Despite being one of the richest men on the planet, Warren Buffett’s day planner is surprisingly empty. Jeff Bezos, who joins Buffett in the $50+ billion net worth club, doesn’t travel particularly much. He prefers to spend his off time at home, helping his wife with the dishes and reading.
These billionaires have figured out an incredibly powerful lesson. If you end up saying yes to everything, nothing gets done well.
Focusing on the skills needed to improve at your career will reap rewards. Take a dentist who wants to get better at their craft. She would benefit from learning additional skills, practicing procedures, and better delegating low value tasks to employees. She wouldn’t benefit in the same way by volunteering at a soup kitchen.
And yet, we’re conditioned to think the key to a successful life is to have varied interests and desires.
We live in a world where specialists get all the attention. Most people don’t care if their dentist is a terrible person. As long as they’re an expert in fixing teeth, other sins are easily forgiven.
Often, people don’t even want to do the things they say yes to. They do it because they feel obligated to help, or because a friend has pressured them into it. Even if these folks only put a half effort into the unwanted task, it still takes away time and energy away from something that would be done well.
Focusing your life will reduce stress and ultimately lead to more success both at work and personally. Better finances will shortly follow.
