I'm The Real Jason Duncan, back with another edition of Beyond the Grind – helping entrepreneurs like you stop being slaves to your businesses. 🚀

Freedom is one of those words everyone agrees on – but very few people actually experience.

Especially entrepreneurs.

Most of us start businesses chasing independence, flexibility, and control over our time.

And somehow end up more constrained than we ever were as employees.

That tension has been on my mind – which brings me to a podcast pitch I received.

The Real Problem

Someone emailed me about having a guest on my show who exited his company for $375 million.

Impressive, right?

That's the kind of number that makes other entrepreneurs feel like failures.

But here's the question nobody asks: What did he trade for that $375 million?

What if he's been divorced twice?

What if his kids grew up without him at their soccer games and recitals?

What if he sacrificed his health, his relationships, and his sense of purpose on the altar of that exit number?

Now compare that to someone who sold their business for $3 million.

Not as sexy on a podcast intro, I know.

But what if that person is still married to their high school sweetheart?

What if they have deep relationships with their adult children?

What if they're healthy, live exactly where they want, and are actively involved in their community?

Who's actually more successful?

This is the question at the heart of everything I teach.

And it's the question that separates three entrepreneurs I write about in my book Exit Without Exiting: Edward, Cheryl, and James.

You've heard me mention them before.

But I don't think I've ever told you the rest of the story.

Why This Matters – The Rest of the Story

Edward was a terrible delegator.

He believed nobody could do any task as well as he could, so why bother teaching them?

The time he "saved" by doing everything himself cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars at exit.

But here's the part that really stings: because he never taught anyone else to do what he did, the buyer required him to stay for three additional years.

Three years of training people on tasks he should have delegated a decade earlier.

Three years of working for someone else in the business he built.

Three years of his life he'll never get back.

Edward hated every minute of it.

Cheryl was a decent delegator – for the small stuff.

She happily handed off minimum-wage tasks.

But she held onto what she considered the "important" work: client acquisition, product development, customer service.

The result? Cheryl built a great asset and actually walked away with the biggest check at closing.

On paper, she won.

But here's what the exit number doesn't tell you: Cheryl missed her kids' most formative years.

She bought into the lie that you must grind and hustle to be successful.

By the time she had the freedom to be present, her kids didn't need her presence anymore.

That time is gone and can never be relived.

James understood something Edward and Cheryl didn't.

He understood that his business was a tool to provide him the life he truly wanted – not a scoreboard to prove his worth.

James didn't get Cheryl's exit number.

But James got something better: passive income, time freedom, and a life he actually wanted to live.

He exited on his terms, when he wanted, how he wanted.

The difference between these three comes down to one word: delegation.

Not assigning tasks.

Not confiscating them back when someone does it wrong (like Edward did).

Not abdicating responsibility entirely (like Cheryl did with some tasks).

True delegation – assigning, entrusting, AND empowering someone to act on your behalf.

I'll be sharing the complete framework behind this at a private event in Pensacola next week, and again at Cre8tiveCon in Chicago next month.

But right now, let me give you the six steps James used to become a master delegator.

Now What? – The Six Steps to Master Delegation

Step 1: Make Your Top 10 List

Write down ten things you do regularly that are important but not critical.

Be honest – these are tasks someone else could do.

Take off the hero cape.

Step 2: Delegate One Task for 30 Days

Pick one item from your list and hand it off completely.

But don't just assign it – make sure they understand WHY the task matters, HOW to do it, and WHEN it's due.

That's the difference between assigning and delegating.

Step 3: Check In Once Per Week

Set a specific day and time for a weekly check-in.

Not daily (that's confiscation waiting to happen).

Not never (that's abdication).

Once per week keeps things on track without you hovering.

Step 4: Praise Only – No Corrections

This is the hardest step.

During your check-in, you are only allowed to offer praise.

No corrections. No "let me show you a better way."

The Law of Discovery says we learn more from what we experience than what we're told.

Let them fail, learn, and self-correct.

(Unless it's causing danger, legal issues, or financial disaster – then obviously step in.)

Step 5: The 80% Rule

Once the person can do the task at 80% of your output, permanently mark it off your list.

You're not looking for perfection.

80% done by someone else beats 100% done by you – because it frees you to work on the business instead of in it.

Step 6: Repeat Every 30 Days

Keep cycling through your list until all noncritical tasks are delegated.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to delegate three to five tasks at a time.

Words of Wisdom

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children." – Proverb 13:22

Notice it doesn't say "a good man leaves a big exit number."

Inheritance isn't just money.

It's time. It's presence. It's relationships. It's wisdom passed down because you were actually there to pass it down.

Edward left money but lost years.

Cheryl left money but missed memories.

James left a legacy.

What are you building?

Until next time...

Go beyond the grind,
The Real Jason Duncan 🚀

P.S. The $375 million guy might be perfectly happy. I don't know his story. But I do know this: if someone offered me $375 million in exchange for missing my kids' lives and destroying my marriage, I'd decline. Some things aren't for sale. Make sure you know what yours are before you build a business that costs you everything that matters.