2417 - Execution Beats Strategy for High Achievers Seeking More Time and Energy with Samantha Parrinello

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0:46Visit podverified.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it. With us right now, Samantha Perinello. Samantha, you are an executive coach, you're a business strategist, marketing expert, and you are found on the web at samanthaparinello.com. Samantha, it's great to have you. Hi, thanks, Josh, for having me. I'm very excited to be here. All the way from Gainesville, Florida, which is a house you're going to jump away from where I am in Orlando. Samantha, it's so great to have you, but I understand that you happen to be in Arizona right now. And I think your time in Arizona has been one of actual great reflection.

1:30I don't want to make this a downer, but you recently had a family passing and it's been something that's, I think, what you shared with me is it's kind of, it's brought up some clarity and some thoughts on things. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I lost my grandmother suddenly just about two and a half months ago. And so I've been actually spending, I'm very fortunate to work fully remotely in anywhere in the world that I'd like. So I packed up and I moved to be with my grandfather and help him. They were married for 65 years. My grandfather's almost 90 and watching somebody, you know, she is a matriarch of our family.

2:11And I think one of the things that, you know, you think about when in this season, I call out a season because obviously it's not going to last forever, the pain and everything that I'm going through and my family. But it really teaches you a lot when you are put in the position to really have to almost step up for the patriarch in your family and really start to be that person that they can lean on. My grandfather is someone who has never cried in front of his family, not once. And teaching him how to have that vulnerability and to be his advocate for him and to be there for him in these moments has actually really, really strengthened my marriage and the love.

2:49My husband and my daughter stayed in Florida and they let me go and be there. And man, what a great partnership I have. And it really has allowed me to look at all of the things about life and really reflect on what impact do I wanna make and what is gonna be the lasting impression I leave like my grandmother. She had so many people who absolutely loved and adored her. And for me, I wanna follow in those footsteps to say the least. Yeah, I love that. And certainly my condolences for that experience. And I'm grateful that you and your family are able to share so much love at this time. So, well, Samantha, thank you so much for sharing that.

3:26You know, on a similar minor note, we lost Levi, my family dog of 14 years. And, you know, even with that, it's like, you know, life is short. And just that, you know, and also, you know, I think in stoicism, I've been thinking a lot more about momentum or, you know, just that, you know, each day is a gift. And, you know, and if we look at, you know, what we spend each day doing. And Samantha, I don't think that our conversation here is kind of too far off from what you do professionally. Do you mind sharing, giving us just a quick overview of your work and your message? Absolutely. Yeah. So I'm an executive coach, I focus my time really on helping leaders and companies, specifically people who are very, I like to say perceived bandwidth issues, because I feel like there is a very common theme that runs throughout some of the highest leaders and companies is where they have so much on their plate, yet they have no idea how to really segment those things and to really execute on them.

4:32So So my job really is to teach people that bandwidth is only a minor constraint and that you actually have a lot more time than you think you do. And I put into a lot of strategies and a lot of framework to really help people move through that, whether it's through understanding the highest priorities, what's going to give them the greatest ROI, how to delegate correctly. When do you delegate? When do you just get rid of something? Understanding the 80-20 rule. and there's a lot that goes into it all and I'm happy to jump into it even more but that's really my main focus is so that they can hit the next level.

5:07Wow, all right. So help me, you know, I'd say, you know, is it, well, let me ask it this way, Samantha, is it better productivity? Is it better time management or is it the realization that, listen, you only have so much time. Certainly systematization and delegation is really critical. How do you break up the formula? Because this is a big topic and it's a very vital topic. I think a lot of us think about and maybe are stressed, you know, that we just don't have enough time to do everything that we want to do or feel like we're supposed to do or whatever. So what would you say kind of your thesis on this is, or like your kind of maybe stronger point of view on this topic would be?

5:58Well, so I think most people look at what they have in their companies. They're looking at the issue and I don't think they have a strategy problem. They have an execution problem. So most people, they understand their expertise in their field, their expertise in their position within their role. And a lot of times I think what happens is people have overwhelmed and they don't know how to sit back and actually truly take a look at what's going on. So I like to implement the two, two main things first, and I do them in combination with one another. So for example, I'll, I'll, I'll go back to this last week.

6:31I had a conference last week where I met this company. They have three principals in the company. And one of them is it's a, it's a real estate firm. And that one is focused primarily on the new development side of everything. So that's his focus. That's his zone of genius. Then the other gentleman is all on the human resources. And so just making sure that that piece is complete. But the other gentleman has everything else that runs a business on his plate because he says, well, I'm really great at these things is where I'm actually better at these tasks. So then he starts listing them. He talks about capital raising.

7:07He talks about, let me see. He talked about, um, the bookkeeping for instance, financials. Uh, he talked about the gosh, he, he listed a ton of different things. And so I looked at him mid sentence and I said, you know, I have a question for you. Do you ever feel like you've, you don't have enough time in the day for all of these things? And he said, 100%, like every day of my life. And I said, yeah, okay. So I just wanted to make sure because when you're telling me about all these things that you're excited about, because he was, the excitement was real. You could tell he was a passionate about each one of the things he was doing.

7:44I said, but how are you able to move forward? And how are you able to get anything actually done or complete? And he said, well, honestly, I don't, I feel like I have, I get enough of this thing and enough of this thing and enough of this thing, but I'm not really moving the needle forward because of my bandwidth. And I was like, okay, so we're talking about bandwidth constraints, not just, you know, do you have human capital or don't you have human capital? And he said, right. I said, I have two things that I recommend for you that you could fix today for yourself. I can't fix your human capital side of things, but that's something you can do over time.

8:15But what we could fix today is you really understanding how to get the highest ROI out of the tasks that you're doing and how to implement those things. So I told him, number one, you sit down and you brain dump all of the things that you're doing on a daily basis. Once you've done that, you create the productivity pyramid. And what that is, is from top to bottom, highest ROI down to the least ROI of everything that you're doing. And ROI, not only being how much money and financial impact that you're doing, but what will help you move the needle forward within your company, but also what makes you happy.

8:49Cause you also don't want to be, you don't want all of those things on top to be all the things that you don't like either. So you have to have all three of those things in the top. And then you all the way down, you list those items. And then from there, you're going to take a look first at what you can delegate or dump. And those are the first things that go off your list. So you either find someone in your company, you can delegate those to, or you realize that you can't and you dump them and you need a third party or you need to hire somebody else who that is their time to, and then you bring them in.

9:17He said, okay. And I said, the next step for you is going to be now you're focused on the top two thirds of your pyramid because you've released everything else. You're going to start from top down and that's where you're going to start scheduling within your time blocking calendar. And he's like, oh my gosh, time blocking. I said, I know it sounds like it's going to be time to like, take time for you to do this. However, it will be the best thing you've ever done. And my, my objectives with him, I said, first of all, there are many, many studies that the first three to four hours of your day are where your brain is operating and doing the best.

9:51And then after working intense work for three to four hours, you're not going to get the same level of tasks done and you're not going to be able to have that same creativity. So the next three to four hours, and some people eight hours, depending on how many hours they're working at throughout the day should be on the tasks that are things that you do repetitiously, because those things don't take the same creativity and bandwidth. And those are things that you just need to get accomplished. He said, okay, I think I can do that. Then I said, being intentional. It's very, very important within those three to four hours at the top of your day that you're not only putting the top ROI, but you're also within those, you're taking time for yourself.

10:29So there's also another study that they've done where they talk about specifically the 52 to 17 rule. And what 52 to 17 rule is 52 minutes on 17 minutes off. Usually it's 52 minutes of intense work, creative thinking, moving the momentum forward. But then that 17 minutes is completely hands-off. It's not, okay, I'm going to go to a lighter task. I'm going to keep using my brain. It's take a walk, stretch, go grab some water, have a quick conversation with somebody you love, like get your brain resting and get yourself back into your creative state. ensuring that you do that throughout your entire day but especially in those top three to four hours is going to create so much momentum for your company you're going to be shocked but then the last piece I told him I said really really important is when you're time blocking you're not blocking time that you wish you were doing something you're intentionally doing that thing so it's not about scheduling it's about tracking so yes I know this sounds also very silly, but I am very much an advocate for setting a timer.

11:36Utilize your timer. 52 minutes happens. You turn it off. You take 17 minutes. You look at your watch, do the same thing and using it avidly and making sure that the time you've allotted is really focused. You're not taking phone calls. You're not in meetings. You're not taking distractions. And you're really, really focused on that time. And then extra meetings, extra things that can happen later throughout the day. Well, Samantha, I love that. So to our friend, I'm feeling like they probably want a transcript of what you just said there. I suspect that there are great transcription tools. You can take this podcast episode or Samantha, I suspect that you talk about this frequently at your website.

12:14You know, a couple of things on that, that you were talking about. And number one is that 17 minutes or our downtime. And I recently watched a video where someone challenged themselves to just stare at a wall, like, and, and, and, you know, because he was looking at how he used his downtime. And it was a lot of like scrolling social media, and watching news or listening to news or reading news stories. And, and, and he's like, I'm not sure that this is giving me the restorative energy that I need. You know, some of us, you know, I don't necessarily love meditation. I find that my ADHD brain is kind of like, ah, goes a little ballistic on that.

13:01But what I have noticed is, you know, the value of walking around the block on completely unplugged, no headphones in, just, you know, even leaving, leaving the phone at home, it's going to be okay. And almost like what you were talking about with the timer, I think, you know, part of why a timer I've noticed works for me is it feels like there's a little bit more self-induced structure to what I'm doing. So it doesn't feel as loosey-goosey. And also, I have a finish line. So that finish line is imminent so I can see it. Samantha, if we had more time, I wanted to ask you about this. Maybe you could just touch on this real briefly.

13:45And that is because you work with high achievers. One thing I know about high achievers is high achievers set very generally high expectations on themselves. And I dare say at times impossible standards for themselves. Standards that we would never expect of anybody else. or that if something does outside of our control, we express disappointment in that, even though it was completely outside of your control. Sure, could you have done this, this, this, this, this? But we're not forgiving. My experience is, I'll speak for myself. Historically, I have not been very forgiving. Intellectually, yes.

14:32Emotionally, in the Jungian shadow self side of me, absolutely not. I have been such a jerk to myself on, you know, these expectations that are, you know, and someone said to me one time, you know, with that, when we do that is, you know, these two words, who said? Oh, well, me. Why? So I don't know. Right. And so it's like it gets back and, you know, maybe you had a parent that was kind of tough on you or whatever. You're still, you know, trying to impress them. Who knows what the thing is? I'm sorry, I've been overtaking your brilliance here. Do you mind maybe just commenting on that a little bit before we kind of close up and I make sure folks know how to engage with you?

15:17Sure. No, I actually 100 % agree. And the one thing that I have found is my husband actually gave me this advice. He and I happen to be very opposite. We're both leaders in companies. We're both very strong at what we do, but we lead differently. And the thing that he taught me was that there's, he says, there's never a right or wrong way to do something. It's about always having more ways to do something, finding the best results. So testing and being creative on ideas. And when someone hits you with a, with a, either a no, or that they said that there's an obstacle that you can't get through, it's about how can you be even more creative or find that loophole or what can you do?

15:57And for me, I was always setting an expectation for myself. So I was like, if I didn't hit this thing, then all of a sudden I was I was failing, like you mentioned. And for me now, instead of failing, what I've done for myself is I said, that's just a hurdle. I have to figure out how to get past that hurdle. There's no such thing as failure in my life anymore. So I if I don't reach something, it's not that I'm not going to. It's just not right now. I have to I have to do something else together. So what is it that I have to do so that I still reach that goal? and sometimes it's just putting in more benchmarks for yourself or even understanding that maybe that isn't you who is their zone of genius and how do you find your super who or the person who can help you get through that, you know?

16:35So I think for me, letting failure not be an option isn't that failure is not an option. It's that I won't fail because I can't anymore because I will find a way to succeed. Samantha, your website is samanthaparinelo.com. You have a podcast, by the way. It's called Wealth Unfiltered. You host that, I assume, with your husband? I do. So he has been not hosting as often, but he's at least on one episode of the series. And we've kind of moved to an educational series now. So it's really, really great. I love it. Wealth Unfiltered. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry, Samantha. So your website, Samantha Perinello, to our friend that's listening, and they want more Samantha, what would you recommend their next steps be?

17:17Yeah, reach out at SamanthaParinello.com. There's a way to just get in touch on there. And I'm always happy to connect, answer any questions and see where we can collaborate. Samantha Parinello, again, executive coach. You work with a lot of high achievers, your business strategist and marketing expert as well. Samantha, it's been a great conversation. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. I really appreciate the time.

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