I dont want to do this any more

Dear Aditya,

A few weeks ago, I found myself staring at my laptop, my to-do list open in one tab, my calendar in another, and a growing sense of exhaustion creeping in. No matter how many hours I worked, there was always more to do.

So I did what any responsible adult would do, I shut my laptop and brewed myself a fresh cup of black coffee.

As I waited for it to steep, I thought about something I once read about Portugal and England. Portugal exports wine because its sunny weather makes it perfect for growing grapes. England exports wool because its damp climate is great for raising sheep. They don't try to do everything, they focus on what they do best and trade the rest.

That's David Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage, and while it's mostly used in economics, it's an absolute game-changer for how we think about work.

Most of us, especially as leaders, operate with a mindset of: "What's most important? Let me take that on." Instead, we should be asking: "What is something that only I can do? And what can I let go of?"

SHOULD IS A DANGEROUS WORD. It keeps us stuck. It keeps us overwhelmed.

So I asked myself: What is the one thing I bring to the table that nobody else can?

At first I struggled. Then I asked a friend who knows me well. We came up with a list of 5 things. Then we cropped the list down to 3. And you know, my heart started beating faster. I felt a wave of anxiety coming over me. All of the 3 things that we kept are things way out of my comfort zones and things that I have been avoiding for years.

Here is my list of what I discovered ONLY I CAN DO:
Raise and Manage Funds
Be in the right circles, meet influential people
Last minute program firefighting (this one I have been doing, but can do better)

I have started looking at my work differently. I have delegated more. I have started letting go of things that don't need me. And guess what? The world hasn't collapsed. In fact, things got better.

So, here's my question to you: If you had to remove half of what's on your plate today, what would you let go of? And what's the one thing that only you can do?

Take your time. Let the answer find you.

In fratitude,
adi