I Just Want To Be Successful, But I Can’t Do It All!

No, you can’t! So many people think that to be really successful in this life, they have to do it all. They think they have to be able to handle everything and do everything. It isn’t true! Do you want to be successful, but find that you just can’t do it all?

The desire to be successful

I understand the desire to be successful and I think it is good! You should want to succeed in whatever it is you do. You should have the desire to make a difference, but that desire has to be tempered to some degree.

If being successful means that you literally kill yourself health wise because you won’t ever slow down, is it worth it? If you lose your family or relationships because you are never around or you are grouchy when you are there, is it worth it?

The desire to be successful is what has given us everything good in life, but you have to do it right!

Understanding limits and limitations.

I am going to sound somewhat contradictory here, but I need to clarify some things.

You determine your limitations. You decide what it is you can and cannot do. Sure, some of your limitations may be real. You may have a physical handicap that keeps you from being an Olympic athlete, but still, you make that decision. If you wanted to say that your handicap was not going to limit you and you were going to try and compete, then the limitation is just what you make it.

Many of our limitations are in our mind only. We think we are not capable of doing something when that is not true at all. We have only accepted the limitation that our mind came up with.

Now, having said all that, you also must understand that there are certain limitations that you must work with. You cannot be in two places at the same time. You cannot do two things at once, no matter what multitasking people say. You can do two things side by side in the same time frame, but you can only work on one at a time. You may switch back and forth, but you can’t do two at once!

If you try to do everything, and do it well, you will soon find yourself becoming very frustrated and stressed. You cannot be everything and do everything.

What to do about it!

The first thing I would suggest is to prioritize your tasks. What is the most important thing you have to do? Do that first! Set a time limit and go to it. Get it done. When you have finished that task, go to the next one. Just keep going.

The next thing I would suggest is to delegate. What absolutely has to be done by you? Now you have to be careful here. Remember, you can’t do it all so pick those things that have to be done by you and let go of the rest. I know so many people who mistakenly think that they have to do each task in order for it to be right.

When you decide what can be done by someone else, delegate it. Let someone else do the task and you can monitor the job. If you have employees, this is easy. Give the task to one of them. If you don’t have employees, but can afford to hire temporary help, do that. If you can’t do that ask friends and family to help you with whatever it is.

The last thing I would suggest is to think of ways that the task can be done differently. Let’s say that it is combining housekeeping with an at home business. Instead of trying to do both all the time, can you designate certain hours of the day to one thing and other hours to the other task? Perhaps it isn’t hours of the day, but days of the week that can be assigned.

I want you to be successful, but I don’t want you to stress out over it or become burned out so that you stop doing anything. Learn what you can and can’t do and then get help!

Here’s to You!

P.S. I found a blog post by Seth Godin entitled You Rock that I think says some of the same things. Check out Seth’s post!

Watch for the release of my report on being more productive in the next day or two!

It will help!