EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Leverage. Strange term really, when I’ve been talking mainly about things in your personal rather than your business life. Or is it? Have you ever really struggled to open a jar, and then remembered you got one of those contraptions in the bottom drawer? That’s leverage. Not really the type I’m meaning in this context, although I really encourage you to buy one of those things. They’re brilliant.

Leverage has many meanings. What I want you to think about in terms of all that stuff you do with your time is how you can use your power to influence a personal situation or use something to maximum advantage. What? What is she talking about? Otherwise known as making the most of what you’ve got. Generally, we want to leverage the stuff that wastes our time, but does either actually make us money or could do, because we could do something else. These things creep into your time because maybe you fear success or you don’t have support or team. And well, let’s just say, failure to plan has probably been common in most people’s lives. In the world of business you may have products and services that could be leveraged, or you could leverage the power of better software, buying back the time it takes you to search for those customer notes in that pink folder from 2010.

One of the great things to come out of the pandemic is the very now common leveraging of software like Zoom for meetings. Instead of having to get in our cars, get on public transport and go places, talk about leverage. Brilliant. Yes, it’s got its downsides. So I’m hoping we find a happy medium, and I can get dressed up and go to things again. There are so many tools you can utilize for your leverage. And yes, if you spend the next two hours on the app store or Googling about it, you need to put that on your sheet and be honest with those questions. Does this make me time? Does this make me money? Does this cost me time? Does this cost me money? Do I love it or loathe it? Me, I love a good Google and can see half a day disappear. So I need to be really careful.

Let’s have a look at something you could leverage at home quick sticks. Meal prep. Follow some of those incredible people that make 50 dinners in three hours for inspo. You’re already doing the work, so making some more and popping in the freezer is a no-brainer. And if you’re in business, batch the stuff you do for maximum efficiency. Record all your podcasts in one day. Pre-book the team and do all of your videos and photos once a quarter. Batch it, baby. Maybe that could be Beyonce’s next song. Then there’s your network. There’s so much potential for leverage there. And I don’t mean using people. But I know that if you’re watching this video, you are not that type of person.

Do you have a local group of friends and you can share pick-ups and drop-offs with the kids, et cetera? Or maybe you could all harness your collective energy and create a workout group. Do you have a good business network where you can hear about opportunities in your industry? Hey, even a good Facebook group where you have the ability to ask questions and get great feedback is leverage. All that brain power there to help. I leverage these episodes, for example, as much as I can. And to be honest, I could do much better. We film it and then I get written content, shorter snippets, photos, and so much more to share. If you have a business or want to start one, maximizing how you do something once and then have it in multiple ways to be used is pure gold. It’s the yellow brick road of internet marketing. E-books, group coaching, subscription models, et cetera. It’s been wonderful to see other businesses take that on. Even my local honey person offers a subscription. Is there anywhere that you could do something like that? I’m sure there is.

The last thing I want to say about leverage is the thing that most of us are really uncomfortable with, our skills, talents, achievements, and education. No, I can’t do or say anything that’ll make me sound too big for my boots. Yep, I can hear that cringe rising up on you. We’re taught to play small. Stop. Be proud of all you are and all you’ve done. Maybe your old school or university has opportunities you’ve never taken advantage of. Is there an award you can go for because of something you’ve achieved, leading you to greater opportunity? That’s leverage. Shout that stuff from the rooftops, my friends, and dig a little to see how it can help you.

The final L word, good show by the way, live it. This is honestly my favorite bit. And while I could do a whole episode on it, but I’m saving the last week for guiding you and putting all of this together. I used to say, this is where things that made you money and time sat. Whoopsy, sorry, folks. I’m adding, this is where you also put the stuff you love to do and maybe you’re also really good at. For me, when I get up on stage or behind a camera like this, I’m absolutely living it. For me, when I’m on a Zoom call with a client and I’m helping them through a problem, absolutely living it.

That is the dream. They’re the golden moments, the nuggets where time, money and passion all come together. And that’s what we want in life. That’s the stuff we want to be doing more of. Maybe networking would be in this category for you. A big one for me used to be planning. I was a gold medal winning planner. Whereas for other people, planning was a complete waste of time, energy, and effort. It actually might have been in that loathe column, and somebody else has got to do that stuff. Now, I know my planning was a wee bit unhealthy at times and was a procrastination tool in part. So although I love to do it, I don’t allow myself to get so far into it anymore.

Living it is when you’re absolutely in your A game, your element. That’s where you get to be extraordinary. In your gut you know what these things are. Right now, pause the video and come up with three things that make you feel like you’re living it. One, two, three. It’s usually effortless. It’s when you’re in flow. And I know flow’s been one of those words, that’s been probably taken a little too far by some people over the years. I believe that flow is when you are doing something and hours go past and you’re like, “Oh, what happened to the day?” That’s brilliant. You could be sitting at your computer and you’re writing your book. And before you know it, you’re three chapters in and it’s like, “Oh, people have got to read this. I had no idea I was sitting here for five hours. Wow. I didn’t even pee. It’s freaking awesome.” That’s flow.

What about a party? For me that is live it with a supersize L. I get to plan the party. I get to make the food. I get to be in conversation with people whose company I enjoy. And as I’ve said before, it’s like all the love languages rolled up in one. But that whole cleaning before and afterwards, I’m delegating that shot to the max. Your time is so valuable, as is everyone’s. Don’t waste other people’s either. Oops. I could go off on a tangent there, and I won’t do that because that would be wrong. So look at where you’re spending it, where you’re wasting it, and those beautiful moments.

Your homework for today, yep, in the workbook, is to ask yourself the following questions. Is there anything else I can get rid of completely? Who do I need on my team to be able to delegate more? What am I currently not leveraging? What do I really want to be doing more of with my time? Thank you so very much for spending your very precious time watching this week’s episode of the Samantha Leith Show. Now don’t forget to head on over to the interwebs, SamanthaLeith.com/freebies, to get any of the worksheets that I mentioned. Now, you probably know many people that could do with a little extra help with their time. So do them a favor and share this episode. And if you tag me, I’m going to encourage you on the journey. Till next time, remember, you have exactly what it takes to be extraordinary.

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Produced by Rebecca Saunders and Pyrmont Studios

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Manic Monday
Songwriters: Prince Rogers Nelson
© Npg Publishing

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Produced by Samantha Leith / Michael Tan
Vocals by Samantha Leith

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