business | The Caleb Barney Collection

Timing is everything

Put a timeline on everything. When there is no time crunch, your effort and focus tends to dissipate. But if you are in a time crunch or have a deadline, you’ll get more done in less time. This is called Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s law says that work expands to fill the time available for completion. So, if you have a week to complete something, it you’ll usually take the full week to do it. But if you were only given three days to do it, you could do it in three days.

So, if you don’t have a timeline for when something needs to be achieved, you likely won’t focus on it enough to actually achieve it. This is why S.M.A.R.T. goals are timely. You need to have a time restriction to be your most productive.

3 Truths We Need To Remind Ourselves

1. Being active doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being productive.

2. Being efficient doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being effective.

3. Discipline doesn’t strip you of freedom, discipline equals freedom.

Don’t get caught up focusing on the wrong things. We can easily become distracted checking off items on out To Do list, but if they aren’t producing value in your life (monetarily or by increasing your happiness), why are you doing it?

Are you optimizing things that don’t matter (being more efficient, even though it doesn’t improve the end result of the goals you’re trying to achieve)?

Are you thinking negatively about restrictions others have placed on you or that you’ve placed on yourself? Some rules are meant to be broken, but if you set up the right rules to improve your time, energy, or health, stick to them! Reduce decision fatigue by sticking to your self-imposed rules so you’re more likely to consistently make good decisions.

Delegate to elevate (your business)

Think of the “who” and not necessarily the “how.” Who can do the work you either don’t enjoy doing or are not good at doing? Don’t waste time trying to figure out how you can be better at something you dislike. Find a capable person with a good attitude, who you enjoy working with, and who has unquestioned ethics. Hire them. Share your vision with them (what you want the end result to look like). Then step out of the way and give them the autonomy to take ownership of how it gets done. It takes more off of your shoulders, empowers them (making them feel better about their work), and is ultimately the only way you can scale/grow your business larger.

You need to make sure there are processes in place to get the results, but don’t micromanage. If the work gets done and your integrity is boosted (or, at the very least, stays intact), why does it matter “how” the person you delegated the task to does it? Be about the results.

Doing is better than saying, but delegating is better than doing.

“Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin

I think of Ben Franklin’s quote above in two ways. The first is how I believe he meant for it to come out, which is being a smooth talker and having a quick wit is great, but you need to be able to actually accomplish what you say for it to mean anything. (Talk is cheap.)

The second part related to this quote is that I don’t think it matters whether you are the one who is physically doing the work or if you delegate it (using your words to convey the purpose/inspiring others to take action to accomplish the goal). That doesn’t matter – it’s about the end result. In that case, saying it well can lead to doing it well (by others).

Do you think Elon Musk is working on a space shuttle, turning a wrench on a Tesla, or doing the bulk of the engineering work to bore a tunnel under Los Angeles? Is Jeff Bezos packaging and delivering each Amazon order? They’re working on their business and focusing on the big picture to move their companies forward. It is still very important to do the other things, or else the companies would go out of business, but without growth, stagnation creeps in and other companies will eventually catch/pass them.

When starting a business, you’ll probably have to do the majority of the work yourself or as part of a small team. That’s probably a good idea because it allows you to have a better understanding of best practices, what not to do, etc. But you will eventually reach capacity (there’s only one of you and so many hours in a day). At that point (or, hopefully, before you reach capacity) you need to think of hiring others to help you. You can then delegate the work that doesn’t need to be done by you anymore. The end result is the same (it gets done), but you get to focus more on the big picture/expanding your business. If you don’t do this, and you are always the one doing the work, the only difference between you and an employee is that you own your job. You’re not a business yet. Because if you get hurt, sick, or want to take a vacation, guess who’s not making money? You.

Have at least a basic understanding of how to do things well, but it is equally important to learn how to say things well, as that is what will eventually free you from the “rat race.”

A rough draft of my core values

Defining the core values for my life/business…

1. Always try your best, but have fun while doing it. Life is too short to not have fun. You should enjoy what you do, but that doesn’t mean you should just “coast.” Work hard, play hard. Try your best to become the best. How can you become an expert in whatever it is you do? You may not have the most natural talent, but that’s out of your control. You can always control your effort and your attitude.

2. Put people over profit. If you value making the right decision/doing what’s best for others, people will like and trust you, leading to repeat business or referrals. Treat people like people and the profits will come. You may take a hit in the short-term, but in the long run you will be better off for it.

3. Be humbly confident. You need to have confidence in yourself or else how can you expect others to have confidence in you? You need to believe that you can figure everything out – even if it means asking for help. But the key is to be confident without being arrogant. Be humble. You don’t need to brag to everyone about how great you are. Let your actions do the talking. Stand out straight, keep your head up, look people in the eyes, walk with purpose, and speak clearly, succinctly, and loudly.

4. Be a dreamer AND a doer. You should have big dreams/goals. People won’t understand it. They’ll say it’s not realistic. And they’re right, if you only dream, but don’t take action. Have big dreams, set a plan, then take action immediately. What are you doing today that is bringing you closer to your goals/dreams/ambitions?

5. Perseverance. If you’re setting worthy goals, you will often stumble on your way towards success. But you have to keep going. Don’t let little setbacks affect you. You’ll get through this hardship faster by continuing to move/take action.