How to Use Leverage to Work Less, Earn More, and Finally Breathe
Ever feel like you’re working harder than ever but getting nowhere? Like thereās never enough time, and the harder you push, the more trapped you feel?
If so, Rob Moore’s book Leverage might just flip your perspective. Itās not another āhustle harderā guide. Itās about getting smarter with your time, energy, and resources. Moore introduces a powerful idea: success isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing less of the wrong things and using other people’s time, skills, systems, and money to multiply your impact.
Hereās a breakdown of the bookās best ideas, plus real-life reflections and how to start using them today.
1. Stop Doing Everything Yourself
One of Moore’s key messages is simple but life-changing: you shouldnāt be doing everything.
He argues that we spend too much time on tasks that someone else could do better, faster, and cheaper.
Delegate, outsource, automate. This frees you to focus on what really matters.
āFreedom doesnāt come from control; it comes from letting go.ā
2. Buy Back Your Time
Buying someone elseās time means paying others to do tasks that drain your hours so you can invest your energy in high-impact areas. That doesnāt mean you need to start a big company. Even freelancers, solo creators, or side hustlers can start small.
Examples of buying back your time:
- Hire a virtual assistant to manage emails and schedules
- Use a cleaning service instead of doing it yourself
- Pay a freelancer to edit your content or videos
- Order groceries online instead of shopping in person
The point is, stop trading time for money and start buying back time to think, create, and grow.
3. Value Expands When You Scale It
Moore emphasizes something deeper: wealth is created not just by doing valuable work, but by scaling that value.
You can turn one piece of work into income streams that keep flowing without constant effort.
Think about this:
- One blog post can reach 1,000 people.
- One online course can be sold 10,000 times.
- One system can run every week while you sleep.
The trick is to create once, and deliver often.
4. Change Your Environment, Change Your Life
Moore insists that your environment shapes your outcomes, especially the people around you.
That sounds nice in theory, but what if your current environment feels fixed? What if you’re surrounded by small thinking, fear, or just people who donāt āgetā your goals?
Start here:
- Join online communities related to your interests or business
- Attend small workshops or virtual events
- Comment on othersā content and connect with like-minded people
- Change your input. Read different books, listen to different podcasts
You donāt need to move across the world. Sometimes changing your āmental environmentā is the first step.
āIf you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.ā
5. Let Go to Grow
Letting go doesnāt mean being irresponsible. It means trusting others, empowering them, and stepping away from micromanagement.
Moore calls this the art of real delegation, not just assigning tasks but transferring ownership.
This is where most people struggle. They say, āNo one can do it like I can.ā
But that mindset traps you.
Start small. Let someone else handle one area. Give them the āwhatā and let them figure out the āhow.ā
Your job is to lead, not do everything yourself.
6. Less Control, More Freedom
Hereās one of the boldest statements in the book:
āThe more responsibility you give away, the more freedom you gain.ā
At first, that feels risky. But in truth, holding on to everything creates burnout and bottlenecks.
Letting go isnāt weakness. Itās the only way to grow.
7. Want to Use Leverage? Hereās How to Start
Moore lays out several practical tools to begin building leverage into your life.
⢠The Leverage Audit
Track your time for a few days and ask:
- What am I doing that someone else could do?
- What tasks drain me?
- What brings real results?
This reveals where you’re stuck doing low-value work.
⢠Outsourcing Matrix
Visualize tasks based on their impact and difficulty:
| Easy | Hard | |
|---|---|---|
| High impact | Delegate now | Systemize or train |
| Low impact | Drop it | Avoid it |
Start by delegating the easy, high-impact stuff.
⢠The Compound Leverage Strategy
Apply leverage in layers:
- Time ā Stop doing what others can do
- People ā Get help, build a team (even small)
- Systems ā Automate with tools or tech
- Money ā Invest or advertise to scale
- Marketing ā Use content to reach more people at once
Each layer builds on the last ā and together, they multiply.
⢠The 1-3-5 Rule
A simple structure to stay focused:
- 1 Big goal
- 3 Medium goals
- 5 Small, daily tasks
It prevents overwhelm and keeps momentum.
Final Thoughts
Moore’s Leverage isn’t about doing less for the sake of laziness.
Itās about doing less of the wrong things so you can do more of what matters.
You donāt need to be rich or have a team to start using leverage.
Start by asking:
āWhat am I doing right now that someone else could do?ā
Then take one step to let it go.
Your freedom starts there.