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3 years ago I picked up the “4 Hour Work Week” and began reading the book.  I didn’t finish the book. I don’t remember why, but recently I picked up the book again. After reading the updated version I really learned some very cool stuff that I want to share with you. One of these cool subjects is the “world of elimination.”

You see many of us have been programmed to think building a business requires one to be very busy at all times.  I know used to think attaining success was all about working from dawn till nightfall and dedicating almost 6-7 days per week on building a business.   However after a few years and a few books, I have come to realized that the New Rich accomplish MORE by DOING LESS.

While the majority look to add more to their to-do list, the New Rich live in a world of elimination. You see being busy is often a disguise for laziness. Being busy is usually a way out or an excuse for one not to work in the most critical areas that are important, yet uncomfortable.  You have a plethora of options when it comes to building your “busyness”, but this will bring you nothing but frustration from overly working, lack of time and lack of happiness.

However when it comes to building your business, all it takes is you working on a few critical factors that can really explode your profits and take your business to new heights. The main critical factor that I do my best to work on is me. It’s very uncomfortable however because I have to face the truth. The truth is I am not as well rounded as I feel I need to be in order to build a multi million dollar or even billion dollar business.

Some of the things I have worked on over the years and continue to work on are critical factors in my life that I believe are crucial to success, such as listening and trusting.  If I am not a good listener and I am not good at paying attention then how can I create a product that people will love, use and continue to use for years. I can’t because I won’t know what people. This would be an issue with listening and paying attention.

If I don’t trust my team then I will have a hard time duplicating and empowering people within my company to take on the tasks that I would normally take on. Now I will find myself being overly busy, overly working myself, frustrated and not happy at all. The future of my business would be at risk.

However when you work on the critical factors to creating a successful business, you will find yourself  having more time and enjoying my life (sanity). I personally wanted that life therefor I had to get it together FAST!

Remember your product or service is a manifestation of you, who you are, and what you do with your time.  If you don’t work on the few critical factors that are important to your business then you may not have a business.  I just shared with you my critical factors, however you need to figure out what are the most important tasks that need to be executed in order for your business to grow.

Maybe some of those tasks or factors have to do with your lacks. If you are just not good at something spend part of your time at becoming strong in those areas. In the mean time find someone who is strong in your weak areas and hire them or partner with them. Work with people  who’s strengths may be your weakness.

So back to elimination.  What you want to do is eliminate the “busyness” or the work that is not making a big difference in your income and the progress of your business.  The goal here for you is to decrease your workload and increase your profits at the same time.  Here is what the New Rich understand when it comes to the world of elimination:

1. Effective vs. Efficient. I believe understanding the definition of words is crucial to your success. If you’re an entrepreneur it is your duty to not use words very lightly. Know what you are talking about. So what’s the difference between these two words: effective and efficient. Effectiveness is doing the things that will get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task (whether it is important or not) in a timely and economic manner.

If a cold caller who is a refined salesman makes 500 calls a day without wasting time is considered efficient, but not effective. If the cold caller used a better vehicle like email auto-responders or direct mail they would probably be more effective.  Are you getting the picture here? No one gives a shit if you are a hard worker. The question is are you a smart and effective executioner?

Efficiency is important but useless if applied to the wrong things.  If you find yourself spending time doing things that are not effective eliminate those things from your day and use that time to work on what is effective towards the growth of your business. Hell even taking that time to take care of your health instead of spending that time on ineffective tasks is more beneficial to your business.

For me I don’t read any book unless it has to do with my business or how to invest my money. That’s why I really only read books that have to do with start up companies, working effectively like “The 4 Hour Work Week“, investment strategy books such as the Rich Dad series, and social media marketing books. That’s it. You won’t catch me reading any cook books, the daily news, real estate books, novels, etc.

So make a list of what are the effective activities you need to focus on and spend your time being efficient in those areas. Also make a list of all the ineffective activities you find yourself doing throughout the day, like web browsing for example, and eliminate those activities or outsource them for dirt cheap.

2.  The Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle is what we know as the 80/20 principle. What these numbers mean is 80% of input comes from 20% of the output. This ratio almost applies to any metric. 80% of society’s wealth comes from 20% of the people. in many cases the ratio has been skewed even more severely: 95%/5%, or even 99%/1%.

So here is how you apply this rule to your business or your line of work. Ask yourself these questions:

-Which 20% of my sources or activities are causing 80% of my problems?

-Which 20% of my sources and activities are bringing me 80% of my desired results and happiness?

Take a day and truly analyze yourself and what you do throughout the day.  We find ourselves doing many things that we may think  are progressive, but are truly unhealthy for our business and our mind.

I believe being busy can be a form of lazyness. This breeds lazy thinking. Lazy thinking leads to lack of judgement and lack of discernment. Even being overwhelmed is often the same as doing nothing.  What I learned over the years is being selective (doing less) is much more productive.

What you want to do is focus on the few that are important and eliminate the rest.  Make sure you are not a multi-tasker. Multi-tasking in my opinion is just another form of laziness and lack of organization.  If you find yourself lacking time and having to multi task, you’re actually lacking priorities.

Again take the time and analyze your everyday activities and focus on the important stuff. Prioritize and execute the effective activities with efficiency.

You ever wonder why the New Rich work so little but make so much money? It’s because they are not lazy thinkers. They get this stuff. Don’t mistake activity for productivity. Analyze yourself and your time, then get organized by getting your priorities in order. Be effective and you may find yourself with a whole bunch of free time on your hands along with happiness and a lot more money.

To your future,

Hameed Hemmat

Facebook.com/HameedHemmat

P.S. If you have some “busy” friends who need to learn to be more effective feel free to post this on Facebook and Retweet this post!

P.P.S. Do you find yourself struggling with your “busyness”?  Feel free to share your thoughts, concerns or questions below in the comments section.