135 - Taste Everything
Jan 15, 2024Welcome to day two, we are going to be talking about the next rule that I have for cooking in and in life. Now this is one of the first rules that any chef learns. When they're beginning, taste, everything, tasting everything. What it is about is that as you're working in the culinary industry, you need to know your product, you need to know what's going on. And so the first rule you learn is to taste everything, every single thing that you have, you taste it when it's raw, to make sure the product is good to begin with. Okay? You taste it when you're in the middle of cooking, to make sure that the seasonings are going correctly. And then you taste the finished product. So that you know that what is going out is going to be amazing for the guest. And what happens is, while you're tasting things, you're spending your time to write down what your your observations you write down the you know the flavors of something, if it's the first time that you're ever tasting it, and you write down and you keep track of what things are going on, if you're in the process of creating a new dish. And you're not exactly sure that you know the end product that you want to have more or less, and you know the main ingredients, but you're not sure how to get it to where you want it to get, then you start testing things. And you tasted before you go through and you do all of the aspects to try and help you grow and develop and to help grow and develop that recipe. And and then finally, you end up with a finished product. And it's only because of your your diligence in paying attention to what's going on, and writing down what worked and what didn't is how you ended up getting that amazing dish at the end. So how do you go about doing this? What is it that we can take this idea of tasting everything and put it into our regular lives. So what I have come with come up with when I'm talking about this is that tasting, everything is all about being present, making sure that you are where you want to be each and every single day looking around you seeing the everything that's going on around you and enjoying what is going on. Like, right now. It's the fall. And I could just go to work and come back. I live up in the mountains. And I go to work in the mountains. And so as I'm, as I'm going around going to and from work, I'm going through and seeing all of these beautiful trees, and the leaves are changing colors and they're really starting to pop. And you know, one color is going to pop, you know reds gonna pop first and then the yellows, and then the oranges. And then everything's gonna kind of start fading a little bit. And we really only have like, three or four days where it's really beautiful, where everything's just kind of popping at the same time. Now, I can just go to work and come back. Just focus on the road, where I can sit there and be present and taste my life. You know, really get that flavor of what's going on to the presentation of the world that surrounds me being present when your conversation with other people. One of the things that I think about when I say I think tastes everything is like get to know the other person. Get to know their hopes, their dreams, get to know their goals. Find out how you can help them out in those also look to challenge myself. What kind of things that I do that help create a vibrancy and unlock aliveness in my life as I seek to improve myself as I challenge myself. Because Have you ever just gone like an entire week and not really realize that the week was gone? I mean, you went ahead and did all the regular stuff and you think back you're like, Yeah, I went to work. I mean, you know I did the stuff that I normally do, but it doesn't really mean anything to you. See, if you Want to have that feeling of liveness a feeling of, of joy of, of having that, that flavor in your life. And you need to challenge yourself, and give yourself something to look forward to something that you're working for. And so, you know, yesterday, we talked about the rule of three. And creating those goals, now is the opportunity that you have to really work towards those goals, and really focus and taste what's going on. The other thing you want to do is you want to begin to start keeping a journal. You know, there are many, many ways of keeping your thoughts, you can either write them down in a book, which is the traditional method. Another way is that you can type them on a computer, or record them into a video file. Or there's plenty of apps for your phone, or for the computer that you can use to capture those thoughts and maintain them digitally. What I found the works best for me is a combination of recording, as well as the digital. See, when I, I'm a chef, and I love to be on my feet. I mean, I wouldn't work in this industry, if I didn't. I love the movement, I love moving while I'm working. And the same thing happens when I'm thinking, see, I always think best when I'm out for a walk. And about six months ago, I was at a networking event with other entrepreneurs. And one of the people said that what he does is every single morning, early in the morning, he goes and grabs his phone, he hits record. And then he goes for a walk. And he just sits there and talks and writes his journal in that way. And then once he's done, then he stores that, and he's good. I really liked that idea. So I started doing that. And I had it, I had it transcribed. And then I was using the growth day app to be able to record it into a thing that into a an area that is searchable, so that I can search through it and try and find what I was thinking about during those days. So being able to sit there and talk about my day, and to work through what had gone on. And then at the end, I just do a quick review of it. Oh, yeah, I remember I said that. Oh, yeah, I remember said that. It's because I say a lot of things. And a lot of times I would I would make commitments. And I wouldn't write them down. I didn't have anything to write them down with. And then I'd lose it. By the time I was done with my lock. We've been able to have that transcribed. I flipped through it. I'm like, oh, yeah, that's the thing. So then I'd write it down and put it somewhere so that I can remember that I made that commitment. And so that day, I worked towards that commitment, and worked and made sure that I was I did what I said I was going to do. So keeping this journal, paying attention to what's going on in your life, being present, getting to know other people, and challenging myself. Each and every day has really helped. And that's what I think about when I think think of the phrase of taste everything. Enjoy your life. Have flavor, bring those flavors of your life together and really taste everything that's going on. Thank you so very much and I will see you tomorrow.