Concentrate on Your Core Genius

There is a large body of work that states that you should only concentrate on the things that you are really good at and that you should get others to do the rest.  There is also an opposing body of work that states that your brain benefits from having knowledge in a wide variety of subjects and that having a working knowledge of these, even at a basic level is better for you in the long term.

So, who is correct?  The answer unsurprisingly is both.

On the one hand, most of the world’s top performers delegate almost everything other than the thing they do best:  Wayne Gretzky does not drive the Zamboni or take care of the ice, he scores a huge number of goals and assists. Lady Gaga doesn’t tune the piano or carry the instruments, she sings, dances and performs which is why people go to her concerts.

However, not doing something, does not mean you don’t have the knowledge to do that thing.  Wayne Gretzky’s father Walter made a hockey rink in their backyard every winter from the time Wayne was 18 months old.  You can bet Wayne not only knows how to take care of the ice, but that he can probably make an incredible ice rink completely from scratch based on all the years he and his father made theirs.  When Wayne began to play professionally, however, he concentrated on being the best hockey player in history.  He left the ice managing duties to the experts. This is a choice that successful people make:  concentrate on your core genius and delegate the rest.

Lady Gaga has played the piano since she was 4 years old and is expert at it.  She also carried her own instruments many times to gigs before she had a crew.  Now, she concentrates on her core genius during performances and leaves the instruments and equipment to the experts.

By having the knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, your brain benefits from acquiring and learning different kinds of skills.  This maintains neuroplasticity and keeps your brain young and agile.

Getting into a state of Flow

Concentrating on your core genius and delegating the rest allows you to use your time and energy efficiently and get the most done in the most effective way possible.  When you concentrate, you get into a state a flow, that mythical state when you are working at a super high rate of efficiency and are accomplishing things much more quickly than if you are constantly being interrupted or having to do a number of different tasks.            

In the beginning you may not have the resources to delegate and will probably have to do many more things for yourself.  That’s OK.  We all have to start somewhere.  Plus, as discussed above, having a large body of knowledge is good for your brain.  To get started with delegation, begin by delegating small things that don’t cost you very much.  You could begin by taking your car in to have the oil changed, rather than doing it yourself.  You could pay an accountant to do your taxes, rather than doing them yourself.

Having a Team

Once you begin, you will get used to having a “team” and delegating to them. This is a very valuable skill when you are more successful.  Once your income increases to the point where doing a wide variety of tasks no longer makes financial sense, you will have people in place to take of those things for you and your can add others as you need them.  If you are making $50 an hour as a plumber, paying someone $20 an hour to clean your house makes more sense than taking time from your work to do it yourself.

One thing to remember is that you may enjoy doing things that could be delegated.  You may love to work on cars and changing the oil.  You may find cleaning your house rewarding and relaxing at the same time.  If that is the case then by all means do the thing that you enjoy, but if you find many things chores, begin to delegate them out and watch how much happier and effective you are.

A good rule of thumb is to being by dedicating 25% of your resources to delegating to experts and see where it takes you. 

You will quickly find that you enjoy your core genius more and are better at it when you do it most of the time and have others do the rest.