The Secret to Success Lies in What You Avoid More entrepreneurs need this reality check...

Here's the deepest life quote that I've ever heard: "The magic you're looking for is in the work you're avoiding."

Joseph Campbell, the famous American writer and professor who inspired the creation of Star Wars, said something very similar: "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek." 

I see so many business owners avoid things that would make them successful. Here are a few reasons why:

• They're scared to be honest with themselves--it makes them look bad.
• They're reluctant to do the work it takes--it's not a magic bullet.
• They're too comfortable where they are--they make good enough money and they get complacent.
• They're worried about the negative consequences--all the what-ifs.

Look, I'm not saying I'm a saint. There were a few things that I used to avoid. The biggest one? Responsibility as an owner. It was way easier to blame my employees and other people than to look in the mirror and get real about my mistakes. 

But I was lucky to have mentors who were brutally honest with me: They straight-up told me what I needed to change to grow my company A1. I listened to them and implemented what they said, and that's how we've been on a rocket ship.

Based on my experience growing A1 and advising other home service business owners, here are three things I see most owners avoid that hold them back from success: 

1. Delegation 

Why owners avoid this: Good delegation takes time and patience. That's the frustrating reality that most owners aren't prepared for. So they take the easy way out--they dump tasks on their employees. Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited (Harper Business, 2004), called this "management by abdication rather than by delegation."

When you do that, you encourage employees to do a poor job because you don't define what success looks like.

What you should do: Understand that employees need support to do things well. Make sure that you cover the what, when, why, and how in their delegation. 

2. Financials 

Why owners avoid this: Maybe this is a home service industry thing, but I've come across so many owners who don't know their numbers in business. They think they make good money, but they never check their bank accounts and customer relationship management to confirm. They don't see themselves as numbers guys. They get intimidated by all the calculations required to know where their business stands.  

What you should do: Get help. Set up a meeting with your accountant this week. Go through your profit and loss statements to understand what each figure means for your business, and what you need to do differently. 

3. Implementation 

Why owners avoid this: It's fun to read books, attend conferences, and get coaches. New ideas are always exciting. What's not as exciting? Implementation. That's why they either procrastinate--lying to themselves that they will do it another day--or they get distracted by the fires in their business--lying to themselves that they have more urgent things to do.

What you should do: Ideas don't make you money. Action does. And you don't need a million ideas to succeed in business. Take the one best idea you learned recently and implement it today. Keep yourself accountable by announcing to your team that you will get it done by the end of the day.

I can list many more examples, but the real question is this: What do you know you should do but you aren't doing? Be honest with yourself and go do it now.

Article republished by Greg Herrera: Silicon Valley CEO Group; Helping leaders benefit their companies, families and society...