One of the many things I learned from my father during our time working together, was to not be shy about getting outside help.
To me and one of my buddies at work, it seemed as if my dad never met a consultant he didn’t like.
In many cases, my initial impression of what the consultants were offering wasn’t favorable, particularly in the early years I worked with my dad. Years later, it became clear: virtually every consultant we ended up working with had delivered tremendous value.
By consultant, I mean anyone outside our organization we hired to help us. That included sales consultants, marketing consultants, tech and web consultants, legal consultants (better known as lawyers), and more.
At some point, my views of consultants had morphed into ones that pretty much mirrored my dad’s—I did not hesitate to use outside professionals who could bring something to the table we weren’t able to do ourselves, or something they could do better than we could.
This became the case in my personal life as well. If I have been able to afford it, outsourcing has always been the best course of action, not only because the experts will do a better job than I will, but also because time is money.
That saying – ‘time is money’ – is true. Time has a value. Every minute not spent doing something I am not very good at and/or don’t enjoy doing, is time I would prefer to spend on activities I love: time with family and friends, taking a walk, riding my bike, reading, listening to music, and more.
Of course, you can’t spend money you don’t have, and when I wrote “If I have been able to afford it, outsourcing has always been the best course of action,” that hasn’t always meant spending money. As I wrote in this post, bartering – trading services with family, friends, or others – is a way to shed activities that frustrate you, in exchange for ones you are good at and enjoy.
What are some decisions you have made to invest in your time?
Be well,
David