133 - Secret to Long Term Success
Jan 15, 2024Welcome, welcome. So my name is Nick Brown, and I am the founder of cooking physics. And I just want to share with you what is this real secret to long term success as a chef. So we are going to talk a lot about that today. What is it that really helps you become a chef that manages to make it through the long term, because let's face it, there's stress, there is pressure, there is the grind, there is the competition that is going on. And all of the things put together. You know, I've heard article after article How a chef has to deal with as much struggle as like a fire chief, or an emergency room doctor and all these kinds of things, but how to you as a chef, or how do you just barely starting out, do the things that it's going to take for you to get to where you want to be, without getting that burnout, without getting that exhaustion without really pushing yourself too far to the point where you just break nervous breakdowns, the burnout, and all those kinds of things to happen. So today, we're going to be talking a lot about what that is, what is that secret? And how can you start putting that into your daily life. So my name is Nick Brown. I'm the founder of cooking physics. And I welcome you to today's lesson, we're going to be talking about all of these things in a little bit more detail. So the first thing that you need to understand to be able to maintain that long term success is understand the importance of rest. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about that. What do I mean by rest? Well, first of all, as chefs, our hours are all over the place, we could be working several hours in a row, we could be working multiple days in a row. And we're dealing with the stresses of all those kinds of things. So the very most important thing is that we get our rest, it can it does mean that you make sure you get your rest is when you're sleeping at night. But it's also mean take breaks during your shift, take breaks, take that little bit of time, in between sections of your day, go out and get out of there. I talk about this a lot, because it has helped me so much. Taking those breaks really helps re energize and get you excited about the next section of your day. Taking those breaks, kind of allows you to release all the stress that happened before and really get in there and be like, Okay, the next thing we're going to be doing is this, okay? Take those breaks, make sure that you're taking those breaks. Without those breaks, one thing runs into the next into the next into the next, everything is piling on top of each other, and you're not able to release that stress. And at the end of the day, you are exhausted, you're tired. You know, one of the one of the things that I that kind of shocked me, when I moved from that, from that line prep kind of guy, or the service guy to more of a leadership level is that some of those days where I really wasn't doing much actually active work. But I was more tired at the end of the day, by teaching people by helping by solving problems and all those kinds of things I was more more tired, more exhausted at the end of the day, have an eight hour day like that. That was when I was working 12 hour shifts as a line cook. And the whole thing is, is that as a line cook, you're just going to do one thing to the next to the next. But it's just it's very, there's no real stress on you. It's just you get that done, boom, it's done. It's over. Next thing, boom, done over next thing boom, done over, you know, and it's just plate after plate after plate. It's checking off those those tasks, those that prep list every single time and every single time you're like done, okay, next done, next done. But when you become that kind of leadership role, all of a sudden these these things that are coming at you these issues that are coming at you take longer, and they take time for you to think about and and figure out the best plan of attack moving forward. And then the next thing comes in the next thing comes and so even though you're able to knock things off there Still having that three, four or five other things that you're sitting there worrying about and thinking about. And if you're not taking the time to take those breaks, stop, relax, release the stress, okay? Write down the issues that you're having put it on a piece of paper, so you don't forget, put it off to the side release. Okay, pick up the paper, which one or two things you're going to work on right now. Getting that kind of mentality getting that kind of persistence, and, and what's the word just over and over and over, okay? That, you're able to really start to function a lot better. Because you're able to focus on only one or two tasks instead of all 15, that you're that are on your brain. Taking those breaks, taking that time in between, if you're talking with somebody, when you finish talk with them, don't go immediately to the next thing, okay? Take some time, rehash what kind of went on, write it down, put it off in the place, so that you can come back to it and get to back to it later. So you're not trying to remember all of that stuff. You see, as a chef, as you're, as you're growing up the ranks to become that executive chef, more and more things are going to start, you know, invading your time, invading that time of your thought processes, okay? And the more and more things that are pushing on that the more exhausted and tired you're gonna get. And if that starts happening, your temper starts to rise, your patience starts to drop your exhaustion and your frustration with Why can't anybody just do what's right? Why do they have to, you know, mess around so much, okay. It just kind of builds and builds and builds to the point where you just feel like snapping. So as you're progressing, as you're learning, one of the biggest things you can start to learn as to get that long term success as a chef is to learn how to take breaks, learn the importance of it, and take time for yourself. Because if you don't, you're not going to be very good. One of the books that I read was by Gs, shoot, I can't remember. But the chef in this book, was talking about how he would be working a long time. And he would, during the middle of the day, he would take a break. And he would go to the gym. And it would you work out in the gym for about an hour, and then come back to the kitchen and be fully energized and excited about it. Okay, I've had other co workers that I've worked with, they had two jobs, they were working eight hours, you know, 16 hours a day, plus the, you know, the time that it took, so they were getting, you know, five, six hours asleep, transportation or time that it took to get from one job to the next. And he would still take time to go work out in between jobs. And what he found was, he was one of the most excited and energetic chefs that I've ever worked with. Okay. And he was just the one cook. Okay, he didn't really have any bigger responsibilities. But man, when that guy showed up, he was super excited and super, you know, just energetic and just had all of this energy. And like, How in the world do you have that energy, you're working two jobs. And you're working out in between the two jobs, how I think is, that's how, because he took that time he took that break. He took that rest time away from everything else. He exercised, he built up his momentum, he built up his energy, he built up his endurance by working out and net is how he was able to function and have two jobs, be super excited. And, and just have fun. When I started to realize that I was like, oh, okay, okay, so then, you know, an eight hour shift I can handle. When I get to like a 10 hour shift, I make sure that I take a half hour break. And I just just go outside, like, Hey, I'm gonna go take a quick break, go outside, I walk the property, I you know, just kind of get outside and get that relaxed, okay? If it turns into a 12 or 14 hour shift, that's when I get to like, more than a half hour, you know, and you start breaking that up, or I take that half hour break two or three different times. The whole point is, is that it started to build up my energy. So that is the key. That's the secret to a long term success as a chef. There are many other things that I'm going to talk about as well. But that one right there is the most important thing. Take the ebrake learn to take those breaks, exercise, you know, build up that energy, and really just kind of start enjoying your life, you know? Okay, so let's talk about some of the other ones. Okay. One of them your mindset. What are you thinking about? When you're when you're working? What are you thinking? Are you thinking all of the grind and all the difficult that's going on?
Are you thinking the fact that you get to serve other people, you get to create great food, you get to rock it, you kill it during the service time. Whichever way you're thinking, that's how your day is going to go. If you're sitting there mulling over like love, like, I can't believe someone saw us doing this and like, show up and my station is a complete mess. And everybody's, nobody's doing anything around here and I have to do everything, your day is gonna go horrible. But if you show up, you're like, Okay, here's my prep list. Man, I got a lot to work, let's do it. Let's crush it. Let's put it out. I'm gonna kill it today. You're gonna have a better day. Okay, the next thing is, as you begin to build and grow in, in the culinary arts, you will begin to start having to be a leader to others, become becoming that lead line cook becoming that sous chef becoming that executive chef. Your thoughts need to change from one of just pure production to a performance of the team? And how can you help build up that performance? How do you build the leaders? Start learning those skills? Start listening and watching other chefs that you feel are successful and start learning how do they build their teams? How do they build their leaders? The third thing is making sure that you have that harmony between your work life and your regular life. Okay? Now, we love. We love this, it's in our blood, it's our passion. But what else do you have, because I can guarantee you that the cooking is not the only thing that you have passionate about, there are at least one or two more things that you're passionate about, that you love to do, that are outside of work, things that are just purely for you start to build on those start to progress, start to really help enhance the the entire life you've got as you're building it up. Okay. And also with that work life harmony, make sure that you are paying attention to other people start building those relationships. You know, we talked about the whole networking portion, you know, and it's like, oh, you go out and you do this. And you do that. Yes, that's great for your profession. But what is best for is for your own personal well being, being able to talk with people being able to be out there, learning from other people. And we are social people. Cooking is all about social. The whole thing is, when when the village got together, and they had a feast, that was their feast, they came together, they talked, they enjoy each other's company, and they ate. And if we just sit there and cook and cook and cook, and don't take care of the other half of the feasting portion conversations, the the friendships and the relationships. And we're missing out on half of what it is that makes us who we are. The other thing is, is start to envision the future, have that picture for the future. And go for it. share that vision with the other people that you're talking with, Hey, this is what I want to do. This is what I want to see, hey, talk to your managers. Find out the vision that they have for the place that you're in. If you are a manager, if you are a chef, a supervisor, or whatnot, make sure that you are talking about the vision that you have until you're blue in the face. Just talk about it over and over and over. And the more that you talk about it, the more inspired your team will become. The more inspired your team becomes, the more willing they are to step up and do what is necessary to fulfill that vision. Because that vision is their vision as well. The more that they do that, the less work it is for you. That's another way for you to sustain and to be able to have that long term success as a chef. All always work on your advancements. Always work on becoming better. Always strive to get to the next level to get to the next level. Okay, where are you? that right now, what's the next level? What can you do to get there, build on your personal growth. Now, that can be your professional growth, learning the skills you need, that can be your personal growth, learning those relationships, things and the things that make you a better person. Okay? And it could be the growth of your passions, those other things that didn't have to do with work, you know, start to grow and develop and really build on that. Because the, the, the act of growing, the act of becoming better, just ignites you, and gives you energy. And the final thing is, make sure that you are taking care of your future. Because I don't care who you are, you can start saving some money, put some aside, put it into areas that will will help you in the long term. Because one thing that makes that is very, it really hurts is when I see chefs that have to work, because they have not saved the chef's that aren't able to support themselves outside of that paycheck to paycheck to paycheck. I don't care who you are, I don't care how much you make, you can start saving, put it away, start building that wealth. The earlier you do it, the better off you are, the earlier you do it, the less is needed at any given time. So even if you're starting starting out, and you're barely making money, and say your check is only, you know, $1,000 put $100 away. If you're able to put $100 away every single month, it can grow to a million dollars. No joke, okay. But it has to do with the consistency, the diligence, and the the time that and the time that's invested. So if you want to have long term success, focus on those things. Again, the first one, take your breaks, okay? Take your breaks, have that mindset that you're going to crush it. Build your team, even if you're not as a chef, but you're just a line cook, start building your support network around you. Make sure that you are maintaining that harmony between work and everything else that is in your life. And make sure that you're always trying to grow, always striving to become better. And finally, make sure that you are saving money. Because as you're saving money and putting it away, you will be able to build that long term wealth, which will allow you to be successful for the long term because you're no longer having to work to survive to get through paycheck to paycheck, where you get to work, where you have the opportunity to work, where you're able to work, and do the things that you love, because you love it. So thank you so very much. I am super excited to have you guys here it is almost the holidays. And you're going to be working like crazy in a band basically starting right about now. Um, culinary professionals, we're going to be working on average 15 to 20 hours of overtime for the next couple of weeks. So get out there. Remember what I talked to you about, take those breaks, show up with your mindset ready. And those two things right, there are the things that you can do right here right now that are going to make immediate impact in your life. So I will see you next week. And I'm going to be talking a lot about what is coming up in the next year. So thank you so very much and I will see you next week.