do what you’re best at

I had the opportunity to watch Marcus Brownlee talk about the real journey of being a YouTuber.  I wish that everyone who wants to be a creator could watch this video.  He is amazing at explaining the good, bad, and ugly about the job.  And he realizes it is a job, made up of other full time jobs.  And as your business grows, you need to make sure you keep an eye on the prize.

What you want to keep for yourself, and what you want to give away to others who are much better at that thing then you are.

It might be post-production.  It might be graphic design.  It might be writing.  Or producing.  Or accounting.  Or PR.  Or brand relationships.

Whatever that thing might be, there are many full time jobs you are doing when you start, and are all on your own.

The single most important thing is knowing what you are best at, that no one else can do, and spend as much time doing that thing as you can.  I hope for you that is also the thing you love to do, but it might not be.

When thinking about it, the thing you love doing the most might not be the thing you are the best at.  I know people who absolutely love playing hockey.  They couldn’t, or didn’t play for whatever reason, and now, it’s all they think about.  All they want to do.

I’m really lucky that I was very good at hockey, and when the emotional toll of getting to the next level was too much, I quit.  I have had the conversation with many people.  I didn’t have the love, the drive, the discipline to slog up the hill to the NHL.  I honestly don’t know if I ever would have made it, but I’m pretty sure I would have if I put in the hours.

Then there is business.  It’s not really my natural talent.  I know lots of people who are much better at it than I am, so I’ve had to put all kinds of systems in place to keep me on track.  To help me deliver results that are exceptional.  And to be honest, I still haven’t narrowed it down 100% to know exactly how I add the most value, to know what my unique talent is.

Ron White is the one who introduced me to the concept of unique talent.  His is easy to see.  He is amazing at being on camera, being engaging, and moving product as the spokesperson.  Everything else should be done by others.  He’s absolutely amazing at it.

My talent is outreach, sales, and relationship building.  It always has been, I just get taken away from that side of things due to all the rest of the BS associated with running the business.  I hate not having enough money to pay the bills, and having to incur costs along the way that bring me one step closer to bankruptcy when all I want is to have a ton of money in the bank so I don’t have to worry about it anymore.

I am learning to fall in love with the process.  The outcome, the money, will take care of itself if you can figure out a way to love taking shots on net in the dark hours after everyone else has stopped, day after day after day.

As I learned yesterday from Jim Kwik, practice makes permanent, and only perfect practice makes perfect.

I am grateful for all this wisdom, and I’m thinking it’s time to start sharing a bit more of mine.