Now imagine a business like that for a moment, where you didn't have to work there. Would the business work? I mean would it function properly? Would all of the systems and the people integrate to get the result you wanted, the result your customer wanted? Of course it would.

Almost all business owners I've ever met work so hard (too hard) for this exact reason. Their businesses don't work; they do. Everything about the businesses is in their heads, and they're the only ones who can do anything, so they're trapped. Imagine my example of this book and how hard I'd have to work if this knowledge were only in my head.

Most owners are like this because they don't trust anyone else to do the job. For some reason they believe that no one can do it as well as they can. They have to be in control.

Take the step, start to document how everything in your business gets done, put systems in place, teach other people, and give them the responsibility to get the job done. (Read Michael Gerber's book, TheE-Myth,''for more on this.)

All great leaders are good at delegating, so start off-loading some of the tasks now\

By the way, once you've given them the job to do, let them do it. Don't jump in and save them; that way they'll never learn how to get the job done. All they will learn is that you're the only one who can fix things, so you always will. Remember, sometimes you have to let them fall off the bike to learn how to stay on.

Work for Yourself and Go the Extra Mile

All that you've just read doesn't excuse you if you're working in a business that's owned by someone else. Remember, what goes around comes around, so give it everything you've got. Always go that little bit further than you're asked to, give a little extra, and you'll go far. If you're asked to stay till 5:00 p.m., stay until 5:30 p.m. Just do a little more than you're asked.

By the way, this goes for your customers as well. Don't just satisfy them. A satisfied customer never tells anyone about you. Give them something more than 10