Five years ago, I was working on my MBA. I was busy… really busy. I was working a full-time job, trying to keep up at my honey-do list and being a good father at the same time.
I remember thinking (well, my wife was the one really thinking it) that as soon as I earned my degree that things would slow down and I’d be able to be more available to her at home.
As I was finishing my degree, we decided to build a house. Not only did we decide that we wanted the house but I decided to be the general contractor myself. I even did a fair amount of the sub-contract work (low voltage wiring, tile, finish carpentry, etc). It was a busy summer. Every day, I was doing something at the new house.
As I finished the house, I lost my job (I promise, they weren't related) and decided to start Tribute Media. Now, instead of working extra hours on writing school papers or hammering nails, I was spending extra hours learning what I needed to learn to effectively help others market themselves online. I was building a business to help other companies grow.
Just as I started figuring out how to run a Web company, I decided to start teaching college… yup, more late nights.
During this process, as I was settling in to my new rut, I realized that I hadn’t started writing my book yet. Well, it wasn’t a realization that I hadn’t written it but a realization of what the book was supposed to be.
Now that I have finished by book, I am working on the next big thing which is to expand speaking and more authoring. (In fairness to my employees, I wouldn’t be doing this part if it didn’t mean positive things to my company, too).
There is always the next big thing that needs to be done.
As I was thinking about this today, it occurred to me that nothing great was ever accomplished by saying, “I think I’ll wait for someone else to do it.” Too often, we don’t do what needs to be done because we are hoping that someone else will take care of it.
“Someone else will pick up that trash.”
“Someone else will mow the lawn.”
“Someone else will make the phone call.”
“Someone else will take care of that client.”
It is never good enough to pass the buck. It’s hard, I know. We have to forsake what we want to do for the things that need to be done. Sometimes, the things we must do are also things we want to do. Usually, they are not.
Sure, I chose to take on the hard projects and tasks. But, if I hadn’t, they never would have gotten done. There were many times throughout the process that I didn’t want to do them anymore but I had to push through to get them complete otherwise I would never have seen the benefits of a good education, a nice home, a successful company or a book that properly conveys my philosophy.
I recognize that taking on the big is sometimes easier than taking on the small. It's easier to do something great with the hope of great reward, but the principle applies to the small things in life as well. We still need to accept that when it's go time... we go.
So, ask yourself, “Are you passing the buck or are you seizing opportunities to be a success?”
