In an industry of control freaks, I was one of the freakiest. I have to admit I love the commercial where he says "I'm not a control freak, I'm a control enthusiast." Boy could I relate. I hated giving up control over any and every aspect of my business. I would be known to say things like, "You just can't hire good help these days," and "No one has my work ethic any more," and "If you want something done right you have to do it yourself." Are any of you ever guilty of saying, or at least thinking the same things?
What I kept struggling with is a basic math problem, to make more money I had to trade more time, I could never figure out the equation to have more money and more time. The worst part is there is a cap to both, there is only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year and unless I figured out a way to multiply my time I was stuck. Anyone else ever find that?
I grew up on a farm, and we did it all. We were mechanics, livestock wranglers, mid-wives, nurse maids, drove large machinery, you name it we did it. I started doing all those things as early as six years old. Life on the farm is deadly dangerous, and most especially to children, so I still hear my dad in my ear admonishing me to think out every possible consequence to whatever action I was doing. To check, double check and triple check lug nuts on wheels, or any other myriad of possible calamities. He was precise in how you put on things like lug nuts, stacked things, everything was explained how doing it wrong could kill you. Maybe I have an excuse to be a control freak.
However, something popped into my mind the other day driving, I had my tires rotated and was reminded how often we all trust others to do things for us, and to do them right. I didn't stand there watching to make sure they put the lug nuts on alternating then tightening around to make sure they were on properly and yet I was driving down the highway at high speeds. How often do we get on planes and never see the pilots, or approach oncoming traffic at 60 mph each and a closing speed of 120 mph a handful of feet apart and not think about the other driver?
We trust strangers with our lives daily in so many ways, but we often don’t trust anyone to help us in our businesses. I have so often heard agents talk about how they couldn't let someone else do their marketing, their paperwork, work with buyers, whatever --because no one does it as well as they. It might be said in somewhat different words, but that is the meaning.
It isn't until we learn to trust other partners, that we learn that Done beats Perfect Every Time. It is only then do we have a chance of duplicating our time and actually harvesting more time and money into our businesses and lives.
