The mighty lion sits atop of the food pyramid. Any passing mammal can become its prey – whether it’s a _sprightly antelope_ or a _measly field mouse_. Yet the lion does not hunt the mouse. Why? Because the caloric energy required to chase, wrestle and devour the little critter __exceeds the caloric value of the mouse itself.__ If it only hunted mice, it would starve to death. So the lion is _literally_ better off big-game hunting: chasing antelopes. [via GIPHY]() You can see where this analogy is going. In the world of business, the antelope is referred to as __the big domino, the needle-mover, the ROI maximizer__ or the [$10,000/hour work](). Now I’ve been a solopreneur for over five years. And my belly is _full of field mice_. My back of the envelope shows the following time allocation: 55% is a lot of field mice! These results shouldn’t surprise you, since as a solopreneur you run the gamut: strategy, ops, marketing, accounting, and vision. Said differently: __You define the work. Then you do it. Then you review it.__ (Every day for five years. It’s a delightful grind.) So you can imagine the elation that came with finally hiring a virtual assistant. First, the __scheduling ping-pong__ would be gone (forever)! But more importantly, the pie could shift to add a splash more yellow, and hopefully more red. ## But first: the RadOS Whether it’s [Notion](), [Roam](), [Superhuman]() or [the Zettlekasten Method]() – we must remember the principles of the RadOS. The RadOS protects us against our nemesis: S.N.T.S. (aka _[Shiny New Toy Syndrome]()_). SNTS in the flesh The RadOS states that __Tools__ (including _new hires_) don’t deliver massive outcomes unless they’re accompanied by __Self-Awareness__ and __Behavior Change.__ This is influenced by the _Pareto Principle_ (and the related [Hourglass Principle]()), which states: > 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. In my experience, the Pareto Principle can be cleared __just with the Self-Awareness__ and __Behavior Change__ , as shown below: ## Let’s start with Self-Awareness Using the __self-awareness__ lens I asked myself the following questions: * What would I do with more free time? * Do the economics of hiring a VA make sense? * Is this hire a “pain remover” or “happiness multiplier?” * Will this hire increase my stress level? As I answered these questions, a few thoughts arose. First, I’ve always wanted to build a lifestyle business. Adding a new hire ALWAYS adds a new level of complexity in the form of accounting, paperwork, operations and communication friction. And while I wouldn’t make a hiring decision that __didn’t make economic sense__ , it became clear that I wouldn’t exclusively make an profit-driven decision. The desire for more free-time was driven by a few considerations. __First, I want to surf more frequently – like 2-3 hours a day.__ So I needed to shift the mix of $10/hr and $100/hr work towards a more favorable mix of $1k/hr and $10k/hr. Next, I want to do plant the seeds for the __Rad Foundation__. A currently (non-existent) entity that will take many of the community’s learnings and teachings and expand them to folks who wouldn’t typically have access to them. The initial focus will be either financial literacy or digital entrepreneurship. And while I hate _scheduling ping pong_ as much as the next guy, any new hire has to be __a happiness multiplier__ (more on that below). I wanted to be excited to collaborate with someone new, both with everyday small talk and as an ally for bigger decisions. As a lifestyle business owner, not maximizing for economic outcomes, you get to make those decisions. ## Now layer on the Behavior Change This is where it gets super tactical and the rubber hits the road. And for those of you familiar with investing, new hires always start “in the red” (aka a _J-Curve_) where: > __Time spent training >> Time saved by the hire__ The finance J-Curve for investing The simplest behavior change: __regular 1:1s__ and we landed on a twice a week, 30-45 minute touch base. Next, we sough to codify __the nature of our interactions__ and __working styles__ by each crafting [user manuals](). Here’s an excerpt from mine: BTW, this is $10k/hr work Next, to “front-run” the J-curve, I preemptively started to write a series of _Standard Operating Procedures_ (or SOPs) inspired by Michael Gerber’s [E-myth Revisited: Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it](). This is particularly time consuming as a solopreneur, especially if you’ve spent the past 5 years in your own head, with no documentation to memorialize why, how and when you do things. By my VA’s second week, we had amassed an EPIC __31 SOPs__. And together we cleared the J-curve! Now as a duo, we needed to find a way to communicate in a way that was effective, accurate and didn’t cause unnecessary noise. From the User Manual, you could see that as the business “owner,” I want this for myself and all current and future colleagues: > I value being present. Despite running a digital business, I actually don’t like being on my devices. So our communications AND task management needed to serve this meta goal. We landed on [Notion]() (unsurprisingly) but we’re not yet convinced that it can cover all of our project management needs, so still have a strong eye towards Asana. But for now, we’re relying heavily on customized templates (from within our [Notion Databases]()). Here’s the task template I use to assign the __Saturday Newsletter Task:__ I’ll then go in fill out the ___TKs___ but never have to actually go into the email software (Convertkit) myself. You’ll see a direct link to the __SOP__ and (not pictured) we also communicate using the [native Slack integration]() (therefore neither of us need to leave the app). And we continue to add to our __SOP__ and __Task Template__ collections: ![Blog post image](/images/blog/image-2-1024x769.png) ## So about that $10,000/hr work? Clearing the J-curve in such a short amount of time was an epic win for our growing team. So are we now swimming in $10,000/hr work? Alas, here’s where the __self-awareness__ kicks back into full gear. This __high leverage work__ is sowing seeds that you can collect in 5-10 years time. But that entails more than just sitting with an empty Moleskin and a hot cup of Philz Coffee. It’s a rigorous practice of planning, dreaming, strategizing and fostering relationships. Said differently, __it’s hard enough to identify the work, let alone do it.__ I’m still taking baby steps here (and find myself lapsing down to work that offers more instant dopamine.) But in the meantime, if you pull up the SOP for __Managing Khe:__ So far we’re tracking. Surf’s up! _If you’re looking to hire a VA, I used[Great Assistant]() and loved the service. (Full disclosure: Affiliate Link)_