March 5, 2024 • 31 mins
Join host Spring Richardson Perry and guest Jean-Luc Boissoneault as they discuss the importance of time management for business owners. Jean-Luc is a business coaching wizard whose journey from fitness coach to entrepreneurial success epitomizes the power of disciplined scheduling. No more chaotic to-do lists or multitasking mayhem; this episode promises to steer you towards a future where your calendar commands and your focus remains unwavering on the path to your vision. Whether you're a budding startup or at the helm of a flourishing enterprise, Jean-Luc's insights on syncing personal habits with business efficiency are the golden nuggets you've been searching for, all delivered through enthralling tales and a wealth of experience.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Spring Forward Podcast.
I'm your host, SpringRichardson Perry, the
organizational change agent thatis going to help your business
achieve the excellence youdesire.
If you're a business leaderlooking to take your business to
the next level or simplylooking for new ways to spring
your business forward, then thisis the podcast for you.
(00:21):
So let's get down to businessand spring forward into
excellence.
Welcome, welcome to anotherepisode of the Spring Forward
Podcast.
I'm your host, SpringRichardson Perry, and today we
have a fantastic guest with us,Jean-Luc Boiseneau.
(00:44):
He is an entrepreneur, anauthor and an international
speaker.
He started with nothing and hebuilt several successful
multi-million dollar businesses.
He's worked with many smallbusiness owners one-on-one and
eventually Jean-Luc discovered ablueprint for helping local
small business owners go fromputting out fires all day to
(01:09):
building a well-oiled machine,and so we know that is the key
to success and sustainability inany business.
So he calls this blueprint hissignature system method.
He lays out this blueprint inhis book called Time Management
for Small Business Owners.
(01:29):
So let's welcome Jean-Luc tothe show.
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Jean-Luc, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
How's it?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
going Great.
I'm super excited to be talkingabout this subject that I'm so
passionate about.
It seems riot first, maybe whenyou hear of time management,
but it's just not dry to me.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
No, it's not dry at all, because if we don't manage
our time efficiently, trulyyou're gonna fail at life
because even just so much assmall, something as small as
having an appointment,especially for me.
I have four kids, so if I havean appointment at 9 o'clock in
the morning, I gotta make sure Iget up on time to get them fed,
(02:13):
clothed and off to school andthen make sure that I get out,
because most times appointmentsare 45 minutes away for me and
so I have to like make sureeverything is in place and know,
like, how much time each thingtakes.
So it seems dry, but it'sreally not, and so I'm excited
(02:34):
to lift up this point today andreally talk about your book and
just some things you you'retalking about in this book time
management for small businessowners.
So, to kind of just kick thingsoff, can you tell us a little
bit about your background andwhat it is that you do?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Sure, yeah, I'm a business coach.
I started in the fitness worldas a personal trainer when I was
17.
I'm now 40.
So I've always been a coach.
I started building businesses.
I've always been around.
You know, even when I was apersonal trainer, I was training
millionaires, billionaires.
I trained some billionaires andjust observing them and like
(03:17):
how they manage their time isreally something right, like
they had assistance and and itreally gave me, you know, as a
young guy, just sort of a sponge, observing these people and how
they're running thesesuccessful businesses.
And then I went into the stressaspect of things.
You know, like I went fromfitness to health, to stress and
(03:38):
I was helping business leadersget less stress and time and
stress you know they go together.
Deadlines create a lot ofstress in your body.
So I started doing corporatetalks on stress and learning
everything.
I fell into meditation.
Meditation led me to sort oftimelessness, you know, like no
(04:00):
time because you're in thisoneness, and I started
meditation studio.
You know this could go on andon, but then eventually
reconnecting with my leadershipand my fire and going okay, how
does, how do I relate to timenow that I've let go of time and
come back to time and you know,one thing that I noticed was
(04:25):
that when starting to work withbusiness clients, leaders in all
sorts of industries, you know,the common thing was when we
would start, it was all abouttime.
It's like the generally thebusiness owner, the leader, is
overwhelmed.
Like I have too many thingsgoing on.
(04:47):
You know, I'm drowning, I'mrunning around putting out fires
and it's like whoa, whoa, whoa.
Where do we start, right?
So we start with time, we startwith you, because to me I say
this all the time it's that yourbusiness is a reflection of you
.
If your business is chaotic,it's because you're chaotic,
(05:09):
right.
And if it's sloppy in the wayit's running, it's because your
own habits are sloppy and weneed to start there.
And actually when we startthere, it trickles, there's the,
you know, it ripples out to allof the organization and like
I'm talking small business ownerthat's even a solopreneur coach
(05:32):
to working, you know justrecently, like a leader that has
a $20 million business.
You know, with 50-plusemployees, they're all going
through the same thing.
It doesn't matter, it's just weend up getting overwhelmed as
we take stuff on and we don'tknow what to prioritize.
Like, what matters, what shouldI be doing that's gonna move
(05:55):
the ball forward and we get alittle mixed up when we're like
drowning, you know.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, time is a constant challenge, and I feel a
little honored here, becausewhen you were saying about how
your business is sort of areflection of you and we were
kind of just talking before westarted recording about how
organized everything was, I kindof feel like, oh good, I'm,
maybe I'm a little bit moreorganized than what I thought,
(06:23):
because I think we are ourbiggest critics, right, and so
what other people and what wesee a lot of times is very
different, right.
It's like I feel like I couldbe a lot more organized.
But then, with you just kind oforganically telling me that I
was like, oh okay, well, maybeit's not as bad as I thought it
(06:46):
was, and so talk to me.
So talk to me a little bitabout what inspired you to write
this book, because, again, likewe said, time is a constant
challenge.
We are our biggest critics, andso how you know what inspired
you to write this book and howis it helping businesses,
(07:07):
individuals, entrepreneurs, howis it intended to help them?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, well, yeah, first off, just to say what
you're talking about.
The first question I always askthis business owner is let me
see your calendar, show me yourcalendar.
And that, to me, is the biggestindicator of the organization
of their business, Because ifthey're not managing their own
(07:33):
time, they're not gonna bemanaging and delegating properly
and holding people accountable.
So I know, just in the factthat we you know setting up this
podcast and how well you wereorganized with it, and the
automation that went out, andthen the you know how you
outlined everything so clearly,this tells me so much about you
(07:56):
and it also tells me so muchabout how you run your business.
So, like I said, I've done alot of podcasts and I'm like,
wow, I already know that youhave a very tight ship, you know
, which is great.
And when you said how many kidsyou have, I'm like, okay, yeah,
no, that makes no sense.
you know, so I just wanted tosay that it is really.
(08:16):
You know, it's not, it's acomplete reflection.
Yeah, so to answer that, thequestion how I got to this and
why this became important issimply for the fact that I kept
repeating myself Every newclient that would come on with
me, that was a leader.
It was like this is where wehave to start, right, because
(08:40):
you can't prioritize.
So, actually, the startingpoint is the vision.
Okay, there's three componentsto it, so I'll give you a
framework.
It's a triangle.
Okay, it's the simplest model Icould come up with.
It started with five.
It's now deciphered out.
It's distilled out to three.
Vision okay, because if youdon't have a vision, then you
(09:02):
don't know how to prioritize.
Because what are youprioritizing for If you don't
know where you're going?
Right?
So the more crystal clear thevision is, the more I'm gonna be
able to know what to place inthat time slot.
That's going to be a highestimpact for the organization,
(09:22):
right?
So vision is the starting point.
If you don't have a clear,crystal clear vision with
conviction on where you're going, that's going to have a huge
impact on your efficiency.
And if you have many employees,that's going to trickle down
and you're gonna wonder why aremy employees not working so well
(09:45):
?
Why is the culture not working?
Why are they not so efficient?
Why are people leaving?
And we can all narrow this downto the vision.
Do they know where they'regoing?
Did you show them where you'regoing?
Did you?
Is it remind?
Or do you remind them on aregular basis where you're going
(10:07):
?
Do they care about where you'regoing and does it impact them
if you get there?
So much of this, you know, isthe issue.
So that's the vision, once thatis clear, and that includes
Building a business that servesyour life, not the other way
around.
Okay, so when I say that, whenI say that there's a lot of
(10:34):
people just Building a business,building a business, and then
have no time for themselves, notime for their family, no time
for their health, their hobbies,they're missing the mark.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And that's the point right of building a business is
so that you don't, you're not,you're, you're not a slave, I
should say but I hate to usethat word, but I can't think of
another word to use in this, inthis moment, to To time and to
someone else's vision.
But then along the way, somehow,somewhere, things get lost and
(11:14):
then you get more stressed outas a business owner, as an
entrepreneur.
Then if you were actuallyworking for someone else and
then sometimes you don't evensee the return on your
investment in the way that youwere expecting to.
And so again, like you're saying, it's super important to To, to
manage your time, but to havethat vision, to know where your
(11:38):
time should be spent, so thatyou know where you're going and
you can clearly get there.
Because if you allow your, ifyou allow things to just sort of
happen and Come at you, youwill get thrown off course.
You will be chasing the wrongthings and not the things that
that help you to continue tobuild that vision out, and
(12:02):
you'll get frustrated and andthen you'll eventually just be
like you know what forget it, Idon't even want to do this
anymore and you sort of forgetwhy you started this journey in
the first place, and so I Really, I really love that the vision
and then building a businessthat serves you and not the
(12:22):
other way around, because if you, if you Build a business and
you're serving it, it's it'sgonna feel like you're
constantly spinning your wheels,like you're on this hamster
wheel and you can never catch up.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Exactly exactly.
And it's not hard work thatwears us down and stresses us
out.
It's when you're not in yourpassion.
When you're in your passion andyou enjoy what you do, like I
do, it's not work, it's play.
And when you can understandthat and Allow that to be the
(13:01):
spearhead, and always Tuninginto that, like am I, is this
the type of work that's meantfor me, or is this something I
should delegate to somebody else?
I should hire somebody else for?
And when I stay in, I call itthe fire.
When I stay in my fire, no onecan compete with me, because I
(13:24):
can just play all day, andSomebody that's not in their
fire, doing it out of effort,can't compete with me, right?
So, and this, this goes on anorganizational level too, you
know, yeah, so so that brings mereally to the second point of
(13:46):
the triangle is is focus, andFocus is is about setting
boundaries.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yes, I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
So now?
So now we have, we have avision, we know where we're
going.
And I mean to the listenerslistening to this if you
actually Really take in what I'msaying right now, it has the
potential to radically changeyour life, because we've gotten
away from this.
And To me, when I was 21 and 17th in the world in bodybuilding
, okay, that takes so muchvision and so much focus, and
(14:25):
it's the same principles applyfrom sport to business, because
business is a game at the end ofthe day.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And that's amazing at 17 that you were able to
achieve that and have that focusat such a young age.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, for you know every, you know you're looking
at it's like the Olympics, likeyou're looking at like four-year
blocks of like.
Okay, I got four years that Ineed to every single day show up
to work out every single day,watch my nutrition.
You know, working else onething watching your nutrition
for four years.
That's where the challenge is.
(15:02):
But anyways, the focus, okay,the focus is.
It means we're channeling allour energy towards a vision.
Okay, and and these days thisis very hard, I, because we have
this idea of multitasking, likemoving and you know, and it's
(15:28):
very luring to go into differentbusinesses, different services,
start different things becausewe're not really focused and
every time we do that, there'san old proverb that goes chase
two rabbits, catch none.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And I I have some guilty of that.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, and it's something that I see a lot.
I face a lot with leaders wherethey're starting to move to
another direction or they'llstart another service and then I
say you know, how are your?
Let's see the profitability ineach one of these services and
across the board they're notreally doing well, but one, you
(16:12):
know will analyze that, andoften what I say is let's cut
them all except for one, the onethat is the most valuable, the
most connected to your heart,the one you believe the most,
the one that has the highestprofitability, the least amount
of headache.
Let's focus on that one andchannel all energy into that,
(16:33):
and that is the lead domino thatknocks all the other dominoes
down, because without profitit's shitty, it doesn't feel
good, you know, no matter what,and what's the point?
Speaker 1 (16:45):
right Without a profit, what's the point?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So we get lost.
We get lost by going, chasingdifferent things, and what I do
as a coach is I really try tohelp them really stay focused.
And the focus if we're to takeone tool around, focus right,
it's the calendar.
The calendar is a right.
(17:10):
There's nature and then there'sthe world of time.
This is how I see it.
There's nature that works onrhythms and cycles, and then
there's time that was man-made,like invented into tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
It's not how our biologicalbody happens.
It works, you know, like naturedoes.
But we impose this thing onculture to be able to connect
(17:36):
with each other, like, hey,let's meet at three o'clock.
If we go, based on nature,they'll be like okay, you know,
around this time when the suncomes, and now we've wasted a
lot of time.
So we invented this thing for areason, for our connection.
But that portal from nature totime based reality is the
calendar.
The calendar is where we startto move, prioritize things into
(18:00):
this tool.
And now I've gone to the pointwhere I don't.
I like to eliminate to-do lists, like all we want to do,
because a to-do list is puttingsomething on the back burner
without a deadline, and so Ilike to say no, no.
(18:20):
When are you gonna get thatdone?
Start using that tool as youronly tool.
That, if you have something tothink about, put it at 3 pm
today.
Think about this Everything.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Elaborate on that for me, because I am the queen of
to-do lists and so talk to meabout that.
When you say you're, you wantto eliminate to-do lists, do you
mean you want to put like, youwant to have a to-do list but
set like a time limit on it,almost like a smart goal, but in
smaller chunks, or like explainthat.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah.
So basically, instead of goingto your to-do list which you're
gonna now have two tools, right,chase to rabbits, cash none
You're gonna have two tools.
You're gonna have a to-do listthat just piles itself up and
sometimes you never get to thoseitems because they just keep
going down and it's like this,right, it's just not efficient,
like it's not as efficient as itcould be, instead of taking
that item on the to-do list andjust going right to your
(19:19):
calendar and starting to getused to saying, okay, I'm gonna,
if I can't deal with this rightnow, or I can't have the
headspace to think about thisright now, let's put it in my
calendar tomorrow at 3 pm for 15minutes.
Boom, and you did this.
It took you slightly, a littlemore time to go to your calendar
(19:41):
instead of just jotting it down, but it's more efficient
because you know exactly whatyou're gonna do and in having
one place, one tool, it reallybecomes that portal for you that
you really manage everything.
Okay, so that's on the focuspoint.
It's about boundaries.
I could talk about this for solong, because that's also not
(20:05):
just your own management of yourtime, but it's also getting rid
of distractions.
It's saying no, it's closingthe tabs you know on Facebook
and closing all these tabs,removing all distractions and
also saying no to people, peoplethat are trying to infiltrate
(20:27):
your mission, trying to distractyou from the vision where
you're going Right.
So you're either on my missionor you're not on my mission, you
know, like, help me get there,anyone that's trying to pull me
away, or they're just not partof my mission.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah, I love this and especially the part where you
say take it off of a writtento-do list and put it on a
calendar, because for one, Ilive by my calendar.
It's not on the calendar, thenit doesn't exist.
And so I've learned justorganically in the way that I
work and I love that you'repointing this out that I need to
(21:08):
schedule myself in blocks, andso if I know specifically I have
something that I wanna get doneand I know that it's gonna take
me an hour to do it, then Iwill put that on my calendar For
one hour I'm going to do thisspecific thing, so that nothing
else can get in the way of medoing that.
It is on my calendar.
My calendar is gonna send me areminder 10 minutes before I
(21:31):
need to do that to say, hey,this is coming up, so you need
to get that done, and then Ihave that full hour blocked with
no distractions because it's onmy calendar to get that piece
of work done.
So I really love that you havethis.
And so we have two things so farfrom your key concepts here.
(21:53):
We have the vision.
You got to set the vision andyou have to build your business
around your life, and so that isyour vision.
Whatever your vision is, youhave to make sure it fits into
your life in the way that youwant your business to run and
your life to run.
And then two we have the focus,where you have to set
(22:15):
boundaries and you have tominimize distractions.
And so what is your third thingthat you focus on in your book
and that you work withindividuals businesses on in
terms of time management?
What is that third thing?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yeah.
So just before I go to thethird, just to give a physical,
like a real life example OK, Iwas working with a leader and
the boundary, the focus for himwas just shut your office door.
He had this open door policy.
So sometimes it's not thecalendar itself, but it's
actually the physicalinteraction with employees where
(22:51):
he said, after 12 weeks with me, he said you know, the greatest
thing we did together is thefact that I shut my office door.
It's as simple as that.
So the third one is commitment.
So the base of this triangle iscommitment.
So it goes commitment, focus,vision.
It starts at the top.
(23:12):
Vision and then focus.
And then you have to commit.
And what is commitment?
Commitment is doing what isnecessary over what feels good.
Ok, so that means like in sport, hey, I don't feel like working
out today.
I'm not going to do it.
(23:33):
If I start this attitude andJackal Willis has a great,
really line that stuck with me,maybe I'll stick with you guys.
It's just he says you know,it's like when that alarm clock
goes off in the morning and youdecide to stay in bed instead of
getting up, and it's like youknow that self-commitment, but
(23:57):
you just, in not getting up, youjust eroded it a little more
and now tomorrow is going to beeven harder.
So commitment is saying this iswhere I need to go.
So trickle from the vision.
Ok, I'll start.
Trickle from the vision.
We've now established that youneed a crystal clear vision of
(24:17):
your life and your business.
You need focus.
Now that I have a vision, I canprioritize my time.
So we prioritize the elements,the skills that I need to be
doing in order to get to thevision.
And now that I've put that inmy time, I need to figure out
what daily habits do I need todo that is going to get me to my
(24:41):
vision.
Ok, so we have to start with thevision and then break down
right down to daily actions.
Get up at 5 AM.
I got to go work out.
I got to meditate.
I got to OK 6 PM.
I come home, it's family time.
I turn this off the more we canCreate these boundaries.
(25:02):
And then you know, because wecould, we could put it in your
calendar with some, but you haveto follow it Right at the end
of the day.
If it's just written out andyou're not following it, you're
giving up on yourself.
So you need such strongcommitment To these things and
and you can only have thatstrong commitment when you
(25:23):
create the vision to be aware ofwhat actually matters to you In
your life.
What do you actually value?
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, I love that.
If you don't, if you're notdedicated to bringing that
vision to life and you're,you're not focused on it like
minimizing those distractions,like you said, set in those
boundaries so that you can Bringthis vision to life.
And again, what's the point?
How are you going to achievethat goal if you're not doing
(25:53):
those things?
And so this makes perfect sense.
I love how you've put all thistogether.
And again, guys, those threekey takeaways that Jean-Luc was
just talking about timemanagement and in building the
business that actually fits intoyour life are One, you have to
set the vision to, you have tofocus, you have to set those
(26:17):
boundaries.
Do decrease those distractions.
And then, three, you have to becommitted to carrying it out.
And again, like he said, if youstart off your morning by just
Slamming the snooze button onthat alarm and get up later and
later and later, you knowwhere's your commitment.
That was kind of me thismorning, but hey, we won't tell
(26:39):
you, that's not a little secret.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
It'll be hired tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I know it's just one time thing.
I promise tomorrow I'm gonna beon it.
I promise I'll check in withyou and let you know for sure.
But I Love that, jean-luc, Ilove, I love that.
This is all in his book, guys.
Again, his book is called timemanagement for small business
owners by Jean-Luc Guasano.
(27:03):
And Before we, before we wrapit up, one final thing here.
This is all in season two aboutcommunity, and so talk to me
about how you're buildingcommunities, on whether it's
through your business, whetherit's in your local community or
whether it's at home with yourkids, because, because community
(27:24):
, really community building,really starts at home.
So talk to me about that.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Hmm, I love that.
And I I'm here on an island,right?
I choose to live my my time inthe way I want to live it.
So I work, you know, 10 hours.
I only take on 10 clients.
I do 10 hours a week and Iprioritize a lot of my Health
(27:50):
and fitness and time with family, time with my daughter, you
know, like that's really whatmatters to me and, and again,
I'm committed to that.
So, first and foremost to me,community, like you said, starts
at home.
So my commitment is to be agreat leader, and that's a
leader in family, leader incommunity, leader in my business
(28:13):
.
Leadership is everything to me,is everything I need to step
into more and more and I'm notperfect.
I need to just keep gettingbetter at it.
And in terms of how I servehere on the island, is I, I?
I Teach martial arts with menand I try to.
(28:35):
I do personally Jiu Jitsu withmen twice a week.
I do it free, I just do it.
I invite everyone to comebecause I believe that Going
back to fighting is where weremember these things like
boundaries and vision and andcommitment to ourselves, and
it's actually done, not from anintellectual speaking sort of
(28:57):
thing with other men, but it'sdone through action and when we
step into our own selves as men,we then get everything.
I'm talking about everything.
I've talked about this vision,focus and Commitment.
It all happens when you decideto show up physically when it,
you know it's gonna be hard, youknow you're gonna be wrestling
(29:19):
some other guy and that's likedamn, that's, you know we're
punching some other guy.
It's like that, for men isreally.
It's gonna build commitment inyou and that's that's how I feel
I can contribute the most.
It's more of an internal changethat ripples out outwards and
they can then help theircommunity in their way.
(29:39):
They can do it.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I love that.
And again, guys, jean-lucBoissonneau.
He is the author of timemanagement for small business
owners.
He just gave you his take onbuilding community, which is
what we're all about here inseason two.
Thank you so much, jean-luc,for being a part of the podcast
and coming on and giving us someof your tips today and again.
(30:06):
Those three things thatJean-Luc talks about in his book
for time management are Numberone, setting the vision.
Number two, having the focus,which means that you are
Minimizing those distractions,you're setting those boundaries.
And number three is commitmentbeing committed to bringing
(30:26):
forth that vision.
So thank you so much, jean-luc.
I really appreciate you beinghere.
Guys, I hope this was insightfulfor you.
I hope you took away some ofthese nuggets that were shared
today and I hope that it helpsyou spring forward into
excellence.
So until next time, guys, seeyou later.
Thanks for listening to thespring forward podcast.
(30:51):
I hope you were able to capturesome of the gems that were
dropped and are excited to startusing the information to help
your business Spring forwardinto excellence.
I would love to hear some ofyour biggest takeaways from this
episode, so connect with me onLinkedIn or Facebook or tag me
on Instagram at springy,underscore Springtime and don't
(31:13):
forget to subscribe to the showso you don't miss an episode.
And if you'd like to learn moreabout how we can work together,
visit the website at time tospring forwardorg.
That's T I M E T O S P R I N GF O R W A R D dot org.
(31:33):
And until next time on thespring forward.
Welcome to the Spring Forward Podcast.
I'm your host, SpringRichardson Perry, the
organizational change agent thatis going to help your business
achieve the excellence youdesire.
If you're a business leaderlooking to take your business to
the next level or simplylooking for new ways to spring
your business forward, then thisis the podcast for you.
(00:21):
So let's get down to businessand spring forward into
excellence.
Welcome, welcome to anotherepisode of the Spring Forward
Podcast.
I'm your host, SpringRichardson Perry, and today we
have a fantastic guest with us,Jean-Luc Boiseneau.
(00:44):
He is an entrepreneur, anauthor and an international
speaker.
He started with nothing and hebuilt several successful
multi-million dollar businesses.
He's worked with many smallbusiness owners one-on-one and
eventually Jean-Luc discovered ablueprint for helping local
small business owners go fromputting out fires all day to
(01:09):
building a well-oiled machine,and so we know that is the key
to success and sustainability inany business.
So he calls this blueprint hissignature system method.
He lays out this blueprint inhis book called Time Management
for Small Business Owners.
(01:29):
So let's welcome Jean-Luc tothe show.
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Jean-Luc, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
How's it?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
going Great.
I'm super excited to be talkingabout this subject that I'm so
passionate about.
It seems riot first, maybe whenyou hear of time management,
but it's just not dry to me.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
No, it's not dry at all, because if we don't manage
our time efficiently, trulyyou're gonna fail at life
because even just so much assmall, something as small as
having an appointment,especially for me.
I have four kids, so if I havean appointment at 9 o'clock in
the morning, I gotta make sure Iget up on time to get them fed,
(02:13):
clothed and off to school andthen make sure that I get out,
because most times appointmentsare 45 minutes away for me and
so I have to like make sureeverything is in place and know,
like, how much time each thingtakes.
So it seems dry, but it'sreally not, and so I'm excited
(02:34):
to lift up this point today andreally talk about your book and
just some things you you'retalking about in this book time
management for small businessowners.
So, to kind of just kick thingsoff, can you tell us a little
bit about your background andwhat it is that you do?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Sure, yeah, I'm a business coach.
I started in the fitness worldas a personal trainer when I was
17.
I'm now 40.
So I've always been a coach.
I started building businesses.
I've always been around.
You know, even when I was apersonal trainer, I was training
millionaires, billionaires.
I trained some billionaires andjust observing them and like
(03:17):
how they manage their time isreally something right, like
they had assistance and and itreally gave me, you know, as a
young guy, just sort of a sponge, observing these people and how
they're running thesesuccessful businesses.
And then I went into the stressaspect of things.
You know, like I went fromfitness to health, to stress and
(03:38):
I was helping business leadersget less stress and time and
stress you know they go together.
Deadlines create a lot ofstress in your body.
So I started doing corporatetalks on stress and learning
everything.
I fell into meditation.
Meditation led me to sort oftimelessness, you know, like no
(04:00):
time because you're in thisoneness, and I started
meditation studio.
You know this could go on andon, but then eventually
reconnecting with my leadershipand my fire and going okay, how
does, how do I relate to timenow that I've let go of time and
come back to time and you know,one thing that I noticed was
(04:25):
that when starting to work withbusiness clients, leaders in all
sorts of industries, you know,the common thing was when we
would start, it was all abouttime.
It's like the generally thebusiness owner, the leader, is
overwhelmed.
Like I have too many thingsgoing on.
(04:47):
You know, I'm drowning, I'mrunning around putting out fires
and it's like whoa, whoa, whoa.
Where do we start, right?
So we start with time, we startwith you, because to me I say
this all the time it's that yourbusiness is a reflection of you
.
If your business is chaotic,it's because you're chaotic,
(05:09):
right.
And if it's sloppy in the wayit's running, it's because your
own habits are sloppy and weneed to start there.
And actually when we startthere, it trickles, there's the,
you know, it ripples out to allof the organization and like
I'm talking small business ownerthat's even a solopreneur coach
(05:32):
to working, you know justrecently, like a leader that has
a $20 million business.
You know, with 50-plusemployees, they're all going
through the same thing.
It doesn't matter, it's just weend up getting overwhelmed as
we take stuff on and we don'tknow what to prioritize.
Like, what matters, what shouldI be doing that's gonna move
(05:55):
the ball forward and we get alittle mixed up when we're like
drowning, you know.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, time is a constant challenge, and I feel a
little honored here, becausewhen you were saying about how
your business is sort of areflection of you and we were
kind of just talking before westarted recording about how
organized everything was, I kindof feel like, oh good, I'm,
maybe I'm a little bit moreorganized than what I thought,
(06:23):
because I think we are ourbiggest critics, right, and so
what other people and what wesee a lot of times is very
different, right.
It's like I feel like I couldbe a lot more organized.
But then, with you just kind oforganically telling me that I
was like, oh okay, well, maybeit's not as bad as I thought it
(06:46):
was, and so talk to me.
So talk to me a little bitabout what inspired you to write
this book, because, again, likewe said, time is a constant
challenge.
We are our biggest critics, andso how you know what inspired
you to write this book and howis it helping businesses,
(07:07):
individuals, entrepreneurs, howis it intended to help them?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, well, yeah, first off, just to say what
you're talking about.
The first question I always askthis business owner is let me
see your calendar, show me yourcalendar.
And that, to me, is the biggestindicator of the organization
of their business, Because ifthey're not managing their own
(07:33):
time, they're not gonna bemanaging and delegating properly
and holding people accountable.
So I know, just in the factthat we you know setting up this
podcast and how well you wereorganized with it, and the
automation that went out, andthen the you know how you
outlined everything so clearly,this tells me so much about you
(07:56):
and it also tells me so muchabout how you run your business.
So, like I said, I've done alot of podcasts and I'm like,
wow, I already know that youhave a very tight ship, you know
, which is great.
And when you said how many kidsyou have, I'm like, okay, yeah,
no, that makes no sense.
you know, so I just wanted tosay that it is really.
(08:16):
You know, it's not, it's acomplete reflection.
Yeah, so to answer that, thequestion how I got to this and
why this became important issimply for the fact that I kept
repeating myself Every newclient that would come on with
me, that was a leader.
It was like this is where wehave to start, right, because
(08:40):
you can't prioritize.
So, actually, the startingpoint is the vision.
Okay, there's three componentsto it, so I'll give you a
framework.
It's a triangle.
Okay, it's the simplest model Icould come up with.
It started with five.
It's now deciphered out.
It's distilled out to three.
Vision okay, because if youdon't have a vision, then you
(09:02):
don't know how to prioritize.
Because what are youprioritizing for If you don't
know where you're going?
Right?
So the more crystal clear thevision is, the more I'm gonna be
able to know what to place inthat time slot.
That's going to be a highestimpact for the organization,
(09:22):
right?
So vision is the starting point.
If you don't have a clear,crystal clear vision with
conviction on where you're going, that's going to have a huge
impact on your efficiency.
And if you have many employees,that's going to trickle down
and you're gonna wonder why aremy employees not working so well
(09:45):
?
Why is the culture not working?
Why are they not so efficient?
Why are people leaving?
And we can all narrow this downto the vision.
Do they know where they'regoing?
Did you show them where you'regoing?
Did you?
Is it remind?
Or do you remind them on aregular basis where you're going
(10:07):
?
Do they care about where you'regoing and does it impact them
if you get there?
So much of this, you know, isthe issue.
So that's the vision, once thatis clear, and that includes
Building a business that servesyour life, not the other way
around.
Okay, so when I say that, whenI say that there's a lot of
(10:34):
people just Building a business,building a business, and then
have no time for themselves, notime for their family, no time
for their health, their hobbies,they're missing the mark.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And that's the point right of building a business is
so that you don't, you're not,you're, you're not a slave, I
should say but I hate to usethat word, but I can't think of
another word to use in this, inthis moment, to To time and to
someone else's vision.
But then along the way, somehow,somewhere, things get lost and
(11:14):
then you get more stressed outas a business owner, as an
entrepreneur.
Then if you were actuallyworking for someone else and
then sometimes you don't evensee the return on your
investment in the way that youwere expecting to.
And so again, like you're saying, it's super important to To, to
manage your time, but to havethat vision, to know where your
(11:38):
time should be spent, so thatyou know where you're going and
you can clearly get there.
Because if you allow your, ifyou allow things to just sort of
happen and Come at you, youwill get thrown off course.
You will be chasing the wrongthings and not the things that
that help you to continue tobuild that vision out, and
(12:02):
you'll get frustrated and andthen you'll eventually just be
like you know what forget it, Idon't even want to do this
anymore and you sort of forgetwhy you started this journey in
the first place, and so I Really, I really love that the vision
and then building a businessthat serves you and not the
(12:22):
other way around, because if you, if you Build a business and
you're serving it, it's it'sgonna feel like you're
constantly spinning your wheels,like you're on this hamster
wheel and you can never catch up.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Exactly exactly.
And it's not hard work thatwears us down and stresses us
out.
It's when you're not in yourpassion.
When you're in your passion andyou enjoy what you do, like I
do, it's not work, it's play.
And when you can understandthat and Allow that to be the
(13:01):
spearhead, and always Tuninginto that, like am I, is this
the type of work that's meantfor me, or is this something I
should delegate to somebody else?
I should hire somebody else for?
And when I stay in, I call itthe fire.
When I stay in my fire, no onecan compete with me, because I
(13:24):
can just play all day, andSomebody that's not in their
fire, doing it out of effort,can't compete with me, right?
So, and this, this goes on anorganizational level too, you
know, yeah, so so that brings mereally to the second point of
(13:46):
the triangle is is focus, andFocus is is about setting
boundaries.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yes, I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
So now?
So now we have, we have avision, we know where we're
going.
And I mean to the listenerslistening to this if you
actually Really take in what I'msaying right now, it has the
potential to radically changeyour life, because we've gotten
away from this.
And To me, when I was 21 and 17th in the world in bodybuilding
, okay, that takes so muchvision and so much focus, and
(14:25):
it's the same principles applyfrom sport to business, because
business is a game at the end ofthe day.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And that's amazing at 17 that you were able to
achieve that and have that focusat such a young age.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, for you know every, you know you're looking
at it's like the Olympics, likeyou're looking at like four-year
blocks of like.
Okay, I got four years that Ineed to every single day show up
to work out every single day,watch my nutrition.
You know, working else onething watching your nutrition
for four years.
That's where the challenge is.
(15:02):
But anyways, the focus, okay,the focus is.
It means we're channeling allour energy towards a vision.
Okay, and and these days thisis very hard, I, because we have
this idea of multitasking, likemoving and you know, and it's
(15:28):
very luring to go into differentbusinesses, different services,
start different things becausewe're not really focused and
every time we do that, there'san old proverb that goes chase
two rabbits, catch none.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And I I have some guilty of that.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, and it's something that I see a lot.
I face a lot with leaders wherethey're starting to move to
another direction or they'llstart another service and then I
say you know, how are your?
Let's see the profitability ineach one of these services and
across the board they're notreally doing well, but one, you
(16:12):
know will analyze that, andoften what I say is let's cut
them all except for one, the onethat is the most valuable, the
most connected to your heart,the one you believe the most,
the one that has the highestprofitability, the least amount
of headache.
Let's focus on that one andchannel all energy into that,
(16:33):
and that is the lead domino thatknocks all the other dominoes
down, because without profitit's shitty, it doesn't feel
good, you know, no matter what,and what's the point?
Speaker 1 (16:45):
right Without a profit, what's the point?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So we get lost.
We get lost by going, chasingdifferent things, and what I do
as a coach is I really try tohelp them really stay focused.
And the focus if we're to takeone tool around, focus right,
it's the calendar.
The calendar is a right.
(17:10):
There's nature and then there'sthe world of time.
This is how I see it.
There's nature that works onrhythms and cycles, and then
there's time that was man-made,like invented into tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
It's not how our biologicalbody happens.
It works, you know, like naturedoes.
But we impose this thing onculture to be able to connect
(17:36):
with each other, like, hey,let's meet at three o'clock.
If we go, based on nature,they'll be like okay, you know,
around this time when the suncomes, and now we've wasted a
lot of time.
So we invented this thing for areason, for our connection.
But that portal from nature totime based reality is the
calendar.
The calendar is where we startto move, prioritize things into
(18:00):
this tool.
And now I've gone to the pointwhere I don't.
I like to eliminate to-do lists, like all we want to do,
because a to-do list is puttingsomething on the back burner
without a deadline, and so Ilike to say no, no.
(18:20):
When are you gonna get thatdone?
Start using that tool as youronly tool.
That, if you have something tothink about, put it at 3 pm
today.
Think about this Everything.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Elaborate on that for me, because I am the queen of
to-do lists and so talk to meabout that.
When you say you're, you wantto eliminate to-do lists, do you
mean you want to put like, youwant to have a to-do list but
set like a time limit on it,almost like a smart goal, but in
smaller chunks, or like explainthat.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah.
So basically, instead of goingto your to-do list which you're
gonna now have two tools, right,chase to rabbits, cash none
You're gonna have two tools.
You're gonna have a to-do listthat just piles itself up and
sometimes you never get to thoseitems because they just keep
going down and it's like this,right, it's just not efficient,
like it's not as efficient as itcould be, instead of taking
that item on the to-do list andjust going right to your
(19:19):
calendar and starting to getused to saying, okay, I'm gonna,
if I can't deal with this rightnow, or I can't have the
headspace to think about thisright now, let's put it in my
calendar tomorrow at 3 pm for 15minutes.
Boom, and you did this.
It took you slightly, a littlemore time to go to your calendar
(19:41):
instead of just jotting it down, but it's more efficient
because you know exactly whatyou're gonna do and in having
one place, one tool, it reallybecomes that portal for you that
you really manage everything.
Okay, so that's on the focuspoint.
It's about boundaries.
I could talk about this for solong, because that's also not
(20:05):
just your own management of yourtime, but it's also getting rid
of distractions.
It's saying no, it's closingthe tabs you know on Facebook
and closing all these tabs,removing all distractions and
also saying no to people, peoplethat are trying to infiltrate
(20:27):
your mission, trying to distractyou from the vision where
you're going Right.
So you're either on my missionor you're not on my mission, you
know, like, help me get there,anyone that's trying to pull me
away, or they're just not partof my mission.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah, I love this and especially the part where you
say take it off of a writtento-do list and put it on a
calendar, because for one, Ilive by my calendar.
It's not on the calendar, thenit doesn't exist.
And so I've learned justorganically in the way that I
work and I love that you'repointing this out that I need to
(21:08):
schedule myself in blocks, andso if I know specifically I have
something that I wanna get doneand I know that it's gonna take
me an hour to do it, then Iwill put that on my calendar For
one hour I'm going to do thisspecific thing, so that nothing
else can get in the way of medoing that.
It is on my calendar.
My calendar is gonna send me areminder 10 minutes before I
(21:31):
need to do that to say, hey,this is coming up, so you need
to get that done, and then Ihave that full hour blocked with
no distractions because it's onmy calendar to get that piece
of work done.
So I really love that you havethis.
And so we have two things so farfrom your key concepts here.
(21:53):
We have the vision.
You got to set the vision andyou have to build your business
around your life, and so that isyour vision.
Whatever your vision is, youhave to make sure it fits into
your life in the way that youwant your business to run and
your life to run.
And then two we have the focus,where you have to set
(22:15):
boundaries and you have tominimize distractions.
And so what is your third thingthat you focus on in your book
and that you work withindividuals businesses on in
terms of time management?
What is that third thing?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yeah.
So just before I go to thethird, just to give a physical,
like a real life example OK, Iwas working with a leader and
the boundary, the focus for himwas just shut your office door.
He had this open door policy.
So sometimes it's not thecalendar itself, but it's
actually the physicalinteraction with employees where
(22:51):
he said, after 12 weeks with me, he said you know, the greatest
thing we did together is thefact that I shut my office door.
It's as simple as that.
So the third one is commitment.
So the base of this triangle iscommitment.
So it goes commitment, focus,vision.
It starts at the top.
(23:12):
Vision and then focus.
And then you have to commit.
And what is commitment?
Commitment is doing what isnecessary over what feels good.
Ok, so that means like in sport, hey, I don't feel like working
out today.
I'm not going to do it.
(23:33):
If I start this attitude andJackal Willis has a great,
really line that stuck with me,maybe I'll stick with you guys.
It's just he says you know,it's like when that alarm clock
goes off in the morning and youdecide to stay in bed instead of
getting up, and it's like youknow that self-commitment, but
(23:57):
you just, in not getting up, youjust eroded it a little more
and now tomorrow is going to beeven harder.
So commitment is saying this iswhere I need to go.
So trickle from the vision.
Ok, I'll start.
Trickle from the vision.
We've now established that youneed a crystal clear vision of
(24:17):
your life and your business.
You need focus.
Now that I have a vision, I canprioritize my time.
So we prioritize the elements,the skills that I need to be
doing in order to get to thevision.
And now that I've put that inmy time, I need to figure out
what daily habits do I need todo that is going to get me to my
(24:41):
vision.
Ok, so we have to start with thevision and then break down
right down to daily actions.
Get up at 5 AM.
I got to go work out.
I got to meditate.
I got to OK 6 PM.
I come home, it's family time.
I turn this off the more we canCreate these boundaries.
(25:02):
And then you know, because wecould, we could put it in your
calendar with some, but you haveto follow it Right at the end
of the day.
If it's just written out andyou're not following it, you're
giving up on yourself.
So you need such strongcommitment To these things and
and you can only have thatstrong commitment when you
(25:23):
create the vision to be aware ofwhat actually matters to you In
your life.
What do you actually value?
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, I love that.
If you don't, if you're notdedicated to bringing that
vision to life and you're,you're not focused on it like
minimizing those distractions,like you said, set in those
boundaries so that you can Bringthis vision to life.
And again, what's the point?
How are you going to achievethat goal if you're not doing
(25:53):
those things?
And so this makes perfect sense.
I love how you've put all thistogether.
And again, guys, those threekey takeaways that Jean-Luc was
just talking about timemanagement and in building the
business that actually fits intoyour life are One, you have to
set the vision to, you have tofocus, you have to set those
(26:17):
boundaries.
Do decrease those distractions.
And then, three, you have to becommitted to carrying it out.
And again, like he said, if youstart off your morning by just
Slamming the snooze button onthat alarm and get up later and
later and later, you knowwhere's your commitment.
That was kind of me thismorning, but hey, we won't tell
(26:39):
you, that's not a little secret.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
It'll be hired tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I know it's just one time thing.
I promise tomorrow I'm gonna beon it.
I promise I'll check in withyou and let you know for sure.
But I Love that, jean-luc, Ilove, I love that.
This is all in his book, guys.
Again, his book is called timemanagement for small business
owners by Jean-Luc Guasano.
(27:03):
And Before we, before we wrapit up, one final thing here.
This is all in season two aboutcommunity, and so talk to me
about how you're buildingcommunities, on whether it's
through your business, whetherit's in your local community or
whether it's at home with yourkids, because, because community
(27:24):
, really community building,really starts at home.
So talk to me about that.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Hmm, I love that.
And I I'm here on an island,right?
I choose to live my my time inthe way I want to live it.
So I work, you know, 10 hours.
I only take on 10 clients.
I do 10 hours a week and Iprioritize a lot of my Health
(27:50):
and fitness and time with family, time with my daughter, you
know, like that's really whatmatters to me and, and again,
I'm committed to that.
So, first and foremost to me,community, like you said, starts
at home.
So my commitment is to be agreat leader, and that's a
leader in family, leader incommunity, leader in my business
(28:13):
.
Leadership is everything to me,is everything I need to step
into more and more and I'm notperfect.
I need to just keep gettingbetter at it.
And in terms of how I servehere on the island, is I, I?
I Teach martial arts with menand I try to.
(28:35):
I do personally Jiu Jitsu withmen twice a week.
I do it free, I just do it.
I invite everyone to comebecause I believe that Going
back to fighting is where weremember these things like
boundaries and vision and andcommitment to ourselves, and
it's actually done, not from anintellectual speaking sort of
(28:57):
thing with other men, but it'sdone through action and when we
step into our own selves as men,we then get everything.
I'm talking about everything.
I've talked about this vision,focus and Commitment.
It all happens when you decideto show up physically when it,
you know it's gonna be hard, youknow you're gonna be wrestling
(29:19):
some other guy and that's likedamn, that's, you know we're
punching some other guy.
It's like that, for men isreally.
It's gonna build commitment inyou and that's that's how I feel
I can contribute the most.
It's more of an internal changethat ripples out outwards and
they can then help theircommunity in their way.
(29:39):
They can do it.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I love that.
And again, guys, jean-lucBoissonneau.
He is the author of timemanagement for small business
owners.
He just gave you his take onbuilding community, which is
what we're all about here inseason two.
Thank you so much, jean-luc,for being a part of the podcast
and coming on and giving us someof your tips today and again.
(30:06):
Those three things thatJean-Luc talks about in his book
for time management are Numberone, setting the vision.
Number two, having the focus,which means that you are
Minimizing those distractions,you're setting those boundaries.
And number three is commitmentbeing committed to bringing
(30:26):
forth that vision.
So thank you so much, jean-luc.
I really appreciate you beinghere.
Guys, I hope this was insightfulfor you.
I hope you took away some ofthese nuggets that were shared
today and I hope that it helpsyou spring forward into
excellence.
So until next time, guys, seeyou later.
Thanks for listening to thespring forward podcast.
(30:51):
I hope you were able to capturesome of the gems that were
dropped and are excited to startusing the information to help
your business Spring forwardinto excellence.
I would love to hear some ofyour biggest takeaways from this
episode, so connect with me onLinkedIn or Facebook or tag me
on Instagram at springy,underscore Springtime and don't
(31:13):
forget to subscribe to the showso you don't miss an episode.
And if you'd like to learn moreabout how we can work together,
visit the website at time tospring forwardorg.
That's T I M E T O S P R I N GF O R W A R D dot org.
(31:33):
And until next time on thespring forward.
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