Clinging to the known is easy and comfortable, but it’s not satisfying. In fact it’s boring. Growth and gain come from doing the things we don’t really have to do. They come from stretching ourselves—by embracing discomfort. 

But we don’t need to cannonball into new challenges, just dipping a toe in will do. As our toe gets comfortable, we need to put the rest of our foot in, until we’ve taken a step, and then repeat the process with the other foot. Doing this over and over leads to enriching growth and gain. 

But to sustain our growth we need to leave something behind. This is the role of delegation. We must delegate some of the easy and comfortable to create space for the new and uncomfortable.

Luckily, a task that’s easy for us, is a stretch for someone else. Therefore, the key to exceptional delegation is spotting a task that’s become easy and automatic, and using it to feed someone else’s growth—creating a virtuous growth cycle.

We create an opportunity to grow by turning over a task that’s become easy for us to someone else, who in turn creates opportunity by turning over a task that’s easy for them to someone else, and so on. 

At its heart, delegation is about choosing how to best use our limited time. This means delegation doesn’t always involve team members. It might take the form of hiring a landscape service, cleaning service, or food delivery. It’s about freeing up time. Time to invest in ourselves—to grow and enrich our life and the lives of those around us.

Becoming comfortable with a little discomfort and understanding the role of delegation allows us to balance challenge and skill. Our reward is more highly productive time spent feeling happy and focused in a state of flow.

“Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person’s capacity to act.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Feature photo by Austin Neill on Unsplash