Regarding my article last week titled “Converting Years into Months,” reader Dan Stuenzi

of Omaha, Nebraska wrote:

“I’d like to offer a different perspective about working on our weaknesses.  Let me first say that I am in 100 percent agreement that a writer needs to be fluent in Microsoft Word or some other word-processing software.  However, I believe that if you spend a lot of time working on your weaknesses, at the end of your life you’ll just end up with a lot of well-developed weaknesses.  I believe you should work on your strengths and delegate your weaknesses to someone else.”

Mr. Stuenzi went on to say that if a person spends most of his time working on his “unique ability” and delegates everything else, he can have a “massively productive” business and a far more enjoyable life.

I couldn’t agree more.

There are, however, two catches. First, most people don’t have the personnel or financial resources to delegate all of their deficiencies.  So it becomes a chicken-and-egg situation — the more a person works on tasks for which he is unsuited, the longer it will take him to become financially successful.

But there are a million and one tedious tasks that need to be done in order to become successful, and early on in your career it’s unrealistic to believe that you can delegate all of them to others.  Which is why entrepreneurs — especially when they’re just starting out — work such long hours.  They spend a lot of time doing “junk work” that they can’t afford to hire out.

The other catch is that there are certain skills that are so critical to your business that you need to become good at them rather than delegate them to someone else.  Meaning that you have to suck it up, roll up your sleeves, and learn those skills yourself.

As I pointed out in my article last week, being a Microsoft Word expert allows me not only to write infinitely faster, but also to be a much better wordsmith.  A side benefit that is not insignificant is that it allows me to bypass myriad people who tend to slow me down.

My “unique ability” is writing, and it is this ability that directly or indirectly produces the greatest amount of income for me.  Therefore, anything that aids me in the writing process is of great value to me, and being proficient at Microsoft Word gets right to the heart of this issue.

So, by all means, you should nurture your key skills and delegate your deficiencies to the extent possible.  But in your haste to delegate, don’t make the mistake of allowing yourself to remain incompetent in a skill that is an integral part of your ability to produce income.