Father or Dad? | Troy Butterfield
Troy Butterfield calls himself "just an average sort of guy." Second place in the spelling bee. Second place rookie salesman of the year.
He's also been married 37 years, raised four sons who are all entrepreneurs now, ran a business for 22 years, and wrote a book on how an ordinary person can excel exponentially.
In this episode of The Real Work of High Performance, Troy walks through the 8 F's he built his life around, and why the first three never move: faith, family, and food. We talk about what it cost him to hold that order. The client he let go over $8. The golf he gave up. The hunting trips with his boys he wishes he hadn't missed. And the promise to his wife that made one awkward lunch a lot easier to handle.
We also get into his book, Excel Exponentially, the 18 Essential Elements, and what he calls the Enhancers of Existence: happiness, joy, peace, freedom, and contentment.
If your priorities have drifted out of order, Troy's advice is simple. Write them down. Share them with someone. Then let that hold you to them.
Because you can father a child and never be a dad.
ABOUT TROY BUTTERFIELD
Troy Butterfield is a highly successful real estate investor and businessman. In partnership with his wife, Lanelle, the couple has specialized in growing, managing, and selling small businesses. Their past businesses include promotional products and property management companies, and they presently own and operate a service business called Color and Relationships, which helps businesses and families find peace and profit through better personal and employer-employee relationships.
Troy and Lanelle have been married for thirty-seven years. They raised four sons (Lanelle insists that she really had five boys to deal with). Their family has expanded to include two daughters-in-law and 3 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. They love to travel and have set foot in many of the states in America as well as travelled to over twenty-five foreign countries. A man of deep faith and patriotism, Troy loves to talk about two subjects no one is supposed to mentionā€”religion and politics.
Despite his achievements in his personal life and businesses, Troy considers himself to be "just an average sort of guy." Yet he always wanted his life to make a differenceā€”to mean something more than just trudging through the motions of making a decent living. By reading, observing, and emulating good examples, he built his own life around a set of solid principles which he calls "Essential Elements." These elements enabled him to rise above mediocrity and achieve exponential excellence. After watching so many friends, colleagues, and business acquaintances struggle to find peace and contentment, Troy felt a strong need to share with others his elemental discoveries in what it takes to achieve exponential excellence. The result is this book, Excel Exponentially.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold open
00:22 Welcome and what high performance really means
01:07 "Just an average sort of guy"
04:04 From commission sales to 22 years in business
06:45 The 8 F's and why the first three never move
12:12 How a set order made the hard calls easier
17:01 Harmony, not balance
19:24 Running a business 1,000 miles away with one parent always home
21:07 The real work is sacrifice: Friday date nights and giving up golf
27:54 Losing a client over $8, and the $1 on the plane
32:43 When the order slipped: the hunting trips he missed
35:46 A promise to his wife and freedom from guilt
39:07 Excel Exponentially and the 18 Essential Elements
44:12 Mise en place for your life
46:54 Perfectionism vs. perfecting: why he published anyway
49:56 The first step for a father whose priorities are out of order
54:16 What would your kids say about the real work you did?
56:26 How it paid him back
57:48 Closing
CONNECT WITH TROY
Book, Excel Exponentially: https://troybutterfield.com
Color and Relationships: https://colorandrelationships.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-butterfield-baa0a82
Excel Exponentially is also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
BUILD THE SYSTEM AT HOME
Most men manage their work life like an Executive Chef. Their personal life, they run like a short-order cook.
The 3x12 Freedom Framework is where you build the system. Every Saturday we sit down together and plan the week ahead across the three areas of your life: personal, professional, and passion. We work in 12-week cycles alongside other leaders building the same kind of life.
If you're ready to build it, this is where that starts: https://3x12freedomframework.com
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Real Work of High Performance is a conversation with leaders and fathers about what's really happening behind the results.
Hosted by Nicholas Brown, CHPC, founder of Cooking Physics.
New episodes every other Wednesday.
