I read this book from cover to cover in a couple of hours and got the point instantly. Focus on what you are good at doing, and outsource the rest. If you have a task that you can hire someone to do for ten dollars an hour while you made fifty, hire that task out - and work less. Do only what you are really good at or well rewarded for, and pay or barter for people to do the rest. The promised result? Bountiful free time to travel the world and experience what you truly want.
Let me say this upfront. I took a lot of good information from this book. The tactical approach of it has a lot to offer. I think that its had a great impact on my life, and that of my family. I still recommend that anyone interested in living life to its fullest read it because it has some tremendous insights on things like experiences vs possessions, and how to figure out and chase after what you actually want.
I took a lot of this to heart as bible and ran with it full on. Perhaps too much. I started to outsource EVERYTHING. I got someone to mow my lawn, someone to clean my house, someone to wash my clothes. I have a sticker on my car from Delta Sonic where I just drive through the car wash and its automatically billed. Everywhere that I could pass on some work I did, and thus simplified my life to the point where I could focus on what mattered. My job, my consulting work, my workouts, and eventually my new family as they came onto the scene.
But it felt weird. It felt really astringent. I felt like I was missing something.
And it hit me today. Finally.
I came home to find my kids playing in the driveway and for whatever reason... I decided to wash my car. For Real. I filled up a bucket, squirted some Meguiers soap I had laying around, got a sponge and a scrub brush, and went to town. Within a few minutes my 8 year old daughter was there. "Daddy can I help?" Sure you can. Grab a sponge and wash the driver side of the car.
Within a minute I realized she had no idea what she was doing. She was missing spots, not really "washing" - just kind of smearing the damp sponge on random parts of the car. I went to help her and suddenly realized a couple of things.
1. how the hell would she know the basics of washing a car? She's never done it or seen me do it before.
2. Who gives a shit? Washing a car is awesome when you're a kid. Especially when a hose is involved.
3. What else doesn't she know?
I gave her some tips, but for the most part left her on her own. She had a blast. Shortly after, my 21 month old son Luke came over and got in on it. Eventually he got bored of my car and went over to wash his own car... a little playskool one. He was very meticulous. He was watching what I was doing.
Luke eventually got bored and was done fast because his car is only 30 inches, but Quinn and I busted out the exterior, then did the whole inside as well. I got all of my old Stoner branded chemicals out and we hit the dash, the windows (use newspaper instead of paper towels for the best result) and even vacuumed. The car looked great, Quinn looked proud and accomplished, and I had some self-satisfaction that I don't seem to find very often.
What word was that? Right. Self-Satisfaction. The happiness found in a job well done. Not a job done by someone else - MY work. MY result.
I realized that by outsourcing so much of my life, I've removed some of the simple things that bring little victories here and there... the small accomplishments that count. What am I accomplishing while I sit at Delta Sonic, efficiently having someone else wash and clean the inside of my car for me? I'm reading stupid posts on Reddit and updating Words With Friends games. I'm given free time to wander on the internet, of which I seem to have more than enough of while I sit at red lights.
And I realized that I'm making my kids ignorant to basic life skills. I know how to wash a car by watching my dad. My father had beater cars for most of his life, but he gave a shit about them and took care of them. I haven't changed the oil in my own car in 20 years, but I know how to change the oil on a car. I have friends that still change their own oil and I thought they were wasting their time for doing it. Now I respect it. I see the purpose beyond saving a few bucks. The only thing I've really retained full on that I don't outsource much is cooking - because I enjoy doing it. And I have a lot of friends that paint their own houses and mow their own lawns but don't cook. So I feel a little better about this. .
I've gotten to the point where my first response to anything is to find someone else to do it, and then find a way to generate income to pay for it, because if (car wash) costs X Dollars and in the time of (car wash) I can generate Dollars X+Y, then always outsource Car wash.
But what if my kids never learn to wash their own damned cars, because I was busy with efficiency tasking? What if your kids don't learn to cook a decent meal because you're tearing open boxes and microwaving freezer bags? Whats the point? What if they are really good at four things, but suck at the basic tasks of life in general?
