Don’t “Eat That Frog” if You’re an Entrepreneur

Mark Twain’s advice shouldn’t sit well with you

Jordan Aspen
4 min readSep 5, 2022

“Eat That Frog” is terrible advice for entrepreneurs.

Almost as bad is the advice to ask yourself, “do I have the freedom to _____________?’”

Let me explain.

Mark Twain is credited with saying, “ If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

He’s wrong. Just look at any entrepreneur you consider wildly successful. Do they spend their best energy doing what they hate?

No.

The most successful entrepreneurs focus on doing what they do best MORE not less. If their job is to eat a frog, they quit their job or delegate it to someone else-preferably someone who loves frog legs.

Which brings me to my second-worst piece of advice:

“Do you have the freedom to xyz?” is a terrible question my mom picked up somewhere when I was a teen. She thought it was a great question to ask and so did I-until I tried going against it to see how things would go.

My verdict? This question is toxic.

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Jordan Aspen

Community Manager at Find Business Community 💑 Wife 👧👦👧👶 Mama 👩‍💻 Entrepreneur✍️