Because you are a hustler, a lot of people are going to come to you for help with their projects. They will offer you all sorts of compensation for your involvement, from paying you directly to giving you an ownership stake in their project.
You will be flattered by these offers. You will be excited by some of them too. Your excitement over these offers stems from the fact that you know how to help these people with their projects, and because you know that you have the ability to create value. In many cases, you will know exactly how to help the person asking you succeed in their venture.
But in something very close to 100% of the cases, you shouldn’t get involved in other people’s projects.
Here is what you need to know:
- Anything that isn’t part of your mission is a distraction. You aren’t going to have enough time to do all the things that you want to do when it comes to your own projects. Helping other people with their projects will distract you from your own projects, and it will push the results you need further into the future—or kill them outright. Avoid distractions by learning to say no.
- The time you spend helping other people with their thing is the time you are taking away from your thing. You are supposed to be doing your own meaningful work. That takes a massive investment of time and energy. By saying “yes” to other people’s projects, you are stealing time from your highest priority. Invest your time in your hustle.
- There will always be more offers and more projects available to you than you have bandwidth. The more successful you are, the more people will ask for your help. The number of people who need your help with interesting projects will always exceed the time you have available. You are not missing out when you turn down the opportunity to help with their project; you are missing out on your project’s success.
- Your laser focus on the meaningful work you are here to do should dominate your time, your energy, and your investments. Nothing should take precedence over your mission. Anything that takes your focus from that work—and your projects—is a distraction. Hustle requires focus.
You are kinder by saying “no” to the people who ask for your help with their projects than you are by saying “yes” and not giving their projects the time and attention that someone else could invest.
Stay focused on your hustle.
