It doesn’t matter how great and awesome you are. You can’t do it alone. You need people to help you out along the way. And that’s perfectly okay! Everyone does.

Why does a boss, celebrity, or public figure have people who work for them? Because they can’t do everything alone. There’s no way they could! They’ve gotten really good at specific, money-making aspects of their jobs that not everyone can do. But there’s still so much other stuff that has to be taken care of for them to even have time to do those aspects they’re best at. Without assistants and managers, they crumble.

My wife is awesome. She cooks and cleans and runs errands and generally does far more than I do. And I’m so thankful she does! Time with her and everything to do with this whole writing thing are my top two priorities. That’s where value is gained in our marriage, and where I’m able to further my specific goals and dreams. They’re not necessarily at odds with each other, but if I’m spending time doing other things, I’m probably not spending time with my wife or writing. Her doing some (okay, the majority) of that work opens up time for me to do things like – well – this.

This is not a gender roles situation. This is her being incredible. This is me being dependent on her to help me achieve my goals, and ultimately helping us achieve our goals (don’t worry, we help each other in different ways). Without her doing these important tasks, I would not be able to do what I’m doing now. I would not be able to grow, or to have any chance of helping us get to a better place as a family.

At every stage of the game, along the path to success and after we’ve “arrived,” this concept holds true. We need people to help us out. To run our businesses, edit our work, tell us when we’re making mistakes, and to free up our time so we can focus on the tasks that we’re best at. It’s okay that you can’t do it alone! Just be thankful for others.