LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE PIT014 - LESSON 8 "THE DETAILS"

If you want to separate yourself from the rest of the pack, and want to make the kind of impact that lasts, then you need to slow down and take the time to do something that other men won’t. You need to focus on the little details. The same is true as pitmasters and as men. Most men see the big things such as work, sports, material things, status, etc. But most men do not have their eyes on the little things. You focus on those…and the result will be life changing!

Have you ever heard of the game “The Couple Game”? It has been around for a long time, and is one of the best games to see how well you know your partner. This has many forms and has been seen on television, actual board games, smartphone apps and used at various parties and events as an icebreaker, etc. There are a couple of variations but It’s simple really, you are given questions and one person in the couple answers it based on what they think it is for the other, and the other answers with what it actually is. Then you see how many you get right. I’m going to say this right now. Fellas, you could go a couple of ways on this game:

• You can decide to never play it so you don’t end up in serious trouble because you don’t know your partner or

• You can decide to use it as a learning and growing experience because you want to make sure you GET to know your partner or

• You are already amazing and know everything about your partner and you can show them how much you love and pay attention to them by answering the questions correctly.

• I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

So, do you know those kinds of little details about your family - their favorite drinks, colors, food, songs or holidays? Or do you know your anniversary? Do you know your partner’s or your kids' birthdays?

Rockstar Pitmasters vs. Good Pitmasters

So on our podcast episode, PIT013, pitmaster Tommy Caldwell mentioned that one of the lessons the BBQ pit has taught him was focusing on the little details. Tommy said that life needs attention to detail. It’s not the big things that get messed up. There are too many eyes on the big stuff. Too many people that know about the big stuff for us to mess it up. What we will mess up is all the small things that no one else is paying attention to. All of that attention to the details in BBQ…bring that attention to detail into your life.

One of the things that separates the rockstar pitmasters from the basic pitmasters…is the attention to details. It’s the little things, things that might include:

• how heavy you season and the way you season the meat: Do you have clumps where the customer gets one bite with very little seasoning and then another bite overpowered by seasoning?

• the rotation of the meat: are you paying attention to the meat making sure it isn’t burning on one side, or certain pieces of meat are cooking faster than the others?

• the type and/or amount of spritz: are you spritzing enough or are you spritzing too little? Did you spritz too early and take off the seasoning because you didn’t wait for it to set?

• Is the color and texture right before wrapping?

• How are you wrapping? Are you wrapping it tight enough so that you don’t lose all the juice when you take it off of the smoker?

These types of details are the details that make the difference between good bbq and great bbq.

You know, we have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up in the next two months, so you better be thinking about the little details. Do you have the right seasoning or the right amount of seasoning? Do you have the right wood? How much are you planning to inject your turkeys? Are you filling the cavity without blocking the flow of heat and smoke? Are you gonna be watching the temp in the turkey legs vs the turkey breasts to make sure it is completely cooked without drying out? How close to the fire are you cooking? What is the color? Do you need to rotate the turkey or even cover it with foil to protect it or slow the temp down? Paying attention to these kinds of details this holiday season will make the difference in providing great bbq for your families. 

Rockstar Men vs. Good Men

The importance of focusing on the little details in bbq is exactly the same in life. Depending on your personality type, you may or may not care or get caught up in the details. For the rest of you, details are key to everything. I like details. If you want to be a rockstar dad, husband, employee, or leader, then focus on the little details that separate you from the rest of the pack. You might be surprised at how little effort you have to put in sometimes, because no one else is even thinking about the details. Some of these little details might include:

• In our words: sometimes the smallest of words can make the biggest of impacts. For instance, when hiring it can be a big deal on what words you use in a question: words like if, and, or, but…they all make a difference in your questions from an HR standpoint.

• your family and how they are doing and feeling and what they like and are interested in and who they are interested in. What kind of music do they like?

• Are you using a shared calendar with your family and did your partner make you aware or add it to the calendar?

• Things like changing the air filter in your HVAC system on a regular basis in order to keep it running at optimum performance, or checking the oil in your car to make sure it isn’t dry so you don’t blow the engine up. It happens folks, it happens.

• What about your finances? This is a big area where you definitely need to be focused on the little details because those little details can cause significant positive or negative impacts depending on what you ignore or focus on. For instance: Interest rates - I saved 2 points on a refinance because I waited and it saved me $50K in interest over the remaining payout of my mortgage. You didn’t pay attention to the due dates on the credit card and you missed it and they increased your interest rate and so you now owe more in interest every month and are not making any progress on paying down the debt and in fact, your balance is now higher the next month even after you made a payment. 

• Special dates…I’m just saying pay attention to the special dates.

Have you ever heard the phrase “The Devil is in the details”? It is an idiom that is used to make sure we know that the little details can make or break your project or your task, which is what we are talking about today.

• John Wooden, the famous basketball coach said “It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”

• Ernest Hemingway said “Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”

• Heraclitus (PRONOUNCED HERACLYTUS…LONG “I”) said “Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details.”

I want to restate something. If you want to be a rockstar pitmaster, then you have to learn to focus on the little details and if you want to be a rockstar man, dad, husband, employee, leader, you name it, then focus on the little details that separate you from the rest of the pack. You might be surprised at how little effort you have to put in sometimes, because no one else is even thinking about the details.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

This week’s tip of the week is actually the same as the tip in episode PIT013 because it fits today and makes the same impact: Take the time to be patient enough to see the little details and patient enough to sit in the moments with people…share life together. Don’t be like so many of us as people get, or like I got, which is being too busy and too distracted to be patient to see and sit in those little details. 

Joyce Brothers said “Happiness hides in life’s small details. If you’re not looking, it becomes invisible.”

William Feather said “Beware of the person who can't be bothered by details.”

Take the time to slow down and sit in the details. Take the time to figure out what little details you are not focused on. Then find a way to take action on those details. Those little details are the things that most people do not pay attention to and I guarantee you will stand out very easily when you live in those moments that other people won’t. Will it take effort? Sure will. Will it take time? Sure will. Will it be easier than you think? Sure will. Will it create an intentional impact, which is what we are after here on this show? Sure will. I hear you saying, but Tony, how do I make the time to add the little details on top of all of the other things that I’m trying to do? I don’t have the time to sit and figure these details out. How do I come up with that? That is a good question my friend. I’ve had that same question myself over the years. I would love to talk with you more about that in a deeper conversation and you can email me at podcast@lifearoundthepit.com and put “details conversation” in the subject line and let me know you want to chat and I will make sure we talk.

But the short answer is: do what the lessons from the pit are teaching and determine what is most important and then get rid of the things that aren’t. That will free up time to focus on those little details.

CALL TO ACTION:

As always, I want to make sure I leave you with a call to action so that you can be thinking AND taking action over the course of the next week.

This week’s call to action is for you to set up a “my favorite things” list for your folks. I know it sounds dumb or silly or like a waste of time, but trust me. It will make a difference. When you surprise someone with their favorite candy bar because you know about it, it makes an impact. I’ve seen it happen multiple times. So, for your family, each of your immediate family or go beyond if you want. Or, if you manage a team at work or sports or some extracurricular activity, make a list for each person you are responsible for. It doesn’t have to be super long, just enough to make sure you know them. You know what, I’ve made it easier for you because I’ve already created a free PDF list for you. All you have to do is go out and get it from my website and wallah, you have it and you can now just ask the folks what their favorites are and then store that list somewhere you will remember it so you can pull it out sometime randomly to make someone else’s day. You can get that free pdf by going to www.lifearoundthepit.com/myfaveslist

Then, don’t forget, you can listen to our podcast Lessons From the Pit over on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart, Spotify and any of the other places you listen to podcasts. We are also on all the socials as well: Instagram at lifearoundthepit and Facebook at lifearoundthepittb. Please follow and share those pages!

Thanks again for joining me on today’s episode. I hope you enjoyed it and that you took something away from today that will make you better around the pit or better as a man. Remember: BBQ is known for being low and slow cooking that produces a fantastic reward. Life as a pitmaster is the same. You have to put in the low and slow efforts to produce the fantastic reward: a legacy of impact! Until next time: season some meat, start a fire, and make an impact!