Brand Bottlenecks and True Value of Buying Time

Darryl:
So this episode's no different. You know, I do stupid things all the time, right?

René:
Yeah. But another amazing episode.

Darryl:
We do have an amazing episode. But, you know when you're in a rush and you forget to, like, brush your teeth and you leave the house?

René:
When you're in a rush, use a brush.

Darryl:
When you're in a rush, use a brush. Or you put something in the microwave to heat it up, and then you eat the entire dinner, and that's still in the microwave. You know those little stupid things?

René:
Yeah, yeah. You run down the stairs to grab something in the basement on your way out. By the time you're at the bottom of the stairs, you forgot what the fuck you're supposed to be getting.

Darryl:
Exactly. After our last episode. The next day, I was taking a shower and I wanted to shave my beard because I felt like it was a little too long. And I do this thing. I know it's probably crazy to some people. So there's different settings on my electric shaver. The settings I use for, like, my sideburns area is an 8, which is fairly low because it blends into my haircut, which is like a low fade.

René:
Oh, you're a blondie to begin with. Yeah.

Darryl:
And I'm a blondie. And then it gradually gets longer as we go to the chin. And it makes me look slimmer. It makes. It's all great, except this time when I was shaving, I was in a rush, and I went and put it down to eight real quick. And I started to shave. I basically put a bald spot in my beard right at the front. And I kind of don't look good without facial hair.

Darryl:
I look like a little baby. It's so silly.

René:
It's such a piss off.

Darryl:
Oh, my God. And I didn't know I stood in the shower. I'm looking in the mirror. I have two choices. One, I embrace that I have a hole in my beard. Or two, I shaved the whole thing off, but either way, I'm gonna look ridiculous.

René:
I bumped it, like, on my arm or something before shaving and didn't notice that it had changed the setting. And I gave my trim like a brush cut. I look like an idiot.

Darryl:
Good thing that was on your face and not below the belt. This is Taming the Hustle...

Darryl:
... or Something of the Sorts

René:
What are you talking about today, brother?

Darryl:
Well, I'm gonna talk about a sneaky little problem that is probably costing your business more than you realize. And worse, it's coming from inside the house.

René:
Oh, my God.

Darryl:
It's not your algorithm. It's not your ad budget. It's not even the intern who accidentally posted a picture of their lunch on the company's Instagram page. The problem is you. No, no, not you. You've.

René:
You treat me like that. Thanks.

Darryl:
I'm specifically talking about your ego. Again, not you, Rene.

René:
Well, hey, listen, I don't know if people beg to differ on that one, but I don't think I'm the guy you should be barking up the tree for fucking ego. Because I don't have much of it.

Darryl:
I know. And that's what I'm getting into. You've mastered this, what I'm going to talk about, whereas others struggle with this. And what I'm talking about is the need to micromanage.

René:
Barking up the wrong tree on me, bro.

Darryl:
I know you don't do that, and it's amazing. That's why you're a good leader.

René:
Thank you. I appreciate that.

Darryl:
But people's obsession with tweaking, and I want to specifically talk about marketing, because people's obsession with tweaking things, that's already good. It's a killer for your business. That silent belief that no one can do it as well as you can. Even when you're drowning in a sea of unfinished drafts or design approvals or unsent emails. It's what I like to call a brand bottleneck.

René:
Nice.

Darryl:
So let's start with the classic mistake. The whole founder knows best, or the owner knows best, whatever you wanna call it. You've launched your business, you built your brand, and somewhere along the way, you decided that you had to approve every single thing in your marketing. The caption, the filter, the font, the hashtag. Because what if someone posts the wrong blue on Instagram?

René:
Imagine that. Yeah, you did that once. I tore a strip off you. Kidding...

Darryl:
Just. Just once. But here's the thing. I get it. You care. You care a ton. And that's a good thing for your business.

Darryl:
But let's not confuse caring with controlling. And you do this really, really well. You've understood what experts are. You've understood even within your own business. I'm not just talking your marketing. As a whole, you've understood who does what well, and you give them those tasks and you trust them with it.

René:
Collaboration in a workplace like that is freaking key to success, man.

Darryl:
No kidding.

René:
It's impossible to be the master of all trades, even if you're an expert. In your profession. It's impossible.

Darryl:
Exactly. And there's a fine line between wanting to protect your brand and slowly choking the life out of it because you can't stop tweaking it. Here's an important thing to remember. Micromanaging kills momentum. Here's what's actually happening. When you hover over every marketing move. Deadlines get missed, campaigns get watered down, your team loses confidence, and you yourself, you burn out. Because you're still the one rewriting Captions at midnight, re recording voiceovers, reopening that Canva file for the 12th time because something just feels off.

René:
DB how many times are you sending me a message late night because you're wrapping things up for tomorrow's post or whatever, and you're like, what do you think? I'm like, dude, you know exactly what we're trying to accomplish, and you're a pro at this. Why would I prove something that you're better at than me? That makes no sense. Just do it. Just do it.

Darryl:
And it's always those big ones, too, where I'll ask you those questions, and you're like, just do it. And that's why I say, you are so good at this and so good at trusting and so good at delegating.

René:
I only trust the people that I believe are competent in what they do, though.

Darryl:
Yeah. And that's important.

René:
If I had someone on my team that I felt was incompetent, I would be micromanaging until either they were pushed out the door or they became competent. Right?

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Like, if you believe in someone and you want to steer them right, you bring them up to speed and you make them competent by teaching them the skills that they require to do what they do.

Darryl:
They do. Exactly.

René:
But if they can't come around, you got to cut your ties. You'd be like, you're never going to get this. We need to move on because you just don't fit here.

Darryl:
Yeah, I've been worried about that with our friendship. At some point, you're going to be like, you just don't fit here.

René:
Yeah, well, you know what? I'm afraid that if we stop being friends, that you're no longer going to be the amazing marketing guru for my team. So I maintain your friendship so that we can keep working together.

Darryl:
Oh, man.

René:
You're shitting the bed as a friend.

Darryl:
But I'm killing it in the marketing.

René:
I'm killing it, so I gotta put up with that shit on the sides, behind the scenes.

Darryl:
It's like a marriage. It's not all perfect. Yeah.

René:
I'm pushing you up the hill on the bike with my hand on your lower back. I'm like, this freaking guy. He's so lucky. he's the marketing genius, because I would not be doing this for an ordinary person.

Darryl:
Hey, just because when you run the hills in B.C. I wear rollerblades and tether behind you, doesn't mean anything.

René:
Yeah, you're encouraging me to push, push past my own limits.

Darryl:
I'm like a coach, you know?

René:
Yeah, yeah. You got this, Rene. You got this.

Darryl:
Exactly.

René:
Jackass.

Darryl:
So speaking of jackasses and feeling off when you micromanage like this, that's not a marketing strategy. Exactly what I just said a minute ago. That's a bottleneck. So let's get one thing straight. Control isn't a strategy. If your idea of leadership is rewriting what you already paid someone to write, that's not leading. That's editing.

René:
Dude, we've had this in groups when we're chatting, and people know you're a marketing consultant and we're getting onto a topic and they're like, correcting you. Like they know better.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Like, oh, my God, are you kidding me?

Darryl:
It always makes it. You can see the steam coming out of my ears, but that's when I start to be quiet and I'm like, let's hear what you have to say.

René:
Hey, it doesn't mean you know it all. It's like me saying I know everything about finances.

Darryl:
Exactly.

René:
I read something from a business coach that I really like on Instagram just yesterday morning, and it said, if you cannot take take constructive criticism, you will never reach your full potential of success.

Darryl:
Oh, exactly.

René:
If you're right all the time and you know everything, you're limiting yourself right there.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
The same for your marketing man.

Darryl:
Yeah. 100. And the worst part is it's slowing down your growth when you do this because you're in too deep into the weeds and you miss the big picture. Most of the time, you're not spotting the trends because you don't have time to spot the trends. You're not testing bold ideas. You're tweaking commas.

René:
I know what our vision and our brand is supposed to look like because I know what I want people to see me for. Right. But I have no clue how to execute that. And that's where you came in nearly a decade ago now and totally revolutionized our brand because I put it in your capable hands instead of micromanaging that shit.

Darryl:
Well, that's the thing. Your audience, they don't care if it says let's do this or let's go. If I wrote let's go on the post and I sent it to you and you're like, you're crunching this down in your head and you're like, I don't think I like, let's go. And it takes you two hours to get to let's do this. How much time have you wasted just trying to get a message out that it's the same fucking message? The audience, they just want clarity, consistency and value. Simple as that.

René:
Yeah. What is the real impact of that tweak and at what cost does it come at? You spending all the resources trying to change a couple of words a hundred percent agree. What's the fix? Oh, great one.

Darryl:
The first step is to audit yourself. Track how many marketing tasks you touch in a week and be honest about it. And I'm talking about every approval, every quick edit you're going to do, every late night adjustment, write it down for a minute and then ask yourself, did I improve it or did I just delay it 100%? The next thing to think about is, do you trust the people you hired? You mentioned this a minute ago. If you don't trust them, that's a hiring issue. But if you do trust them, let them do their job. Empower your team, and if you're solo, outsource that shit. Delegate. Yes.

Darryl:
It's scary, but do it anyways.

René:
Let me give you my opinion on that. About trusting the people that you work with.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
It is impossible to be the perfect hirer.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
So as a good leader, you follow your hunch and you bring people onto the team thinking or believing or having this gut feeling that they're going to mesh well with the team and they're going to have, you know, a certain skill set that is going to add a ton of value where you need value in your team. But if you miss the boat on that, you can't have that much ego to say, I'm going to keep them on and prove them all wrong. Sometimes you have to cut your ties and say, you know what? This just isn't working out. Because I was wrong. I was wrong. I thought that you would be a great fit for this team. And it's not you. You are who you are.

René:
But I fucked up because I didn't pick the right person. As a good leader, you have to recognize that and you got to get rid of that shit so you can trust the people that you work with.

Darryl:
Well said. And that's what makes the team better. That's what makes your marketing better. That's what makes your business better. Right. The third step is to separate your brand from identity. Your brand is not your diary. It's not a mirror of your soul like people think it is.

Darryl:
It's a business. It can evolve. It should evolve. Stop treating it like a fragile art project and start treating it like something designed to grow.

René:
Work in progress.

Darryl:
Exactly. And the last step to fix this in my mind is extremely important. And that's getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. You need to realize that things will won't be done exactly the way you want them to be. And at this point, that's where the magic lives in the collaboration.

René:
No kidding.

Darryl:
The fresh perspective. Yes. The slightly off centered idea that ends up being brilliant. If you've listened to our show before, you also know that I'm a screenwriter. And right now I'm finalizing a script for a new series. And I love our script. It is so good. However, I just sent it off to another writer.

Darryl:
I've never met her. She's got some really good credits. She's really super smart and she's going to rip it apart and she's going to send it back with the good and the bad. Will it be uncomfortable? When I read all those bad things about my idea and about our script? Yeah, it's going to suck. But at the same time, those notes, even though they're uncomfortable, at the same time, they're going to make my script better.

René:
I agree with that. And it's very, very uncomfortable for most people to give up control.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Whether they're willing to admit it or not, it is tough. And as a business owner, especially if you started it from the ground up and you put all the elbow grease in sweat and tears, the stress of the financing, all of that stuff, and you're finally making something of yourself and you want to take it to the next level. Giving up some of that control is really, really difficult. I've seen that with the baby boomer generation.

Darryl:
Yeah. Oh, for sure.

René:
With the philosophy of, you know, you got to work around the clock, you got to put a minimum 60 hours a week in, otherwise you're a slacker. And it's like, yeah, giving up control is very, very tough.

Darryl:
Exactly.

René:
But you got to push through it and you have to come to the realization that you need help. And when you put trust to someone like you, you just got to let that person run with it.

Darryl:
Well, I like to think of it as ego is expensive because it costs you time, money, momentum, creativity, and sometimes even your team's respect.

René:
I could not agree more.

Darryl:
But the good news is you can fix it. You can build a business where your brand grows, even when you take the day off. You do this, you take days off.

René:
Lego your ego.

Darryl:
Lego your ego. Oh, that was one of our worst dad jokes.

René:
Lego my ego.

Darryl:
Normally, I would cut something that bad. But you know what? I'm gonna keep that in there just because I feel it's so bad. It's so good.

René:
Please do.

Darryl:
When you get to this point of letting go, you can actually start enjoying parts of entrepreneurship that you love. And stop obsessing over fonts at 2am because the truth is, if your business only works when you're hovering over it 24/7, that's not a business.... That's a fucking hostage situation.

René:
Yes. And it's not just your marketing, man. It's all aspects of business.

Darryl:
All of it. Yes, I know. There are graphic designers, video editors, website designers, all kinds of people in marketing who are listening right now, shouting, yes, Darryl, thank you. Thank you. Because they all go through it where a lot of people have trouble letting go. And I've dealt with this with big businesses as well, where you sit in a meeting, they say you're here for your expertise. We tell them, then they say, you know what? How about we just do it the old way? It's like, why did you hire us then?

René:
Yeah, why did you waste my time? And don't get me wrong, like, in business, I remember in the early 2000, like, I was the janitor, I was the secretary, I was the advisor, I was the assistant. I did all the marketing. I swept the sidewalk. You have to.

Darryl:
You got to start somewhere.

René:
But as you grow and you build your team, you need to build a trusting team, and you need to put your ego aside, and you need to assign, you know, responsibility, and you have to delegate, and you have to trust those people. And also, you know what we talk about creative, you know, brainstorming and stuff. It's like, the more that you share these ideas with your team and you allow them to kind of speak freely and really engage, you're going to get a much better outcome.

Darryl:
No kidding.

René:
Whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. So when you're coming up with ideas for marketing and you're having this brainstorming session, if you're the only one that has the good ideas, right?

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
No one's gonna hash out anything. Everyone's gonna just sit there and just say, I'll do whatever Darryl says, I'll do whatever Rene says because they know that you're not going to be listening and you're not going to be open to suggestion, which is insanity.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Why are you asking if you're not going to listen? Just like you say. Right. Why did you bring me to the table if we're going to do old way?

Darryl:
And what we like to do is we like to flip the script. A lot of times where our team will come up with the brainstorming. We come up with the idea and we have it out there. And then we'll throw it to you, to the client, and we'll say, here's what we've done. And not that it's micromanaging, but a lot of times it's like, we'll get clients like yourself who says, oh, my God, that's so great. And then you have a tiny idea that's like, what if it. We had a spin on this? And a lot of times those ideas are great because we used our idea to get your wheels turning, to spin into something great, as opposed to you saying, I don't like any of what you've done. Here's what I'm thinking.

René:
Yeah. And the spin off, it just. The creative juices start flowing. It's. It's just amazing. And it's a great feeling. It's so much fun. Collaboration.

René:
Collaboration is energizing.

Darryl:
Oh, no kidding.

René:
I remember when you and I first started working together. My ex part with the first couple of radio ads we did. It was a little bit outside the box from what we had traditionally done. And I remember him literally saying, oh, that's stupid. Yeah. Like, oh, okay, well, how about this? I'm gonna run with it anyway.

Darryl:
Yeah. Yeah.

René:
And here we are now.

Darryl:
That's funny. And where is he now? Dead. No, I'm just kidding he's not dead.

René:
No. No. Happily retired because he's got a great financial planner.

Darryl:
All right, here's my challenge this week. Find one thing to let go of. Just one. Maybe it's a newsletter, maybe it's a post a campaign. Let it go untouched by you and see what happens. I will promise you right now, if you let it go, the world will not implode. Unless you're the President of the United States and you're listening. That shit can't implode.

Darryl:
Don't listen to me.

René:
It's not like the big red button on Dr. Evil there with Austin Powers.

Darryl:
Yeah. If you let that post go, It'll be okay.

René:
$1 million.

Darryl:
We'll be right back.

René:
Okay

René:
Well, knowing what your topic was, I have something very similar that I think is going to be very fitting. And we're just going to keep going with our conversation today.

René:
Dude, I love it.

Darryl:
Nice.

René:
Buying time. What is the true value of delegating automating and investing in help?

Darryl:
Oh, that shit's worth a lot of money.

René:
This goes back a few years now. I was shoveling our office sidewalk, and I was like, fuck my life. Seriously. I was at that moment where I was like, why am I doing this?

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
I am supposed to be helping people right now, and I'm wasting my time doing. Shit I hate doing.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
And is not productive at all. And that is a result of being brought up, like, 99.9% of the population that if you do it yourself, you'll save a dime.

Darryl:
Yeah. Yeah.

René:
It's true.

Darryl:
Oh, I know.

René:
And it's total insanity.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
And you know what's even worse? I get mangled into doing. I hate doing for other people because they don't want to pay to do it.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
I don't know how many times I'm on my father's roof, shoveling his house roof, hating my life. I'm like, I want a drink. Give me a drink. Something strong. Because I do not want to be here. But I'm just doing it to make my parents happy. No kidding. I could have paid some kid to shovel that roof.

René:
And the dad's like, no, it's too expensive. Like, I know, I know. But just think, I could probably make a hell of a lot more in an hour and just pay that kid to do it. And I'm still netting a pretty decent hourly wage. But, no, you get mangled into doing it. There's no other word for it.

Darryl:
No.

René:
It's like hostage taking. You're doing. You hate doing for someone else because they don't want to pay to do it. And they want to. Like, it's such a messed up mentality.

Darryl:
No kidding.

René:
The same goes for your business as it is for your personal life.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
It intertwines twines.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Right. So my question for you is, like, what if the smartest investment you can make isn't in the market, but it's in your own time?

Darryl:
Hold. Can I pause you for a second? Erin, I need you to listen to this episode. Erin, my wife, please listen to this episode right now tune in, tune in.

René:
Okay. She also micromanages me as a financial planner. She does not trust a word I say. She's like, but! Poor Erin. Love her to death. Oh man. So you know what, what prompted me to talk about this.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Is I was at camp with my parents last weekend and my dog, they're so nice. I love my parents to death and their home is a second home to our dogs. Like my dog Jack loves my father. Loves them. He loves them more than he loves me for sure. Like, he comes home and he's depressed because I took him away from his best friend. So anyway, when they're at camp, he just has this thing where he just destroys the friggin screen because he'll see like a robin or he'll see a duck coming up the shore and he just wants to go, like, either attack it or say hello. I'm not quite sure.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
So he destroys the screen. So my mom buys a screen to replace the screen door, but the little rubber around it is way bigger than the crack. I got Sunday morning oldies on the radio, I got a great coffee going. The sun is shining, there's just enough breeze, there's no bugs. My life could, could not be more perfect. And she says, can you do this? And of course I'm gonna do it because it's my dog who wrecked it. Yeah, I'm like doing it and I'm like, this rubber doesn't fit. I'm gonna tear the screen.

René:
I start swearing. Like you're just mumbling.

Darryl:
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

René:
My cousin owns a windows and doors company. Like I text him, I said, dude, I can't do this shit, man. Like, I don't want to do this. I said, if I bring the screen door in, will you fix this for us and just make it work and put some sort of protective screen or some barrier that my dog won't ever do this again. No problem. I'm rolling all the screen matting up and I'm rolling. My mom comes out because I had this all laid out on the table.

René:
My mom comes out, she says, what are you doing? I said, I'm paying someone to do this. Oh, it's going to be so expensive. I don't care if it's a million bucks. I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this. So there's a true value in buying time.

Darryl:
100%.

René:
Because money is a renewable resource, but time is not.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
You can't get it back once that screen door is fixed. That time's gone forever. So, like, I have to talk about this because it's so relevant to your business life as well, too. It's like if you're out shoveling your driveway or your sidewalk at your business, you're not providing the service and expertise that you should be. And you're probably doing something you're not enjoying. So you're taking the joy out of your work as well, too, Right?

René:
So there's a time efficiency factor, which is your ability to buy time, but there's also a quality of life factor, where you're doing more of the things you enjoy doing and you're doing less of the shit that you don't like to do.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
Housekeeping. So we completely gave up cleaning our office. No one is too good to clean the toilet if the toilet is dirty and the cleaner hasn't been there. And we know that we're open during business hours and there's a possibility that a client will see this. You clean the toilet.

Darryl:
Yeah, exactly.

René:
No one is too good. Myself to anybody else on the team.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
But on an ordinary day, we hire someone to do all the housekeeping so that we can focus on what we're good at. Which brings us more purpose in life.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
Which brings more value to our clients, which has our team more engaged, there's more fulfillment, and they develop more expertise. We do not clean our own windows. We hire a window cleaning company.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
I really enjoy landscaping, but I will be frank with you. This spring, I enjoyed it less than I usually do. So I'm predicting that by next year, I'm going to hire a landscaping company to do the lawn care, to do pruning, to do the weeding. And you know what? There's also an exchange of service there where you also often find people you're working with. So you're supporting each other, because pretty much everyone we work with that does work for us are clients of ours. So now we're supporting them. We're also promoting them on social media. We're telling people we work with them.

René:
So now we're helping them with their success because we're a reputable company. We've got a lot of integrity and respect in the community. So if we're telling everyone that we work with Darryl Boulley and Hepburn Productions, then all of a sudden it gives you more credibility and vice versa. If you can tell the world you're working with Rene and his team at St. Cyr and Associates, then all of a sudden you have more credibility Right.

Darryl:
I couldn't agree more.

René:
You've got Crystal Clear who cleans our windows. And we tell everyone we work with them. Well, all of a sudden they're like, whoa. Rene and Meghan's expectations are super high on cleanliness. They're anal as fuck. Yeah, these guys must be up to snuff and meet their standards if they're telling people they work.

Darryl:
Exactly.

René:
So it's twofold.

Darryl:
Yeah, for sure.

René:
So my question to you is if you're able to free up time. Right. Because there's also a monetary impact on there. It's like, let's say you're a lawyer or an accountant and you're 300 an hour.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
And you have to pay someone $30 an hour or even $50 an hour to do some work.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
You're still netting some profit. Even if you have to work an extra 20 minutes a day, you're doing what you love and you're having.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
A larger impact in the lives of the people that you work with.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
But if you are good at delegating and you're good at buying time by sourcing out services to do the shit you don't like to do, and you can gain five hours in a week, what would you do with five hours in a week, Darryl?

Darryl:
Jesus, that's. That's a loaded question.

René:
That's a lot of time.

Darryl:
That is a lot of time. And as you were saying that, I couldn't help but think of your tagline of 'Live Well Today While Planning to Live Well Tomorrow.' I think it's important to bring that up because, yes, five extra hours in the day could impact my work life. But at the same time, I am such. And you know this, I'm such a family type guy where I love doing stuff with my kids and my wife, and we're such a close family that there. There have been days where, you know, my son is at a golf tournament and he's would ask me, hey, are you able to come to the golf tournament? And you'd be there all day. And I say, oh, I can't today because I'm working. And I've learned this over the years.

Darryl:
I've learned to delegate these things so that I can attend those events.

René:
Well, I'm not 100% there, but I'm working really, really hard at it.

Darryl:
Yeah, but that's the thing. Those five hours would be life changing. Sounds so silly.

René:
It is life changing.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Because it doesn't all have to go to personal life and it doesn't all have to be reinvested in your business. But imagine if you had the opportunity to network instead of shoveling.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
You go to a function or if you're at the office and you invite a client in for coffee or you go for coffee with a client.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
But if you had the ability to read a good book, if you enjoy reading, putting your feet up by a nice campfire or having a nice meal with your family or taking them out for dinner or going for a hike with your son or going for a round of golf with your own son. We have been caught in the busy trap. How many people do we talk to, whether it's our friends, our clients, acquaintances, or just people at the grocery store that you end up having small talk with Is how's your day? Oh, it's busy.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
I had a friend today alone, it happens so often who texted me and says, how's your summer going? Because we hadn't connected in a while.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
And I said, I'm having a great summer, thanks. How is yours? And he's like super busy. I can't believe how fast it's going by.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
It's like we do not have to get caught up in the busy trap culture.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
Because being busy does not define success and it also does not necessarily define productivity.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
Because if you're just at work to be at work to show up and to say you're busy, it doesn't necessarily mean you're accomplishing anything.

Darryl:
No, exactly.

René:
I've worked with people that just showed up at work and they were just surfing the Internet at work to say they worked a lot hours.

Darryl:
Yeah, yeah.

René:
But was not making the money and it was not changing their lives and it was definitely not improving it.

Darryl:
Yeah, yeah.

René:
But we get caught in that trap of needing to be busy because it makes us feel successful.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
And we need to change that mindset and buy time to allow us to have work life balance and to allow us to focus on our expertise and allow us to get rid of the shit we don't like doing. Even as a miner, like a miner that's making like 160 or 170,000 a year, that's not unusual for us. A lot of them are above 200. That's easily $80 an hour. If you hate mowing your lawn, but you love being with your 10 year old kid and you want to go for a bike ride with them, hire someone to mow your lawn at 20 bucks an hour and keep the other 60 bucks. Like it's pretty simple math.

Darryl:
I find I learned this over the years about people and even myself. Is that talking with you about this kind of ongoing for many years, about delegating, and you brought it to my attention to kind of delegate my own finances too. Like paying bills, like scheduling those bills so they're automatic withdrawals.

René:
Well, automation. That was my next point. You took the words right out of my mouth.

Darryl:
I'll let you get into it. But the time I've saved by allowing things to happen on their own has been amazing.

René:
You automate your bills so you don't have to set reminders. You don't have to have paper laying around saying, God, I got to pay that bill.

Darryl:
Yes.

René:
Having a calendar, like a digital calendar, so that you organize your schedule so you don't have to spend time thinking about it, so that your schedule is organized and it's automated.

Darryl:
Yeah, right.

René:
And using applications and technology in this day and age to do shit for you.

Darryl:
Yeah, right.

René:
There's every opportunity that my team and I have to use AI to improve what we do in terms of like file notes processing. Friggin. Just staying organized. Like the shit that doesn't require our expertise so we can focus on financial planning, investment management, client relationships. Understanding what our clients needs are by developing meaningful and true relationships and letting applications and software do the rest. We spend tens of thousands of dollars on software to make our lives easier so it takes us less time so we can do more of the things we're good at.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Like as a society, we have to stop feeling guilty when we're not super jam packed with our time day in and day out. Like nothing feels better for me. This is like a really small win for me, Darryl, is when I can leave work at like 3 o' clock on a Friday so I can go to camp and start a nice fire and not rush through it. Have a nice glass of wine as I build my embers so I can cook a really nice fire. Instead of working till 5 or 6. Rushing to camp with all of your supplies, starting a fire in a hurry and feeling stressed out and cooking dinner 8 o' clock at night and then just going to bed.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
And it's a two to three hour difference.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
And you know what? No one notices. You're just as productive.

Darryl:
Exactly.

René:
You just have to be organized. You have the okay to not feel guilty about it. And you have to delegate, automate and have other people doing the shit that you're not an expert at. You do not have to shovel your own driveway. You just have to have the resource to be able to afford it. I have a challenge for you today.

Darryl:
Oh, hold the phone here. Wait a second. I'm excited to hear this. Let's hear this challenge. 'Mr. I Don't Want Any More Challenges.'

René:
This is the first. This is the first.

Darryl:
Hold on. Let me hold on to my hat.

René:
But you know what? You're wearing off on me. You should be proud.

Darryl:
I am proud. I won't lie. I pat myself on the back for that just now.

René:
You should be proud. Your next step list. Write down five tasks that you do not enjoy that you least enjoy doing in your daily routine.

Darryl:
I can do that.

René:
And then circle the one that you can delegate or automate this month. Maybe it's not the one that you hate the most, but maybe it's the one that's most achievable that you can either delegate or automate and execute it.

Darryl:
I feel like a proud dad right now. Yeah. I won't lie. I. I might have teared up a little bit that you gave a challenge. I'm just saying.

René:
Sorry for my rant. I've really been realizing my mortality lately.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
I think I've been in business long enough that I've been losing a lot of clients that have been clients that have become friends, you know, over the last 20, 25 years. I've got some family members that are not well, and it's like, I'm not getting any younger. I'm getting very close to 50, and I'm like, do I want to be laying in my deathbed or sitting in a rocking chair on a veranda somewhere in my 80s, saying, Man, I'm really happy I spent all my time doing that.

Darryl:
Yeah, exactly.

René:
Right? Or do I want to have more life experience? Do I want to travel more? Do you want to nourish the relationships that I already cherish and sort of deepen those relationships and create new ones?

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
I'm very much in a growth mindset with our business that, you know, our team is very energized. Our clients that we're working with are referring us with the people that they associate with because they're having great client experience, and I just want to nourish that instead of shoveling and cleaning windows and shit. So I've really had some. Some revelations, in my opinion, lately that I felt that this was a really, I think, relevant topic for us to have, and I think that you feel the same way.

Darryl:
Yeah, like, I'm. I'm not as close to 50 as you are, but. Yeah, you do have one foot in the grave. I agree.

René:
Yeah.

Darryl:
We'll be right back.

René:
I hope so. I hope I live to the next commercial.

Darryl:
Well, our lifestyle topic today is not going to be much different than my topic and your topic. It's kind of morphing into the its own thing. But I want to talk about the glorification of exhaustion. And by that I mean when busy becomes your personality.

René:
That's so relevant to our topics today.

Darryl:
Yeah, I know you're guilty of it. I know I'm guilty of it. And I'm sure people listening on here as well are guilty of it. And you've heard people say a million times, I got five hours of sleep last night. But I closed that deal at 2:00am I was back at the office at 6.

René:
It reminded me of Mr. Deeds, which is a movie. I know every line, by the way. Mr. Deeds is definitely like one of the top three greatest movies of all time. I love Adam Sandler. So the guy says this is literally a 24 hour a day job. I mean I only got three hours sleep last night.

René:
Like so Adam Sandler says so it's only a 21 hour a day job. I love it. So true.

Darryl:
It is.

René:
And that movie is 20 years old and it's still relevant today. Nothing's changed.

Darryl:
And that's the thing, you've heard people say that or they've said like, oh, I only had like three days off this entire year. And here's the thing, maybe sit down and chill the fuck out for a minute because you've turned exhaustion into a status symbol somehow. Like the more tired, overworked, worked, overbooked and over stimulated you are, you think you're more worthy.

René:
I've been caught up in that same scenario. But it's not cool, man. It's not to be desired.

Darryl:
It's self harm is the way.

René:
That's what I hate about tax season because I only feel that way during tax season.

Darryl:
Yeah, yeah.

René:
I got two months of I'm busy, I've only got three hours sleep. I hate my life, gotta get done. But the other 10 months, you better work life balance.

Darryl:
That's the thing. You're a human being, right? You're not a. We talked about delegating to or automating, you're not a productivity app. So if there are things you have to do and you do have to work that much, you got to start to think of exactly what we talked about in the previous topics here is that you have to delegate, you have to let things go. Yes, there are seasons where life is full, you have deadlines, you got the kids, launches, school plays, whatever, that's normal. But when your default answer to how are you? And you mentioned this earlier, is busy every single time.

René:
I am also convinced, Darryl, that sometimes busy becomes a habit and it doesn't necessarily mean productivity.

Darryl:
No.

René:
If you're just showing up to put the hours in because you want to tell everyone you're busy.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
Is bullshit to me,

Darryl:
I think people cling to that word busy like it's a personality trait.

René:
100%. I agree with you totally. It becomes an identity and it's a terrible identity and it's not to be desired.

Darryl:
No kidding.

René:
I am ashamed to say I'm busy all the time. When I'm racing through tax season. I don't enjoy it. I can't wait to get over it.

Darryl:
And I think bragging about burnout, that's not a flex to me anymore. Like, I remember I used to say I was busy early on in my career and I'm thinking in my head, people think I'm like super successful. If I'm this busy, it's not a flex. Like, to me, I'm like, you have mental health issues.

René:
Let's get back to productivity. If you're a high producing individual and you get a lot of shit done and you're very skilled and you're good at what you do, it doesn't matter how much time you put in, it's the impact that you have when you're putting it in.

Darryl:
Exactly.

René:
It's time and effort that well put to use instead of just wasting your entire life just doing it because it's your identity to say I'm busy.

Darryl:
Yeah, like being booked and busy is fine until you're too booked and too busy to enjoy your own life, that's ridiculous.

René:
And we've all been guilty of it.

Darryl:
Not.

René:
I'm not preaching like I'm some saint and I'm perfect at everything. I've been caught in that rat race a million times, but I've now realized that I have to actively work on escaping that to not be caught in that trap. To keep saying, oh, I'm busy, I'm busy. All I do is work. I put in 18 hours today. Or I put 16 hours yesterday. Yeah, that doesn't impress anyone.

Darryl:
You know what is actually impressive? Boundaries. Rest. Saying no. Sleeping 8 hours and not apologizing for it. That shit's impressive to me.

René:
I wish I could sleep eight hours.

Darryl:
Me too. I'm a bad sleeper.

René:
I don't wake up because I'm busy. I wake up because I can't sleep anymore.

Darryl:
Yeah, same. And I pee a lot.

René:
Yes. Yes, you do. That's not an age thing. You've been peeing for a long time.

Darryl:
Yeah, I don't even know where it comes from. Like, it's. How does it reproduce? How am I? Like, I don't even put that much water in my body.

René:
Where does it come from....

Darryl:
I'm just like. I'm somehow connected to the town water line because it's endless. Yeah.

René:
Oh, yeah. There you go. Unlimited supply. But you are 100% correct, Darryl. Such a culture. And it's really, really difficult to change that mindset.

Darryl:
And sometimes the only time people feel valuable is when they're exhausted and that exhaustion has become like a currency to them. Right where it's like they want to be known as the guy who's working all the time. Here's what we all need to remember, is rest is productive. Simple as that.

René:
Yes.

Darryl:
Yeah. Like, I'm not spewing bullshit here. It's actual science and not Darryl science. Real science.

René:
News flash.

Darryl:
Your brain literally needs rest to function.

René:
Well, I also remember my ex partner. Like this is going back 15 years for sure. And I was raising my kids at the time. And like we only had one family vehicle. I would drive mom to work and then the girls and I would go for a rip around town sometimes. We'd go say hello to my parents and then I would drop them off at school and then I would come to work. And our workday started at 8:30. And if I showed up at 8:32 or 8:33, he would say, good afternoon, Rene.

René:
Because I was showing up three minutes late. But I had just had an amazing morning with my family and I connected with my kids. And then my kids got to see their grandparents and we enjoyed some sunshine with the windows down. It enriched my life so much. But then I got kicked in the balls. Every time I would come into work it'd be like, good afternoon, Rene. It was a total insinuation, me being lazy and unproductive because I was two or three minutes late.

Darryl:
That's hilarious.

René:
And mind you, I'd work through my lunch and I would probably work late. It was just like, ah, the mentality. It doesn't have to be like this. But that is our culture.

Darryl:
Yeah.

René:
That is the busy culture that North Americans have adopted. And it's really, really difficult to break that.

Darryl:
I know. Well, let's try starting here. Let's stop glorifying exhaustion and start glorifying a healthy lifestyle and actually enjoying life. So I won't say this is a challenge because I don't want you to get upset, but try this. Stop using the word busy this week when someone asks, how are you? Without using the word tired or busy or swamped. See what happens. Take something off your plate, like Rene mentioned earlier.

Darryl:
Block time for nothing. Reclaim your energy and trust me, you'll become more productive and just a better person to be around. You won't be annoying as fuck.

René:
And possibly much more successful. This was a true reflection of a lot of the thoughts that I have recently, Darryl and I, and I feel that this really touched home for me. So this was a great episode and I thank you for that.

Darryl:
I'm glad I touched you. All right, that's it for today. If this episode made you laugh, think, or feel personally attacked by us in a loving way, hit the follow button on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you're listening right now, and follow us on Instagram so you don't miss a thing. Now go take a nap and don't you dare feel guilty about it. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.

René:
Ciao.