You may feel this way about things that are easy for you—it’s no big deal; anyone could do it. Be careful of the wrong thinking. The things that you find are “not a big deal” are things you earned because of:
1. Hard Work: You spent the hours probing, exploring and figuring out how something works. This may be learning how to navigate your computer, mastering your camera, building gadgets, or dissecting financial statements. The repetition and frequency is something you have done over time to gain an efficiency and mastery.
2. Passion: Do you know what most people are doing this evening? They are in front of the TV. My guess is that you are doing something you are passionate about. Do you know what I am doing? I am learning. I love learning. I am passionate about it. I am not passionate about vegging for hours. Instead, I want to constantly grow. That is why reading, writing, building things and solving problems comes more easily for me (See #1 again). I paid the brain bill and the sweat bill. It’s all fueled by what I care about and am passionate about. Keep feeding your passion.
3. Vision: You may find things are easier when you have a solid reason for doing them. For me, I am finding it harder to keep in shape these days. That’s because keeping in shape is a lousy vision. It is a process, not a goal. When I used to compete and the racing season was coming upon me, it was clear why I should wake up at 5:30 and get myself on the dark road to put in the miles. The WHY is always more important than the how. Is the WHY clear to you, or are you going through the motions?
When things are not a big deal to you, it is because you have some form of mastery and love. You could command great respect and price if you acknowledged these as highly valuable.
Here’s the trap – most people stay fixated on the things they are not good at. At the core, it is the sucker-trap for human beings. Our pride draws us to conquer things that we are, at best, mediocre at when we could spend our time enjoying the things that are efficient, enjoyable and intuitive to us.
There is always a fork in the road which leads you to one of two things, but not both: opportunity or missed opportunity. Most people are not paying attention to this in life. Here is where I can see missed shots every day because a person does not see the opportunity:
1. Not Understanding Value: If you bought a car and it took 6 months to deliver to you, should you pay 100 times more more than one that took 6 hours because of a fully automated operation? The answer is obvious. However, those that equate value to time miss opportunity.
The CPA who can deliver your taxes in 15 minutes because of an amazing computer system he has mastered should be worth much more than a guy who pored over everything manually for 15 days. The former had a system which contains the value; a system he spent both brain power and hours to get right so he can do a 15 day job in 15 minutes. The latter is penalizing you for his inefficiency.
Perhaps your efficiencies are opportunities to leverage. Have you considered putting them into a system and a value proposition?
2. More Play Than Practice: I am always intrigued by people who have to perform – actors, athletes, speakers, politicians, etc. I think about the invisible aspects of who they are. How many hours do they spend refining their performance so they can deliver their showtime with mastery and precision? When you see Tiger Woods sink a long one with his putter, you were not there seeing the thousands of putts he missed, analyzed and pushed himself to sink without the crowds.
Compare that with most people in business. You will find a lot of people who show up and are not studying, growing, mastering, pushing, articulating, and analyzing. It’s always show time with little practice.
Are you practicing enough? How about making it a 10 to 1 ratio? 10 hours of practice for every one hour of showtime for your customers. That is excellence – treating your job or business as a craftsman rather than a survivalist.
3. Lack of Belief: If you minimize the things that are easy to you, then so will your customer and everyone else you encounter. You don’t believe in it so why should they? Actually, you don’t believe in yourself. Otherwise, the conviction about what you do would shine through.
A broken belief system is like a car without an engine.* It might be nice to look at, but it isn’t going anywhere. There’s no horsepower to get it anywhere. A lack of belief in yourself will kill any opportunity. If you find yourself here, then the best thing you can invest in for your life are things that will help you personally grow. Otherwise, you will live out your desperate life without much opportunity.
There are things that come easy to you. Step back and ascribe the value that they deserve. You earned it through paying the brain bill. The hours do not have to be in showtime. The hours were paid in practice, in quiet, in the times that matter. You may not have noticed. I hope you are able to now.
The best way to get even clearer and learning how to ascribe value to your talents and assets is to understand your strengths. For this, start that journey by clicking this link and taking a step forward to grow your opportunities you may not be seeing.