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Jack of all trades, master of none.

In his fascinating book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell posits that to become an expert in any particular endeavor requires 10,000 hours of practice. Innate talent or natural genius are not the most crucial aspects. Training is.

While this is all well and good—and the book is one of my favorites—there are only so many 10,000  hour chunks in a lifetime. That's about equivalent to a full-time job for five years. So if you want to be a concert violinist—and you don't need to earn a living—go for it! Otherwise, you might not be able to devote enough time to get to that point.

But there is a solution. Play to your strengths! There are many things you are already good at, either from past practice or from innate talent. What are those things you do well? you do easily? you do naturally? How can you emphasize those thing to get an exponential jump on productivity?

Eliminate activities at which you are incompetent or only competent and your productivity will increase.

It's a sort of specialization. And while we don't want to completely eliminate which of our weaknesses we want to improve on or stop making progress, often delegating things we just can't grasp in favor of those we can excel in, can often be the best option.

Think of the opportunity cost and the return on investment. Your time is worth as much as any other asset you possess!

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Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.