Bite Sized Pieces

Faced with the task of eating an elephant, one could easily be overwhelmed and give up. After all, who could possibly eat an elephant?

But in truth, eating an elephant isn’t all that hard, if you take the right approach—one bite at a time. Indeed, this is how we eat hamburgers, a bowl of soup, or anything else. The fact that the meal on our plate is much, much larger doesn’t alter the basic approach.

Many aspects of owning a paint contracting company can seem like eating an elephant—planning, developing systems, implementing training programs. Each can be a large task that seems overwhelming. This is true, as Susan Weber puts it on the E Myth Blog, "especially if—up until now—you’ve been focused on the day-to-day work of a Technician."

For someone who is "in the bucket", working on your business is a big step. You will most likely be out of your comfort zone. In addition, finding the time to take on this task might seem impossible. Susan recommends 3 steps: organize, prioritize, and book it. Identify what you need to work on, what is most important, and then schedule time to work on it.

While these are big tasks, they can be accomplished. You can eat the elephant if you take it one bite at a time. For example, developing systems might seem like an endless task. But if you develop one procedure at a time, concentrating on one area of your business at a time, you can gradually and consistently move towards the larger goal.

In short, eating an elephant requires that we focus on one part at a time. We break the task into smaller, bite size pieces. By focusing on these smaller pieces, we can overcome the immensity of the project.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008