Lexington CC’s Executive Chef Matthew Blazey shares his self-care strategy and success story.
In order to become an executive chef, one has to work for tremendously long hours, miss major holidays and life events, sacrifice their time and energy and put work, dedication and passion before our own well being.
But things are changing. This lifestyle isn’t sustainable. We have to find a better balance between work and life. And we must actualize that goal in order to attain specific ambitions. We must take care of ourselves as chefs. And that saying we need to change isn’t enough. As an industry, we—the chefs—have a commitment to make this shift a priority.
Over the course of my career, I have seen countless chefs work themselves into the ground, both mentally and physically. I include myself on this list. But my annoyance with multiple doctors telling me that I needed to make some changes became unbearably annoying. It was time to swallow my pride and make a change.
Don’t get me wrong, changing wasn’t as simple as losing a pound or two. I had to find and maintain a better balance between work and life. It required planning, introspection, and commitment. It required stepping away from work. My self care strategy is to do whatever makes me feel accomplished outside of work both physically and mentally. I regularly go to the gym. I try to eat healthier. I pay attention to when I eat and I don’t eat anything heavy past a certain time.
At Lexington CC, we highly encourage our team to take their vacation and personal days. When we come back to work, we are invigorated.
At first, this was tough—REALLY tough. I had to change my mindset. I had to swallow the fact that I needed to do something I haven’t done in a long time: step away from work. The process I went through reminds me of a blog that Jeremy Leinen, CEC, recently contributed on changing the way we measure ourselves against the next generation of cooks. (See Jeremy Leinen, CEC, On Letting Go of the Measuring Stick.)
Our industry focuses on the present. It’s incredibly difficult to keep an eye on the future. But self-care is an investment in both our own future and the future of our clubs and kitchens. By taking care of ourselves as chefs, we are able to ensure we have what it takes to not lose sight of our path, to commit to our members and to never rest on our laurels. When we make self-care a priority, we have the bandwidth to learn and grow.
Despite the cloudy and daunting prospect of changing my habits, I have seen success. My blood pressure has dropped. I feel a higher sense of efficiency. Now, I make it a priority to take care of myself both physically and mentally. I still put in long hours, but they’re easier now.
My attitude has also changed. The things that got under my skin before don’t seem as bothersome now.
The biggest and most beneficial shift has been the effect on my team. By stepping away from time to time, others have had the opportunity to step up. My sous chefs in particular have evolved to become not just managers, but leaders. They have grown by moving outside their comfort zones. I hadn’t even considered this type of success when I made this commitment to myself. Watching them grow has furthered my confidence and we’re now able to implement programs that weren’t even being considered before.
We’ve committed to become a much more sustainable kitchen. We’ve also increased our scratch efforts. We’ve also been better able to bridge the gaps in service like with the daily pre-shift. My sous chefs are now able to properly talk about new items or features. This further builds their confidence which results in better engagement with our servers and our members.
This new dynamic within the team has allowed me to hand over quite a few day-to-day responsibilities. This frees me up for bigger thinking, planning and mentoring. There’s even a difference in our membership, as they are more engaged with food and beverage than ever before.
The moral of the story is as follows: Yes, the struggle is real. But we are chefs! We are not scared of hard work. We know that anything worth having is worth fighting for. So I challenge you to step away and do something for yourself on a consistent basis. Do it for your members, your team, this industry, and most importantly for yourself.