The moment I realized I'd been overthinking delegation...

In partnership with

3 hours → 30 minutes (while fishing with my son)

I'm writing this from a lake house.

My son's getting ready for another day of fishing, and I've got about 30 minutes before we head out on the boat.

Two weeks ago, I would've been stressed about getting this newsletter done. I would've been up late, sacrificing family time, trying to be the hero who saves the day.

But something shifted.

Let me tell you what happened.

The Snag

I was supposed to go on vacation last week. Had it all planned out.

Big conference, then straight into family time with minimal work.

Then some fires started. Big ones. The kind that turn a vacation into an "out of office but not really" situation.

I had been building a system to get our newsletters working a month ahead. Smart move, right?

Except I only got it halfway done before I had to leave.

So I faced a choice that every small business owner knows too well:

Do you go back to the old way of doing things just to get over the edge? Or do you trust the imperfect system you've built?

The GUSTO Moment

Our company values spell out GUSTO:

• Good enough to get going

• Use the system to improve the system

• Speed to result

• Trust but verify

• Out with the trash

I decided to live by them.

I handed the half-finished system to a team member with a simple message: "This isn't perfect, but I think you can get pretty far. Keep going and come back when you hit a snag."

Now, this person is 12 hours ahead of me. I sent it Friday afternoon my time.

They had it done Friday evening their time.

Two hours. Done.

What I Learned

I'd been overthinking delegation.

Sure, I wanted to walk them through it three or four times. Make sure they got it perfect. Hold their hand through the process.

But honestly? With AI, video tutorials, and someone who's resourceful... is that even necessary anymore?

The work I'd invested before vacation was the right work. I just needed to let it ride instead of trying to be the hero.

The Ripple Effect

When they crushed that first task, I thought: what else can they do?

So I said, "You own this process now. Set up the next 12 newsletters."

They did.

Now I'm two weeks ahead on content. While on vacation.

What used to take me 3 hours late at night now takes 30 minutes over morning coffee.

My son doesn't even notice I'm working because it's not eating into our quality time.

The Real Lesson

Next time your instinct is to take over and be the hero, don't.

Trust your systems. Trust your team.

Build for the future, and it'll give you a better present.

I'm about to go catch some fish with my kid. The newsletter system is humming along without me.

That's what good systems do.

To Your AI-First Success,

Jeff Sauer

P.S. I've created three ways to help you succeed, depending on how much support you need:

1) Join our FREE Community: Get instant access to our resource library, growth tools, and a network of forward-thinking entrepreneurs.

2) ProfitSchool Pro: Join our live sessions multiple times per week, where I personally guide you through implementing AI-first systems that scale.

3) Done-For-You Solutions: Let our expert team build custom AI automations that increase your profit per employee and help you scale without adding headcount. [See if this is right for your business]

Find out why 1M+ professionals read Superhuman AI daily.

In 2 years you will be working for AI

Or an AI will be working for you

Here's how you can future-proof yourself:

1. Join the Superhuman AI newsletter – read by 1M+ people at top companies

2. Master AI tools, tutorials, and news in just 3 minutes a day

3. Become 10X more productive using AI

Join 1,000,000+ pros at companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon that are using AI to get ahead.

Sign up and start learning AI

Coming Up at ProfitSchool

Automations & Agents

Monday, Jul 28, 11:00 PM – Tuesday, Jul 29, 12:00 AM CST

This call will cover practical applications of automation and AI agents, focusing on how we can use them to solve key business challenges and free up teams for more strategic work.

This call is for ProfitSchool Pro Members

The High Achiever's Trap

Tuesday, Jul 29, 11:00 PM – Wednesday, Jul 30, 12:00 AM CST

Are you a high-achiever who, despite your success, secretly feels like you're behind or not good enough? This session tackles the root cause of entrepreneurial burnout and impostor syndrome head-on. You'll learn the "Gap and the Gain" framework, a simple yet profound mindset shift that will rewire your brain for confidence, happiness, and sustained motivation.

This call is for ProfitSchool Pro Members

AI Tool Of The Week

Wordmark

Wordmark eliminates the guesswork from font selection by letting you preview your actual project text in any font on your computer instantly.