things that matters the most and the things that lights you up, you will be able to generate the revenue to pay for a person doing those things that aren’t boring. And also there’s another way to look at it. That is if that person that you bring in can actually create revenue by the things they are doing. Because maybe they can do it better than you. Maybe they can save money because they can do it in two hours instead of ten hours. So start thinking about it that way. And then when you do this, you do that every quarter. So every single quarter, you again, [00:22:00] write down everything you do, because now it’s changed, maybe because you already delegated a few things and your business grew so that you had some more things to do on your plate. So now you do it again. And then you start again with the same categories and you start delegating. And then you make this into like a quarterly habit, or even you can do it, of course, more often. But I find that quarterly is like a good frequency. Do it also in your personal life. If you figure out that the time you spend cooking or cleaning or doing the laundry or something takes from the time that you want to spend with your kids, or even if you’re an entrepreneur, you can spend one more hour on work and you can bring in the money to pay for that person to do the laundry. Um, I want to add a personal notary because I grew up in a household where even the thought of having someone doing the cleaning or doing the laundry or something like that was just totally out of reach. It was totally out of reach. And the first time when we moved to Vietnam and we figured out we can afford and we, we wanted to [00:23:00] have someone as a housekeeper. Someone in my family said, do you have servants? And, and for me, that really, really hit me bad. Like it feels like a bad thing, but for me, I realized I am hiring a person to do a job. I’m giving a person a job. And again, you can find a person that loves it. You’re not forcing someone to do the boring things. You are finding a person that likes to do the things that you find boring, and you’re giving them a job. And the reason why I like talking to entrepreneurs is because we are creating value for other people. We are creating value for other people through our companies, through the things that we sell. But we are also creating value for other people because we can give them a job. Because we can pay them to do a job. And I think that sometimes, especially if you didn’t have a very entrepreneurial family when we grew up, like I didn’t have this taught is like a whole mindset shift and it can feel a bit challenging. It can feel a bit [00:24:00] intimidating and it, it’s challenges that instinct of having to do everything yourself and wanting to do everything yourself and feeling like you’re superwoman or Superman. I remember the first person that Peter and I hired from India. And, uh, we gave him a pretty good salary to, to work for us. Um, and he did a great, great job. And after a few years with us, he came back and he said, I bought a car and I’m the first person in my family who bought a car. And for me, that actually feels, I feel grateful for that and I feel proud for that. And I just think that if you are a bit like I was, and you kind of feel bad for having other people’s help you, it’s about time to change that mindset. Yeah. It is about time to challenge that belief system. So that’s what I wanted to do in this episode. Please let me know what you think in the comments, send me an email and let me know when you sorted your things into the four categories and what are the things that you want to let [00:25:00] go of first. Can’t wait to hear from you and stay tuned for our next episode. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. To dig deeper, visit awesome. com forward slash scaling light. That’s A W E S M dot com forward slash scaling light. You’ll find show notes, resources and links. mentioned in this episode, as well as links to our socials. If you like what you heard, please rate and review us on the podcast platform of your choice. Your feedback is so important to help more entrepreneurs to discover this show. Our goal is to provide inspiration and we hope you’ll continue scaling alongside us. Thanks for your support and see you next time.