Leveraging Activities to Build a Bigger Business and a Bigger Life

For all of us, especially nose-to-the-grindstone business owners, our time is both limited and very valuable. The dollar-per-hour profit of top achievers is high, and the time to spend with family and friends far too limited. Identifying the activities that we engage in regularly, and understanding how they make us feel – the energy that they suck up or create -- is an essential step toward achieving the Big Life we all seek.

STEP ONE: Identify Your Energy Vampires

There are activities that increase your energy level and there are activities that drain it – and they are different for every person. So, the first step toward leveraging your life is to make a list of everything that drains your energy. We’re talking about those jobs and activities that you really hate doing, both personally and professionally. Once you draft that list, consider it your job description — for someone else to do.

Our time is both limited and very valuable.

My wife, Brittany, and I do this exercise together every year. We write down all of our household chores and then, next to each one, note whether we like it, are indifferent to it, or hate it. For example, I still weirdly enjoy doing dishes, wiping down counters, and taking out the trash, so I keep those chores. Brittany enjoys feeding the dogs, cooking, and vacuuming, so she is in charge of those chores. With those responsibilities clarified and prominently posted on the refrigerator, we have greater clarity and a lot less friction.

Then, for those jobs we both hate – like lawn mowing, deep cleaning the house, and picking up our back-yard dog poop -- we immediately leverage out. Thus, we have hired Pooper Scoopers, a lawn service, and house cleaners to free us from doing these activities. Freed up to do what? Check Step Two.

STEP TWO: Utilize the Freed-Up Time Strategically

This next step is important: the time you have freed up must be used strategically. You don’t hire other people to do your hated chores and then use that saved time to just sit around and play solitaire. Use it positively to advance your business or personal objectives. If those hours go into more business pursuits, you have ended up with a much higher dollar-per-hour activity than, say, pulling weeds. Alternatively, use that extra time to do something that adds value to your life as an “Energy Advancer,” which will also positively impact both your personal life and your business.

STEP THREE: Lean Into Your Energy Advancers

An Energy Advancer is a task or activity that “refills” your positive energy cup. Think of it as being super hungry, then eating a large, healthy meal that gives you a big boost of energy and productivity. We all have Energy Advancers, and they are all different for each of us. It’s time to write another list!

For me, I get energy by listening to podcasts by my business heroes, writing about what I’ve learned, and having a high-level brainstorming session with a friend or colleague. For Brittany, it’s meeting a friend or business colleague in-person to connect and relax, maybe for lunch or coffee. These are what we might consider short-term Energy Advancers.

We have learned that if we don’t take the time to stop, reflect, and adjust, we could be missing something big.

Of course, our lives look beyond the day-to-day, and so we also have bigger, broader Energy Enhancers. For example, I sometimes need to just get out-of-my-head and do some traveling. It’s my #1 Energy Advancer because it gives me time to get out of the weeds, gain perspective, and often get inspired by the world at-large. Fortunately, traveling is also an Energy Advancer for Brittany, so (pre-Covid) we have purposefully attended conferences nearly every quarter, eager to learn something new and be around great people who also want to learn. This combination of travel and learning gives us a massive boost, often providing weeks of renewed energy.

We have learned that if we don’t take the time to stop, reflect, and adjust, we could be missing something big. Since failing to assess and energy refresh is the path to burn-out, we calendar out our events six-to-twelve months in advance. Although COVID makes this more challenging, we still make plans, and remain flexible to modification. It’s important not to put off an energy refresh for too long.

All of us, especially those who sometimes get tangled in the weeds of growing our business, must make the time to pause, identify our Energy Vampires and Advancers, and create a plan of action to find the renewed energy we need to carry forward our Big Life objectives. As personal development guru, Jim Rohn, says, “What you focus on expands.” This is certainly true as to which activities we choose to do, and how they make us feel.