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

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

“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.

Like eating a frog, forcing myself to focus on the thing in front of me that felt nasty made me feel nasty and slowed me down in the long run.

Successful entrepreneurs don’t ask if they have freedom, they pursue freedom so aggressively they don’t stop to ask if they can have it. They seize it. Then they give it to others.

No, don’t Eat That Frog before doing anything else.

Sure, there will be plenty of things on your plate that are unpleasant and still need doing. It’s true you won’t always be free to scrape them off and let other people deal with them. (God knows I’ve had my share of frog-eating these past three decades.)

But that doesn’t mean you need to make a daily habit of eating frogs first thing in the morning or asking yourself if you are free before doing something you feel like doing.

Andrew Carnegie, one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time, did his time “eating frogs” as an immigrant…