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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Are you a control freak? I think we all are at times, some more than others. Over the course of the last few years, as my business has slowly grown, I have learned that a big key to success is learning to let go and not freak the hell out about it. If you find yourself freaking out at the thought of letting someone else do work for your business without you looking over their shoulder, then this post is definitely for you.

For those of you who don’t know, I am partners in the media production company Pixel Mobb. Being that we are content creators, as well as web and video guys, it would seem logical for us to design our own website and marketing materials. However, when you are building a business, paying the bills comes first. So creating content for clients has taken priority over our creating content for us.

Not only that, but we also have had quite a hard time branding ourselves, though apparently that is normal. My partner recently read about a famous logo designer that took 12 years to design his own logo. I guess it can be hard when you have to do it for yourself, and not a client. A client gives direction, feedback, and provides work that has no previous emotional attachment. When it’s time for you to give direction and feedback on your own company, many things can cloud the focus you need to have.

That’s why you need to learn about letting go.

Entrepreneurs are hungry, motivated, do-it-yourself type of people. They don’t let obstacles stand in the way of their goals. They do what they have to to get things done. These are excellent traits, and necessary in order to achieve success. However, the one thing entrepreneurs have a tough time with, is letting go of the steering wheel for their business.

For example, I have had many clients who hired us to do a site with this exact problem. They loved our ideas, our portfolio, and our personality. We sign the contract, work out the details, and get to building the site. When they look at the design comps however, they want to make changes. They want to move things around for no particular reason other then that’s where they think it should go. They want to resize things, and use elements in the site they think are cool, or that a friend of a friend gave them.

Now, you may be reading this saying that is their right as a client. Truth be told, you are right. In the end, we will do what the client wants. However, time and time again, that client’s site does not succeed the way they envisioned. Sure, they get what they wanted, but they don’t get the important part: our company’s experience. Each decision we make is based on the tons of experience we have. The funny thing is, our experience is the only reason a client even hires us anyway.

The reason they hired us was because they liked what we have done as professionals. After they hired us, though, these particular clients acted as if they were the professionals. They hired us to do a job, and now they are telling us what to do.

Picture this with another occupation, such as a house builder. Imagine telling the builder what materials to use, where to put the nails, and the order to build the house in. The builder would tell you you’re crazy, and not take the job.

Now, while I complain about my clients like this, as a business owner, I have also been THOSE clients. I have caught myself telling ideas to people with much more experience than me, then thinking to myself, what the hell am I doing? I hired these professionals, let me do what they say. That is when the relief washes over me. It’s not my responsibility. Give them a chance and see if they do well. If not, you will find out that you have not hired the right person, which is my responsibility. Hiring a robot is not good for any business, as what’s the point of hiring a company you have to take time to manage?

There is none, except to ease your fears that it won’t turn out the way you want. However, you need to move past that, and trust in your ability to hire the right people for the job.

This is called letting go.

It can be the single toughest thing for you to possibly do with your business. At the end of the day, most business owners are control freaks in one way or another. In order to learn to let go, and keep your wits about you, I have come up with the following list.

5 Reasons To Let Go & Not Freak the Hell Out

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1. Know your role.

You have hired a person to do a job. There is a reason for that. Either you can not do it yourself, you lack the experience, of you simply lack the time. Whatever the reason, you have hired this person to take their time to complete your objective. If you don’t have the time, experience, or knowledge to do it yourself, then you don’t have the time, experience, or knowledge to tell someone how to do it either. Make sense?

2. Your input has it’s limitations.

Many entrepreneurs are great idea people. It comes with the territory. However, you must know the limitations of your input. It is very cool to give ideas, concepts, examples, and goals to the people you have hired to do a job. It is very important to also understand that these are just ideas. Your ideas are the starting point, not the ending point. You have hired this person to take you from start to finish. Give them the starting point, and then let them lead you to the finish.

3. Encourage, don’t direct

The goal when you hire someone is to get them to do the best job possible. Sometimes, to understand their job, I will put myself in the person’s shoes who I have hired.

• How would I react to the direction I am giving?
• If this was me, what would make me do the best possible job?

I try to answer these questions before I give my direction. A good baseball coach doesn’t tell the pitcher what to throw. Instead he uses motivation to get the pitcher confident enough to have faith in whatever pitch he chooses to throw. The same should go for you.

4. Firm vs. Flexible

I’m sure you all want to know, what happens if you let go, and the person screws it up royally? Well, that is a legitimate fear for concern. In order to avoid this, it is important to understand where to be firm and where to be flexible. The place to put your foot down is in your goals for the project. If I am building you a website, I need to understand what your goal is for the site. It is very important that a client stay firm in what they want to accomplish. This is important, because it is a major part of the starting point.

Where you need to be flexible is in the approach to reach the goal. Let the professional guide you into the right approach. Ask them why this approach is best to meet your goals. Question them on the process, and how that is going to help you reach your goal. However, don’t direct them on how to achieve the goal you want. That is why you hired them. Your job is to provide them what they need to do their job, not on how to do it.

5. Freaking out is a waste of precious time.

You heard it here first. Well, probably not, but it is true. Freaking out, worrying, or any of that emotional stuff is simply a waste of time. Better to spend your day controlling what you can, then worrying about all the things you can’t.

This is not to say anticipating problems is bad. It is quite beneficial to anticipate what could go wrong. However, all you can do is anticipate and prepare for it. Worrying and stressing over it just puts you in a weaker mind state which makes getting imperative work done twice as hard. Be confident in your preparation, and learn to let go.

You may be quite amazed the amount of clarity you have when you learn to let go. It is a scary, but great feeling. Remember, if someone does not do a good job, it’s not because you weren’t telling them how to do it. It’s cause you hired the wrong person for the job. Concentrate on finding the right people, testing them out, and if they are good, you will not have to worry again. That is where you can become more successful as an entrepreneur.

That is why letting go is so important. Don’t think of it as letting go of control. Think of it as letting go of useless fear, worry, and stress, cause in reality, that’s what it really is. The only place these fears, worry, and stress exist is in your head. If it is not in your head, then truth be told, it doesn’t even exist. Imagine that.

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