180: đ Diminishing Returns and the True Costs of Shiny Shoulds
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What business best practices drive you nuts? What are the best practices you wish people would follow, but they don't? These are clues to things you can be doing differently or stop doing altogether in your business.
Todayâs episode starts with a few of my pet rantsâerr, peevesâfollowed by six specific examples of activities with diminishing returns in my business, ending with one big question antidote for when you, too, find yourself Sailing the Sea of Shiny Shoulds.
đ 3 Key Takeaways
Shiny Shoulds and diminishing returns obscure the true opportunity cost of whatâs really at stake, and they can quickly lead to finishing returns in terms of focus, energy, and output.
Consider the data and your intuition: Sometimes itâs hard to go a different way than âwhat everyone else is doingâ, even when you know itâs whatâs best for you. Only you know whatâs at stake if you continue down a path that doesnât resonate or produce the ROI you need.
Look for asymmetric upside when considering whatâs possible when creating space: What if I stopped this altogether? Whatâs the worst that could happen? Whatâs the best? What else?
đ Permission: Stop working on projects and with clients who are no longer serving you, that donât meaningfully contribute to your revenue and joy.
â Do (or Delegate) This Next: Audit your business; what areas are past their prime or no longer aligned? If youâre being truly honest, which ones never were?
đ Resources
Courses: Dorie Clarkâs Rapid Content Creation, Jennyâs LinkedIn Learning courses
Articles: Investopedia on Diminishing Returns, Investopedia on Sunk Cost Fallacy, 10 Things I learned from Peter Drucker
đ Books Mentioned
Nassim Talebâs 5-book Incerto series: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, and Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
Jennyâs books: Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, Life After College
Related reads: Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts by Annie Duke, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
đ§ Related Episodes
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Pivot:
148: Penney & Jenny ShowâPivoting From Toxic Situations Toward Self-Entertainment,
305: Is What You Are Wanting Actually Whatâs Best For You? With Luke Burgis
304: Through the CruxâPivoting from Acting to Entrepreneurship with Ryan Devlin
183: Cultivating Opposites and Checklists with Alexandra Franzen
76: On Plan Z, Creative Finish Lines and the Graceful Noâwith Alexandra Franzen
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