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SNS35: Fear Creates Fear, Shortage Creates Shortage

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Join us today for the Saturday Night Special about why fear is so toxic today...

In this episode I share with you the reason that fear and shortages are a feedback loop...

In tonight’s Saturday Night Special I talk with you about why fear creates more fear.   I share why a shortage creates more shortage.  I also talk with you about why fear creates a shortage that creates fear.

Join in on the Chat below.

00:00:00 Welcome to tonight's Saturday Night Special 35. Where I talk with you about fear and shortages. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to really find your gifts and calling is a key, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this. The inspired stewardship podcast by my friend Scott Mater. Think for yourself. Don't just lock yourself into the fear response that others air heaven,
00:00:45 but instead step back. Take a moment. Surround yourself with wise counsel, and out of that instead of fear, creating more fear and shortages, creating more shortages. Maybe some calmness can begin to spread instead. Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship. Podcasts. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired Searchie podcast who learn to invest in yourself,
00:01:23 invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact on the world in tonight's Saturday night special, I talk with you about why fear can create more fear I share why having a shortage can create Maur shortages and why there's a loop between how fear create shortages that then creates more fear and how you can break free from this kind of cycle. No one area that a lot of folks need some help with is around the area of productivity. Getting not just Maur things done,
00:02:04 but actually getting the right things done can be really, really tough. I've got a course called Productivity for your passion that's designed to help you do this.
00:02:17 And then they hold you accountable and walk with you so that you can tailor productivity not just to be getting more done but actually getting the right things done.
00:02:28 What's more, we take the approach of looking at your personality and how you actually look at things in the world and Taylor the productivity system to your personality,
00:02:39 because the truth is, a lot of the systems that are out there are written really well for somebody with a particular personality type.
00:02:46 But if you have a different approach to things, they just don't work. But there's tools and techniques and approaches that you can take that will work for anyone,
00:02:56 and we help you do that and productivity for your passion. Check it out over an inspired stewardship dot com slash launch.
00:03:06 Fear is one of those weird emotions that when we start to feel it, it can actually feed back on itself and create Maur.
00:03:17 And yes, it's possible to be afraid all by yourself to be at home right now or or at another time and find things to be fearful of either the sounds that you hear it the night or or worries about what's going on in your life for the time.
00:03:33 Like now we're there's, Ah, pandemic going on worrying about what's going on in the larger world and getting fearful of what the future holds that's entirely possible.
00:03:45 It's reasonable, it's it's not even something that is unexpected, and you really can only fight fear by getting knowledge Bye,
00:03:57 working through it bye, understanding what it is that has you afraid and working on understanding what you can do and what positive actions you can take and then actually taking those actions.
00:04:13 But fear creates more fear all by itself. What's worse is fear. Whatever it's put out into the public,
00:04:23 whenever it's spread from person to person, it spreads as well and begins to breed upon itself just a surely as anything else.
00:04:32 It can create hysteria relatively quickly whenever fear is spread from person to person, when people begin to react and not actually understand what's going on but begin to spread stories,
00:04:46 things that they've heard, a friend of a friend told them they read something that caused them to understand something,
00:04:54 and then they begin to react to that fear in ways that are public. That then creates the possibility of shortages.
00:05:06 You know, I've been watching this situation and noticing how there are items that are being bought up in large numbers,
00:05:14 and some of them make sense like a mass, to try to protect you from the spread of the virus or certain medications or maybe even vitamins and certain food items.
00:05:25 But others don't necessarily make sense. What's weird is we're creating shortages out of a fear reaction. There are there are things that,
00:05:34 quite frankly have no risk of being run out anytime soon that we're buying in large amounts. I've seen meaning after MIM and post after post and concern after concern from family members and friends and others about how various items,
00:05:50 whether it's toilet paper one day or gasoline the next are at risk of running out. And then what's interesting is because of that.
00:05:59 People go and buy up all of it, and then they look around and say, See, See?
00:06:06 It ran out Well, it did, because we created a self fulfilling prophecy. We created a shortage out of fear.
00:06:15 And it's a feedback loop then, because now they're fear has been reinforced with something that seems like it proves that it was true,
00:06:22 which creates Maur fear. And now it begins to spread even Maur and even faster from person to person,
00:06:29 from friend to friend until suddenly you look up and you recognize that hysteria has been created that now the fear has become Maur than just fear.
00:06:43 It's become panic. It's important in times like this that everything that you see everything that you read everything that you hear from a friend that you stop,
00:06:59 breathe for a minute, take 1/2 a step back, give yourself some time and some space tow process.
00:07:10 You know, at the time I'm recording this. There's all sorts of government assistance programs that are being rolled out,
00:07:16 various things that you can sign up for and everyone's scrambling around, trying to figure out what am I going to do?
00:07:22 How is this gonna work? Do I qualify? How about my friend? Do they qualify? My mother,
00:07:27 my brother? Do they qualify and trying to get trying to get answers? And that's reasonable. But what's interesting is a lot of the answers aren't known yet because the rules are still being written.
00:07:42 The decisions are still being made, and yet people have tohave information. And in the absence of information,
00:07:49 people begin to fill that vacuum with made up information, which ends up harming people and causing more panic and more fear.
00:07:59 I've seen stories of about who will and will not qualify for various aid, and I've gone back and looked at the bill myself and looked at various people that are are looking at it and trying to interpret it and recognize that it's too early to know a definitive answer.
00:08:17 And that's part of the discomfort. That's what creates part of the fear and the run on things and the shortages is the fact that we don't know the answers yet,
00:08:26 and not knowing the answers yet is almost scarier than anything else because we want something that we can control.
00:08:34 We want some level of certainty in our life, and when it feels like everything is uncertain and everything is chaotic,
00:08:41 we'll create certainty where there was none by simply creating our own reality, making up our own truce. And then when those troops get proven out in the world because we've created them,
00:08:55 we look back and say, See, we were right and we begin to react Maur and Maur out of fear.
00:09:02 So take a breath. Breathe for a minute. Recognize the fact that there are things that we just don't know yet.
00:09:10 Calm down fact. Check what you can fact check. Listen to sources that you can trust. Don't just depend upon Facebook and the means that you see and what your neighbor says.
00:09:23 But actually go to the authoritative sites. Read what's there? Think for yourself. Don't just lock yourself into the fear response that others are having,
00:09:36 but instead, step back. Take a moment surround yourself with wise counsel and out of that instead of fear creating more fear and shortages,
00:09:48 creating more shortages. Maybe some calmness can begin to spread instead. And we can all get through this together.
00:09:59 Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener,
00:10:11 we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen. But act on what you've heard and find a way toe Live your calling.
00:10:21 If you enjoyed this episode, please, please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship dot com slash iTunes rate all one word iTunes rate.
00:10:36 It will take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feet until next time investor time,
00:10:51 your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact world

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A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it. ― J.R.R. Tolkien

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Episode 580: How to Cut Emergencies in Half

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Join us today for an episode about the reason for an emergency fund...

Today's episode is focused on what an emergency fund is and how you need one...

In today’s episode about investing in yourself through stewarding your treasures, I talk with you about how an emergency fund works and what it is.  I share why this cuts emergencies in half.  I also talk with you about what to do if you don’t have an emergency fund and find yourself in an emergency and what to do if you do have an emergency fund in an emergency.

Join in on the Chat below.

00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on Episode 580 of the inspired stewardship Podcast Thanks for joining Me on Episode 5 80 of the inspired uh, they lose a job. They don't have an emergency fund, so they just keep living exactly the way they were living before. And they usually use debt toe fund it that use credit cards and other things, and that debt begins to mount day after day after day. And then it's six months or a year before they actually get fully employed again. And now, Now all of that income is tied up trying to dig out from under the mess that they made Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast.
00:00:47 If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired stewardship Podcast will learn to invest in yourself and best in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world. In today's episode about investing in yourself through stewarding your treasures. I talk with you about how an emergency fund works. Why having one can cut your emergencies in half and what to do if you don't have an emergency fund,
00:01:29 but then find yourself in an emergency as we talk about stewarding your treasures. Wouldn't it be great if you could support this podcast and do it without costing yourself an extra dime? It turns out you can't. All you have to do is use inspired stewardship dot com slash amazon when you're ready to make a purchase via Amazon, and a small commission will come back to support the show. If you enjoy the show when you're ready to buy from Amazon, just use inspired stewardship dot com slash amazon. Let's talk about emergency funds,
00:02:06 and right now, depending on what's going on with you in the cove in 19 situation, this may be really relevant. And one of the things I'm going to talk about today is what to do if you are in an emergency but didn't have an emergency fund ahead of time. But before we get there, let's talk a little bit about what an emergency fund is and how it works. You know, simply put, an emergency fund is simply some money that you've set aside that you don't touch,
00:02:34 you don't do anything with its not in in an investment. It's not in anything that's a long term deal.
00:02:40 It's not meant to make a lot of money or anything. It's simply there to be used in case of an emergency.
00:02:47 It's the money that you set aside. So when something goes wrong and notice, I didn't say if you've got some cash to help,
00:02:55 take care of it. And that cash is readily available. Doesn't necessarily mean it's cash that you're storing in a coffee can on your back shelf.
00:03:04 But it does need to be readily available, and it needs to be the cash that you would use to kind of weather that storm.
00:03:12 So one of the questions that people ask is, How much should I have in my emergency fund? And the short answer to that is,
00:03:17 well, it depends. There's both a financial and an emotional factor. When you're thinking about it, what makes you feel secure?
00:03:25 But at the same time, you don't want so much money tied up in cash that you're not able to afford to do other things like long term investing and saving money for other purposes.
00:03:36 See, by definition, an emergency fund is money that you put aside that you do not use for anything else.
00:03:42 It doesn't turn into a new couch fund. It doesn't turn into the money to go on vacation fund.
00:03:47 It doesn't turn into the money that you buy pizza with its there on Lee for emergency, separate and isolated from everything else.
00:03:58 You know the rule of thumb that the gurus will tell you is 3 to 6 months of expenses, meaning if you lost your job,
00:04:05 would you be able to pay to keep the lights on? Keep food on the table. Keep the roof over your head for at least 3 to 6 months,
00:04:12 and that's a good starting point. But you also want to think about things like how secure is your income?
00:04:17 How secure is your job? You know, most of the time our jobs are pretty secure, but maybe you're in a field where there's a large about a turnover.
00:04:27 Then you definitely want to air on the side of having more money. Set aside. If your couple are there,
00:04:34 both of you employed or just one of you could you survive on one of your incomes? Well, then maybe you can afford with having a little smaller emergency fund.
00:04:43 But then there's also the feeling of. But do you feel secure? So you kind of wanna get into that idea of figuring out together with your partner or if you're a single by yourself?
00:04:56 What kind of amount of money makes you both feel secure without tying up? Too much of your resource is,
00:05:02 and with your unique situation, actually makes sense. This is one of the things that I work with my coaching clients on because we often end up with different amounts of money.
00:05:15 You'll also hear people talk about having a starter emergency fund and then a fully funded emergency fund, depending on where they are in different goals,
00:05:22 like paying off debt and other things. But let's right now, just talk about it in general, having some money set aside for an emergency is a good thing.
00:05:34 One of the things that I point out is once you get some money set aside for an emergency, by definition it cuts your emergencies in half.
00:05:43 And that sounds funny because at first you started thinking Wait I have fewer emergencies just because I have some cash and honestly,
00:05:50 I've seen that happen. I've seen it where, because you're also doing other things that cause you to pay attention and prepare and be more diligent,
00:05:58 you actually have fewer emergencies. But even if not, even if you have the same number of emergencies,
00:06:04 by definition you have half assed many because here's what happens right now. If you have no money set aside for emergencies and your car breaks,
00:06:13 you have a car transportation emergency and you have a financial emergency because you've got to figure out how to get the money together to fix the car.
00:06:24 But when you have an emergency fund, then by definition you only have the car emergency and all of the emotion that goes along with that.
00:06:32 It's still a bad situation. It's still rough. It's still something you've got to deal with. There's still a problem to fix,
00:06:39 but you have the money so that part of the problem isn't as big of a problem. Right now.
00:06:46 A lot of people are seeing the need for an emergency fund, but what happens if you get into that situation and you don't have an emergency fund.
00:06:56 Well, then you have to begin to think creatively. It's not necessarily about whipping out the credit card right away and just putting it on debt.
00:07:05 In fact, if this is a long term situation that may last for a while, that actually can make the problem worse instead of better.
00:07:13 It's about looking at your budget and thinking about what your priorities are and what can you give on? What can you cut out?
00:07:19 What can you give up in terms of expenses? It's also about looking at the income side and thinking to yourself,
00:07:26 What can I do to bring in income both short term and long term? Do I need get a different job or a new job,
00:07:33 or do I need to sell something all of these air possible? You need to think broadly and creatively about both sides of the equation,
00:07:41 the income and the outgo, and depending on what the emergency is, how much it's gonna cost, how long it's gonna last or could last get tells you how creative you want to be.
00:07:55 How far back do you wanna pull? Are you just paying minimums on debt or are you getting into a situation where perhaps you can't even pay on debt depending on what's going on in your life and how big of an emergency and how long it will last and how much money you actually have.
00:08:12 You could be doing either of those things. One of them is not right and the others wrong. It really depends on the particulars of the situation.
00:08:20 But regardless, what you want to do if you find yourself an emergency and you don't have an emergency fund,
00:08:26 is you immediately want to take a step back and reassess everything. Look, ATT, every expense. See what you can cut out.
00:08:34 Look at everything that you have available to you to bring in income and see what you can do. You immediately want to shift into action.
00:08:43 One of the things that I've seen happen time after time is people kind of get into denial. They lose a job.
00:08:49 They don't have an emergency fund, so they just keep living exactly the way they were living before. And they usually use debt to fund it.
00:08:56 They use credit cards and other things, and that debt begins to mount day after day after day, and then it's six months or a year before they actually get fully employed again.
00:09:05 And now, now all of that income is tied up trying to dig out from under the mess that they made would in reality.
00:09:14 If they would have cut things back quicker, they never would have gotten in his deep. Even if they use debt to fund what was left,
00:09:22 they still wouldn't have spent nearly as much money. So the key when you find yourself in an emergency without an emergency fund is to not pretend it's to recognize what's going on.
00:09:34 Dig in and take action immediately toe. Limit the damage. Now, on the other hand, if you find yourself in an emergency and you have an emergency fund,
00:09:45 then you can use the emergency fund to take care of the emergency again, depending on the timing and how long you think it's gonna last.
00:09:53 You may want to still limit expenses and look for additional ways to bring an income and not have to use the emergency fund It all.
00:10:01 But if it's a short term thing, just the car broke and you've still got your job and everything else is business as usual,
00:10:07 pay to fix the car and then put the money back in the emergency fund. It may take you a few weeks or a few months to do that,
00:10:14 but you can do it and then you don't sweat it at all. That's a wonderful place to be,
00:10:21 and you can get there anyone can. It takes time. It takes hard work. It's not easy,
00:10:26 but it is worth it. Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship Podcast.
00:10:39 As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen. But act on what you've heard and find a way toe.
00:10:49 Live your calling. If you like this episode on the stewardship of treasures, you can sign up for our treasures tips by going to inspired stewardship dot com slash treasures or text in the U.
00:11:06 S. 44222 Treasures tills, and we'll send you five weeks of our best tips on stewarding your treasures until next time investor time,
00:11:20 your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact world

+ Click to view entire transcript
- Click to collapse


In today's episode, I talk with you about:

  • How an emergency fund works...
  • Why this cuts emergencies in half...
  • What to do if you don’t have an emergency fund and find yourself in an emergency...
  • and more.....

Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Some of the Resources recommended in this episode:

I make a commission for purchases made through the following link.

Let Me Know What you Think Below....

Episode 579: What Opportunity Does This Create?

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Join us today for an episode about the reason you need to ask and look for opportunity...

Today's episode is focused on taking opportunity without taking advantage...

In today’s episode about investing in yourself through stewarding your talent, I talk with you about this powerful question "What opportunity does this create?"  I share the difference between taking an opportunity and taking advantage and how you can know.  I also talk with you about why this question should be the first one you ask during challenging times.

Join in on the Chat below.

00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on Episode 5 79 of the inspired Stewardship podcast. I'm Wasting Clements, Motivational speaker and military Shin Breaker. A challenging to invest yourself. Vessey Mothers develop your influence and impact the world using your time, the talent and your treasures. Tell me about your calling. Having the ability to recognize your limitations are an illusion and develop Brazilians. This king and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this. He was last you a Jim Scott podcast with your friend Skull made us.
00:00:44 It's hard whenever you're afraid. It's hard whenever you're frustrated. Toe asked this question, and it's even harder to answer it. But that doesn't make it less important. That doesn't make it a question that you shouldn't ask. That doesn't make it something that you shouldn't spend some time and some energy trying to identify. In fact, it just proves that that's a valuable question to ask. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship pod cakes. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be,
00:01:18 then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired George of podcast will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world in this episode about investing in yourself through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about this powerful question. What opportunity does this create? The difference between taking an opportunity and taking advantage and why this question should be the 1st 1 you ask during challenging times as we talk about stewarding your time.
00:02:03 Wouldn't it be great if you could support this podcast and do it without just taking too long? It turns out you can't.
00:02:09 All you have to do is use inspired stewardship dot com slash amazon when you're ready to make a purchase via Amazon,
00:02:17 and a small commission will come back to support the show just that quick. If you enjoy the show when you are ready to buy from Amazon,
00:02:25 just use inspired stewardship dot com slash amazon. One of the things that happens to us when we face a challenge.
00:02:34 When things aren't going right, when there's problems in our life or something is derailed our plans and our opportunities,
00:02:43 and right now of course, where many of us air facing various challenges because of the pandemic that's going on right now.
00:02:50 But the truth is you could always be facing a time of challenge. You know, one of the things I've pointed out to people is whatever you have a job loss,
00:03:01 it really doesn't matter if tons of other people have lost their job or if it's just you. It's just a cz big of an emergency.
00:03:09 Obviously, when lots of other people are without work as well, it affects how and your opportunities to get new work.
00:03:17 But truly, it's just a CZ big of a disaster. When you've lost your job is when anyone else has or a lot of other people have it.
00:03:24 It doesn't matter. It's it's all very personal. So when we're facing a time of challenge, one of the questions that I always try to coach people to ask is,
00:03:36 What opportunity does this create to really stop in the middle of a challenge or disaster or frustration or fear and ask yourself,
00:03:49 What opportunity does this create to begin toe right down or process or journal or brainstorm lots of different opportunities that it creates because here's the truth.
00:04:02 Any time there is challenge, there is always opportunity. You've heard the expression that necessity is the mother of invention or Albert Einstein is quoted as saying.
00:04:15 In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. And that's really true, because out of opportunity becomes constraints and out of constraints begins to create newness.
00:04:30 If you look for it, you know, if you've lost your job and you recognize that the truth is this wasn't a job I loved,
00:04:39 then what can you do to create a new opportunity to move you in the direction of something that you really wanted to do in the first place?
00:04:47 If if right now you're stuck at home and you're bored, what opportunities does that create to do something that you've been putting off and not focusing on and not getting done because you were too busy?
00:05:03 If you're working at home with your kids and that's creating some difficult challenges around how you get work done,
00:05:11 what can you do? What opportunities does this create to spend some time or to bond with your kids in a way that you weren't able to do before?
00:05:21 Maybe you'll discover a new talent or new skill. Maybe you're discover something that you can share with the world that you never even knew you had.
00:05:30 Its out of these challenges and these constraints. That opportunity often arises because the truth is the opportunity was there all along.
00:05:41 But often whenever there's so much going on and so much coming into our world, we're blind to it.
00:05:48 So this is a powerful question. Toe asked to get you to refocus on what opportunities are out there now I want to be clear.
00:05:57 I'm talking here about opportunity, not taking advantage of people. See, one of the things that happens during a challenging time is you'll see people who are taking advantage of others.
00:06:09 If you haven't noticed right now, the scammers air out in force. There's people already sending out stimulus checks,
00:06:16 and yet that hasn't even been processed yet. And they're trying to get information from you about your bank account or your sources are there encouraging you to do something like enter into debt in a way that isn't healthy for you.
00:06:29 There's people who are setting out, and using this disaster is an opportunity to take advantage of others and it's pretty simple.
00:06:39 The way to understand the difference between an opportunity into an advantage is to look at the other person if it is good for me and not good for the other person that I'm taking advantage of them.
00:06:53 But if it's good for me and good for the other person, then there's a very good chance that that is actually on opportunity.
00:07:04 It's something that if I create this, it helps others, and it also benefits me. That's great.
00:07:12 There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing harmful about that. You should be paid for your work. You should be paid for the value you create in the world.
00:07:21 You should be paid for the benefit that your work does for others. There's nothing wrong with that that is not evil.
00:07:29 That's not wrong. You're not taking advantage of anyone but again run it through that filter if it gives you Aah financial benefit or gives you some other benefit in your world.
00:07:40 But it does that by disadvantaging and harming others, then all you're doing is taking advantage of them. It's why there are activities that I see in the world that take advantage of poor people take advantage of ignorant people,
00:07:57 take advantage of the older people, take advantage of younger people. Take advantage of all sorts of groups that are ostracised and pushed to the edges.
00:08:06 And if you're doing that, that is wrong, and you should stop. This question is the 1st 1 I always turn to with clients,
00:08:19 and I try really hard to turn to with myself whenever something goes wrong whenever there's a challenging time. But I'll be honest.
00:08:29 It's hard whenever you're afraid. It's hard whenever you're frustrated. Toe asked this question, and it's even harder to answer it.
00:08:38 But that doesn't make it less important. That doesn't make it a question that you shouldn't ask. That doesn't make it something that you shouldn't spend some time and some energy tryingto identify.
00:08:49 In fact, it just proves that that's a valuable question to ask. But it's hard. This is one of the reasons that working with other people surrounding yourself with wise counsel,
00:09:01 whether that's working with the coach, whether that's working with the counselor, whether that's just sitting down with a friend.
00:09:08 But if you're facing a challenge right now, the difficulty reach out to others, reach out to me,
00:09:13 Reach out to someone else and sit down with them and answer that question to yourself. What opportunities does this create?
00:09:21 What are the things that I'm now have open for me that work open before? Because I guarantee you there's always something.
00:09:32 There's always an opportunity that shows up whenever challenges and difficulties show up. Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship Podcast.
00:09:51 As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen. But act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling.
00:10:03 If you like this episode on the stewardship of talent, you can go over to inspired stewardship dot com slash talent and sign up for our five weeks Siris on the stewardship of talent or if you're in the U.
00:10:18 S. You can text 44222 Talent tips. That's talent tips tau 442 to 2 and get those tips until next time.
00:10:31 Investor time, your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact world

+ Click to view entire transcript
- Click to collapse


In today's episode, I talk with you about:

  • This powerful question...
  • The difference between taking an opportunity and taking advantage...
  • Why this question should be the first one you ask during challenging times....
  • and more.....

In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. - Albert Einstein

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Some of the Resources recommended in this episode:

I make a commission for purchases made through the following link.

Let Me Know What you Think Below....

Episode 578: Do One Thing Today

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Join us today for an episode about the power of focus...

Today's episode is focused on bringing focus to your goals...

In today’s episode about investing in yourself by stewarding your time, I talk with you about why it’s about focus every time if you want to get things done.l  I share why focus means doing one thing.  I also talk with you about how to do one thing each day.

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00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on Episode 5 78 of the inspired Stewardship Podcast. I'm Oreo Perica from 10 Minute Mindset The podcast. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures toe Live out your calling. Having the right inspiration to set your mind set on the right path is key. And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this the inspired stewardship podcast with my good friend Scott made her and those anchors.
00:00:44 Those priority goals become the things that you focus on that show up on your to do list day after day after day. And you continue to make progress on them until you knock it out of the park until it's done. And then you work on the next one in the next one, and when you finish those top five, then you circle back and look at your list of 20. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be,
00:01:17 then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired storage of podcast who learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the way in today's episode about investing in yourself by Stuart In your time I talk with you about why it's all about focus every time. Why focus means doing one thing and how to do one thing and really focus on it each and every day as we talk about stewarding your time. Wouldn't it be great if you could support this podcast and do it without just taking too long?
00:02:06 It turns out you can't. All you have to do is use inspired stewardship dot com slash amazon when you're ready to make a purchase via Amazon, and a small commission will come back to support the show just that quick. If you enjoy the show when you are ready to buy from Amazon,
00:02:23 just use inspired stewardship dot com slash amazon. One of the biggest keys to really making progress on your goals at any time is this idea of focus.
00:02:39 You know, the truth is that a lot of times We think that we have, ah, problem with gold setting and we have a problem with achieving our goals.
00:02:48 But when you really step back and look at it, the problem is one of making a decision. The problem is one of focus and concentration.
00:02:58 The truth is, we all live in a very noisy world where we've got constant distractions and ideas and other things bouncing into our brains all the time.
00:03:08 We're bombarded with information 24 7 There's advertising, there's other people. There's all sorts of things that come into our mind,
00:03:18 and they tend to break our ability toe focus up. So I'm talking about focus. But what is focus?
00:03:28 The definition is concentrating interest or attention or activity on something and notice they're the something is singular. One of the miss we have is that we can concentrate on more than one thing at a time if I'm playing a game on my phone while I'm tryingto listen to a podcast while I'm trying to watch a TV show while I'm trying to help my kids with their homework,
00:03:57 I'm not really paying that much attention to any of those things, or at least I'm not paying full attention to any of those things.
00:04:05 Instead, my brain switches between task to task, trying to pay attention to everything and the truth is for focus.
00:04:14 You have to recognize that to focus on one thing you're saying yes to that one thing and no toe everything else here that you're saying no to everything else now that may not be a permanent know that may not be saying no forever,
00:04:33 but it's saying no right this minute. If you have to pay attention to helping your kids with their homework,
00:04:40 then you need to say no toe watching TV toe, listen to the podcast and to the other 17 things that you're trying to do at the same time,
00:04:50 If you want to say yes toe working on your course, you've got to say no to reading email,
00:04:58 and it means shutting down the email program, turning it off, getting it out of your attention. And so the truth is,
00:05:07 the truth is, you focus all the time, But the key is to focus on the most important thing for you to do right now.
00:05:20 That's why it says do one thing today. What is the one thing that is the single most important thing that you get done today.
00:05:29 And are you focusing on it? Have you paid attention to it? Did you put it on your calendar?
00:05:34 Did you block off time? Turn every distraction off. Get rid of your phone. Get rid of your email.
00:05:40 Make the app full screen. If you're doing it on the computer, clear off your desks. So this is the only thing on your desk if you're doing it in hard copy,
00:05:49 have you paid attention? Because the truth is you can focus. Think about it. You've had a time where you had to crank something out in a short amount of time.
00:06:00 You had a huge deadline, and it was vitally important that this get done and you buckle down and you focus and you get it done.
00:06:08 It happens all the time so you can focus. The idea that we can't focus is baloney, But focus means doing one thing.
00:06:18 You cannot concentrate on more than one thing at a time. If you do, you become less effective.
00:06:24 And that's study after study after study after study shows that the other interesting thing is the more you begin to focus,
00:06:34 the easier it gets. Toe focus. It's a skill like everything else. It's something that you can build up to overtime.
00:06:42 Maybe right now you can only focus on a single task for 15 minutes, but if you do that day after day after day,
00:06:48 pretty soon it's 30. Then it's 45. Then you can focus for an hour, and you get to determine how long you buckle down and focus,
00:06:59 too. One of the tips that you can use is sit down and brainstorm a list for a period of time.
00:07:07 Let's say the top 25 things you want to get done this month. You could do this with the day you could do this with a week.
00:07:15 You can do it with a year doesn't matter right down. You could do it with your entire life,
00:07:20 too, by the way, but right down the top 25 things that you want to get done and maybe it's not 25.
00:07:27 Maybe it's maybe it's 50. Maybe it's 15. Doesn't matter, but the idea is toe to get him out of your head and write them down on paper and then go back through that list and identify the top five things on that list.
00:07:43 What are the five things on that list that if you could do nothing else that month or that week or that year?
00:07:49 What are the five that you must do? And at that point, you have to list you have a list with 25 a list with five.
00:07:57 Warren Buffett used this activity. This is how he said he did gold setting. And usually at this point,
00:08:06 people have realized these five things are the most important things. I should start on them right away. I should pay attention to them,
00:08:13 but they also feel like the other 20 are important, and Warren Buffett says that's the mistake. Instead,
00:08:20 those other 20 are your do not do list. Those other 20 are the avoid working on these with a passion until you've completed your top five.
00:08:32 It's a way of nearing your focus and recognizing that you've got a ton of stuff that's important. But there's only a handful of things that you can say are the most important.
00:08:45 And those are the things that you need to set up his goals. Those are the things that you need to begin to measure those air,
00:08:51 the things that you need to focus on. One of those five should be on your list every single day where you're making progress.
00:09:00 And if it's a great big goal and you can't complete it in one day, doesn't matter. What little piece of it are you going to do this day and those anchors?
00:09:10 Those priority goals become the things that you focus on that show up on your to do less day after day after day,
00:09:17 and you continue to make progress on them until you knock it out of the park until it's done, and then you work on the next one in the next one,
00:09:27 and when you finish those top five, then you circle back and look at your list of 20 and identify what are the next five most important things.
00:09:38 But you really can't work on everything. And maybe it's not five. Maybe it's three doesn't matter. Same idea.
00:09:47 Focus down on the things that are most important to you and do those and again when you actually need to concentrate.
00:09:57 When you need to do it. Make sure you look at your energy levels. Figure out when in the day is your peak time and put those most important activities in that time or you're a morning person.
00:10:08 Are you an early afternoon person? Are you a late at night person? Look at what things interrupt you.
00:10:14 If you have young kids at home right now because of the virus and other things, what can you do?
00:10:19 What times of the day do you have the least chance of being interrupted? Notice? I didn't say zero chance,
00:10:25 because if you've got young kids at home, they can interrupt you 24 7 But there are times of the day where you're more likely to be able to focus.
00:10:33 Turn off your email, turn off your phone, work in full screen mode, try to separate yourself from distractions and find those areas that you can focus on.
00:10:46 Put them on your to do list and knock one thing out today. So what is your one thing for today?
00:10:54 And whatever it is, go get started on doing it. Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship Podcast.
00:11:08 As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way toe.
00:11:18 Live your calling. If you like this episode on the stewardship of time, be sure to sign up for our stewardship of time tips.
00:11:27 Siri's by going to inspired stewardship dot com slash time or texting. 44222 time tips and that'll get you our best tips on stewarding your time until next time investor time,
00:11:49 your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact world.

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In today's episode, I talk with you about:

  • Why it’s about focus every time... 
  • Why focus means doing one thing... 
  • How to do one thing each day...
  • and more.....

Do one thing every day that scares you. ― Eleanor Roosevelt

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