No, no, no, yes (assuming risk)

If you haven’t figured this out already, I hate to be the bearer of bad news (especially to overachievers).

You will never, ever accomplish everything you want in business.

Group programs, membership sites, live events, retreats, eBooks, list-building challenges, webinars, Facebook, Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, website design refreshers, copy refreshers, autoresponder refreshers…. There are just way too many possibilities for how to spend your limited time.

If you want to move forward, you’re going to have to pick your battles. And that means doing less, not more.

Take the U.S. Army, for instance. It has a codified set of annual training requirements.

But there’s just one problem. If you total them up, it would take more than a year to accomplish everything!

And that’s not even counting the operational requirements of each unit’s particular mission. It’s just training.

Sound familiar? You want to focus on your main business purpose, but there are also a million behind-the-scenes tasks draining your time.

To deal with the paradox, the military uses the term “assuming risk.” It’s the commander’s job to assess the unit’s mission and prioritize the trainings and tasks that will get done each year.

As for the rest, the commander is betting that her unit will be able to accomplish its main mission even without the training and that none of her superiors will question her judgment.

She’s recognizing the risk and taking ownership of her decision because that’s what leaders do.

And that’s what bosses do. It’s what every successful entrepreneur does.     

Remember, saying yes is easy. But in business, your most important skill will be learning to say no.

Ready to put this into action? Stay accountable by commenting below or heading over to The Uncommon Way Community and declaring at least one thing that you will NOT focus on in the near future.

Think about it. Where can you assume risk?

Here's to being a leader,

Jenna