132 - Mastering Time and Money
Jan 15, 2024Welcome, welcome. I am so excited that you are here. Today we're gonna be talking, we're gonna be answering that question, how to find more time and financial stability as a chef. Now, the whole point is of learning how to trend master that time and money. So my name is Nick Brown, and I am super excited that you're here today. We are coming right now we are right in the midst of the holidays season. Okay. And we just got through with thanksgiving, we're coming up on Christmas. And as a chef, and working in this industry, we are gearing up to become part of the busiest season that it has that that's around, okay. You know, the holiday parties, if you've the holiday parties, the fad family gatherings, that going out to eat, I've worked in Houghton, I typically work in hotels. So you know, it's Christmas comes, everybody's coming to the hotels and spending time with family and events, and things like that. So, and then we got the, you know, I work at the ski areas. And so all of those skiers coming in during the holidays, man, this is gonna be an amazing time. And at that time, we kind of sit here and think, okay, as a chef. All right, what is it? How can we manage? How can we master that time and money? How can we find that time and have that financial stability as a chef. So firstly, I want to kind of get your mind around, is that during this time, is the time that we can make a lot of money. And at this time, we're making a lot of money because we're working lots of hours, it's really busy. And we're getting the overtime and Huck has stuff. But the thing about overtime and making that money is now we no longer have time to spend with our family, with our family, with our kids, with our spouse, with our parents, with our friends. I mean, we're working every single day, we're just grinding it out, grinding it out, and we're making the money, but we don't have the time to be able to do anything with all this money, right. And, and so that's that dilemma, it's like, there are times in our lives where we're like, busy and making the money. And then there's times where it's dead slow, and we're like, Dude, I got bills to pay. So you've got the time to be able to do things, but you don't have the money. On the other hand, you've got the money, but you don't have the time. And so that's kind of tough situation that we kind of deal with within this industry. You know, I want you to kind of really understand that it is really possible to be able to figure out how to make this work. Now, let me tell you a little bit about what I who I am and what I'm doing. So I help chefs to be able to, you know, build that harmony within their lives. I help chefs to be able to, you know, really understand what it takes to become an executive chef, how to get you there, and how to get you there in a way that you will not get burnt out, you will not get exhausted, beyond you know your capabilities, that you'll be able to maintain that harmony that is between family life and work. And although this industry makes takes a lot out of us and demands a lot, and we'd love to give it because it is our passion. We struggled with that time, money, family kind of balance harmony kind of thing was going on. And there are a lot of chefs out there who are in the situation where they may have sacrificed everything for their career and ended up losing their family. They may have sacrificed everything for their career and then get to the end of their life and they realize that they have absolutely no other reason for they don't have any other reason. Like they're getting to the end of working at or their body starts deteriorating. I mean, it's hard on us How'd we get to that point? And was just like, What am I going to do now? I invested everything, everything that I had into serving other people into this business, into the food into the passion that I had. And what tends to happen is, at that point, you just sit there and you go, why did I do that? I don't want you to get to that point, I want you to get to that point, to get to that time of your life, where things are wearing out, you know, your body's starting to wear out, or you're getting to that time of retirement, you're like, Okay, I'm going to retire. And you're like, I'm so excited, because now I've been able to do this thing. Now I'm able to do this thing, you know, you get to that end, and you're like, I've got my spouse, we've got our kids, we've got grandkids, and I'm able to spend time with them, I want you to get to that point, even while being a chef. And so that's what I'm going to talk about a little bit today, of what you can do to get there. So I have these six rules, these six rules that have kind of guided my life for a long time. And it wasn't till recently that I was able to actually pin them down. And let me tell you what the first three rules are, the first rule is to taste everything. And next, focus on your mason plus, the third, maintain a clean and organized area. Now you know these rules very easily, you know, taste everything. That's what a chef does. Me sunplus, clean as you go, okay? All of those things are very important as a chef. But how does that fit into what I'm talking about today. So when I'm thinking about that tasting everything, what I want you to think about is taste your life, spend that time that you do have, and really enjoy it. So when you're sitting there, and you're trying a new dish, and you're trying to create this new dish, and you're sitting there, and you're you cut into it, and you look at it, the presentation, you look at the textures that are on there, the colors, and you're really focused on on that dish, and you're just sitting there going, alright, is this what I want? And then you go to bite it. And you say, Okay, how soft is it? What do I need? What kind of utensils? Do I need to be able to handle this? Right? And then the next thing you do is you go on there? And you you taste it? At any kind of, okay, you're smelling it, you're tasting it? How does it feel that mouthfeel? What are the interplay of the flavors that are going on? And want you to start to do that in your life? Take moments of your life and really pull back a little bit and start looking at it. What are the colors that are going on? What are the relationships that we're dealing with right here? Like, you know, are you with your family? Are you on a vacation with your family and you're at the beach? Want you to sit there and think about that? Think about the sounds that are coming in? Are there more people on the beach? Or are you on a beach all by yourself? And you can hear the seagulls crying? Can you hear the waves kind of like clash in and out is here the children kind of playing around and laughing and giggling that kind of thing. Like, sit there and and relish that time. savor those moments, realize that they are going to be brief, but find joy in those things. I enjoy that stuff. You know, I've kind of kids like the other day it was it was absolutely hilarious. I was sitting there and I was just call it off some dad jokes. Right? And the kids were just like Dad, no, I'm like, oh, yeah, I got another one like that. You know, just savoring those moments. I was just going one after the other and they were pulling on me trying to get me down on the ground. They were jumping on me and it was just a lot of fun. savor those moments. That's what this is all about. Okay, the next focus on your mucin plus. Now when you're thinking about your music plus in the kitchen, you're thinking about making sure everything is in its place, that you've got everything set up so that when you go when you go to service and you are in the thick of it, you are in the weeds, you know that you've got everything there. All you need to do is focus and put it out Same thing with your with your life. How are you preparing for your day? How are you preparing for your week, for your month? And we're going to talk a little bit about this further. But how are you preparing for the much further ahead? Like, what are you doing? Are you planning for your day? Are you planning those family vacations? Are you planning those, those outings to be able to create those memories?
Okay, what is your daily routine so that you can maintain the energy that you started off with when you woke up all the way through the day, all the way through service all the way through the cleanup and be able to go home excited about how your day went? What are you doing, to be able to get to that point. That's your Mesa plus in your life. Just like in your mason Plus, when you're working on the kitchen, having everything ready, so that you can go and attack and conquer that service. Do the same thing in your life, man. Take that time, really focus and create those routines, create those schedules, create those times to be able to have your time, you know, be with the family. Okay, the next part is that clean and organized area, like, if you start working, things can start getting messy, they're gonna start getting messy, and you just need to clean as you go. You just need to make sure that everything is cleaning up, you know, you gotta you gotta quick second, send the broom through the line, make sure that there's nothing that people can slip on or trip on. Right? But how are you maintaining your life? In a clean and organized area? Okay, are you striving to reduce the stress that you have in your life? Are you saving time to be able to create those cherished moments? Are you focusing on those relationships? With your spouse, with your friends? With your children? With your family? Hey, are you making sure that those relationships are solid? Are you taking the time to clean up any misconceptions? Any frustrations that are happening? Because you and me both know that there can be a lot of frustration from your family, or your friends? By how much you were working? You know, I talked about this last week, like, why can't you be there? Why can't you be at our family activities? Why can Why are you always missing these things? Why can't you be there on the weekends? In the evenings? Why can't we go out on dates? Okay, it takes a lot. We give a lot. And we sacrifice a lot. But what can you do? What are you doing to be able to kind of navigate that time? Again, I was talking about the focusing on your mason philosophy, scheduling it it. Okay. But then also making sure that that communication, that understanding is both ways. You know, when when other people are looking at you, and they're saying you're working forever, you're working too much. And you'll sit there and going, I'm working this way so that I can provide for the family. I'm working this much so that we can have a future. And those two things, they are both correct. How can you manage to get that into alignment so that you both understand each other, and create that harmony that was in within? That needs to happen between these relationships, clean up those relationships. If you make a mistake, if you miss an appointment, clean it up, do it quickly, before it hardens, and festers and really becomes very difficult to clean up, leaves the stain on that cutting board, clean it up quickly before that happens. So I've been talking a lot about that time. Now relationship, you know, how do we juggle that finding more time. That's some of the ways you can find that time, start doing the scheduling, start savoring those moments, and clean up those relationships, clean up those misconceptions. And if you do that, you'll begin to start realizing you have more time. You know, we do work a lot, but we don't work 24/7. So take that time and start using that time to the best that you can. Okay, let's talk about the money portion of it. Because that's what we're doing is we're doing this to get the money. We're doing this to provide for ourselves, for our family for the future. Okay. And the next three rules that I have an understanding of the power of three, surround yourself with support and serve with intention. So let me talk a little bit about what those mean, and how they can be related to the money. So the power of three, the whole point of this power of three rule is that everybody thinks so much in three. And what I'm talking about here is thinking your perfect personal goals, your professional goals, and your passion goals. Think in three different timelines. Think in the right now. Think in the recent future. Okay, the close future, and then also think into the far future. As you're thinking about your money, what are you doing within your life, to help build those things? What are your goals, your professional goals, your personal goals, those passion goals, that will help you to be able to enjoy life, to be able to enjoy going to work, to be able to make more money. And also, think about those planning things, start thinking beyond just the end of the date to get to the bar. Stop thinking that, you just need to make it until you can get that next check, stop thinking that all you need to do is just work really hard. So I can get money to buy the Christmas gifts. Okay, and start thinking further ahead. Stop thinking immediate future, start thinking in the near future, and further into the far future. Start making those plans, building that wealth through saving, okay, surround yourself with support. And you cannot run a kitchen without having your team around to correct. There's no chef that can function on a on an extended period, by themselves in the kitchen. You need to surround yourself with support, you need to have that team around you. The same thing with the financial you need to have people who understand how money works. Start getting those people around into your life, help manage your your finances help you understand how to begin to start saving, how to start building that, that future for yourself. Surround yourself with support with people who are willing to save instead of just spend. And finally serve with intention. With love giving, that is what we do. It's in the actual career food service. We love to serve, we serve other people all the time. Okay. And we are constantly giving ourselves giving of our passion to other people. We also need to take this into ourselves into the financial aspect of that. And when we're serving that we begin to start serving ourselves, as well as others. Serve yourself. Put that money away, start saving that money, make those financial decisions that will help you in the long run. Start building investing, and then also start giving. Because the more that you give, the more you receive. And I have, you know, I contribute to charity all the time. I'm gonna tell you that that one, it feels good. It feels good inside. But I also found that the money that I ended up giving to charity. I don't lack I'm not missing money, as I'm giving it to charity. But if I'm focusing when I'm just focusing on the things that I want, I can never have enough, I never have enough, I never have enough money, I can never have enough to get the things that I want. When I focus on serving others, and saving for myself serving myself, all of a sudden, I'm not in a feeling of lack, but I'm in a feeling of abundance, that I've got the things that I need. And the interesting thing is, is I've done this back and forth and back and forth. Okay, the same job, the same amount of money. But when I'm thinking a Ford, and when I'm thinking for service, all of a sudden I have the money that I need. And when I think about myself, and I stopped thinking about other people just getting getting getting, I no longer have the money that I need. It's a very interesting conundrum. So I want you to take this, I want you to really understand that in order to master our time and our money. We need to find out how to manage that time. We need to know how to manage those financials the finances To be able to build that stability. And then regardless of how much you make, you can become rich. And I'm not talking just about, like, Oh yeah, you don't make money, you're gonna be rich inside now you're gonna be rich inside, if you follow these steps, but you're also going to become rich, financially,
it may take a while, but you will become rich, you will become wealthy, you will be able to have the things that you want, you will have the, the friends and the family to be able to share it with. And you will be able to be the person that you always want it to be. And you'll have the freedom to do that. So we're coming up on this holiday season, serve with intention, give share of yourself, start to build that thought that you live in an abundance, because you're able to share with other people. Surround yourself with that support. Start thinking ahead. Make sure that your relationships are solid. And that you're thinking and you're planning and making those choices, those make those decisions, and those moments so that you can savor them. And if you do that, you will be able to master your time and money. Thank you so very much. I am so grateful that you were here. I can't believe that you actually made it this far. If you did. You're awesome. So thank you. I will see you next week. So next week, I am going to be talking about the secret to long term success in the kitchen. So what is going to take? How can you get there all the way to make sure that you get to the point where you're ready to retire, you're successful. You've got what you need. And you're happy. That is what this is all about. So thank you. Happy holidays. I'm so excited. And I will see you next week. Thursday, one o'clock mountain time. Bye bye