Inspired Stewardship

Helping you live out your calling by teaching you to use your time, talent, and treasures for God's Glory.

Home Archives for Inspired Stewardship Podcast Invest In Yourself

Episode 520: What is a Sinking Fund

By Leave a Comment

Join us today for an episode about the power of a sinking fund to change your finances...

Today's episode is focused on the power of savings...

In today’s episode about investing in yourself through stewarding your treasures, I talk with you about what is a sinking fund.  I share why you should care about sinking funds and their power.  I also talk with you about how this can really help you get control of your money this year.

Join in on the Chat below.

Insert WordPress Content

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

  • What is a sinking fund...
  • Why you should care...
  • How this can really help you get control of your money this year....=
  • and more.....


Savings, remember, is the prerequisite of investment.
― Campbell McConnell

Click to Tweet

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 519: Soul Work Versus Sacred Work

By Leave a Comment

Join us today for an episode about the reason your passion isn't your calling...

Today's episode is focused on finding your caling instead of your passion...

In today’s episode about investing in yourself through stewarding your talent, I talk with you about why we often confuse our passion with our calling but they aren't the same.  I share how you can have your passion and your work and both can be worship.  I also talk about how to recognize the sacred versus the soul filling.

Join in on the Chat below.

00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on Episode 519 of the inspired Stewardship Podcast. I'm Wade Galt. I challenge you to invest in yourself, investing 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 live to work instead of working to live is key. And one way to be inspired to do that. Listen to this. The inspired stewardship podcast with my friend Scott made her. But to do that you've got to find those things that you are good at that you are uniquely made to do and then begin to do those with excellence.
00:00:50 And if you want to start a business around it, you certainly can. You don't have to, by the way, it's okay. You're calling to serve as a hobby, and you'd have a career that pays the bills. 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, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired sturgeon podcast will learn to invest in yourself,
00:01:20 invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world. In today's episode about investing in yourself through steward of your talent, I talk with you about why we often confuse our passion with our calling, how you can have your passion and your work and how both can be worship and how to recognize the sacred versus the soul-filling when it comes to your passion and your work.
00:01:56 You've heard me talk about developing your talent, and one of the best ways to do that is through books.
00:02:03 But if you're like most people today, it's hard to find the time to read. And that's why today's podcast is brought to you by audible.
00:02:11 Go to inspired stewardship dot com slash audible to sign up, and you can get a 30-day free trial.
00:02:18 There's over 100 and 80,000 titles to choose from, and you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via audible.
00:02:29 That's inspired stewardship dot com slash audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast.
00:02:40 You know, one of our past guests used this phrase, and I told him at the time I was going to steal it.
00:02:45 This I idea of having soul work and sacred work. The more I thought about that, the more I've realized that there's a lot of messaging out there around our calling and our passion,
00:02:57 and it kind of all gets muddled and confused, or at least for me, it seems to be really confusing and somewhat muddled.
00:03:05 A lot of the time, you know, the truth is our passion and our calling or not the same thing necessarily.
00:03:13 They can be, but they don't have to be. And especially if you're listening to this when it comes out live,
00:03:20 you know it's in January and you see all this messaging around the New Year and around new beginnings where we talk about things like New Year New me and restarting and setting goals and building new habits and going to the gym and getting in shape and eating right and getting our money in order and all of these things that come about with a new change or a new time,
00:03:45 and I think a lot of times what happens is we get into this mindset that everything we do is supposed to be exciting and fun and interesting,
00:03:55 and it's always supposed to light us up and be the thing that just keeps all of our energy up and keeps us going and lights up our eyes and makes a smile and makes us enjoy life.
00:04:07 And our passions should fuel everything we do. But you know, the truth is, if you look at the messaging around,
00:04:16 are calling if you if you think about what the Bible and what other various folks have talked about when we talk about calling,
00:04:25 calling comes from outside, not inside. Passions come from inside out. Often, passions are the things that interest us.
00:04:36 They often come about because of things in our past history. They could be good and they could be bad because of that,
00:04:43 too. They can trap us at times into, but leaving and looking for things that always fire us up.
00:04:51 Always are interesting, always are fun, you know, oftentimes weaken, be selfish, not in a good way,
00:04:58 but in a negative way. We're we're looking for only what's in it for me. We begin to ignore the needs of others,
00:05:06 we begin to pay attention, to only ourselves and our own needs and our own wants. You don't get me wrong.
00:05:12 Passion is not bad. Passions can be awesome and often times you can do things and you can align yourself in a way where your passion is being expressed as part of your calling.
00:05:27 That happens a lot, but it doesn't have to be that way. See, I see these means in these post about,
00:05:35 you know, follow your passion, and everything else will take care of itself. But that's not necessarily true.
00:05:43 I think sometimes when we try to force it, we try to do the things that we think are right that we think are the best that we think we're supposed to be doing.
00:05:54 We try to force out into the world our desires that that gets pushed back at us at times. And it's not true that if you just follow your passion automatically,
00:06:05 everything will come your way. Instead. I also look for your calling and the calling, remember, comes outside of you.
00:06:15 It comes from outside in. It comes from looking around, you looking for the needs of others looking for the ways that things that you can do serve the larger world looking for ways that what you do intersects with the rest of the world and builds a better place.
00:06:38 Yeah, I talk all the time about our calling is often our place of putting one brick into the road towards building a better world.
00:06:48 It really doesn't matter if you put in 100 bricks. 1000 bricks are just one. You know, sometimes I feel like all I get to do is lay the sand below the bricks.
00:06:57 But that's important, too. It's okay to be doing something small or big. It's okay as long as you're moving in that direction.
00:07:09 And then what? What's funny is out of that comes passion. As you begin to align yourself with that larger calling,
00:07:18 you discover Ah, passion for it instead of looking first at only. What your passion about looking on the inside yourself.
00:07:27 What I'm suggesting is you open yourself up to looking out into the world and hearing the message that God and the world is sending you that this is a need and it's one you not only can fill,
00:07:41 but you are uniquely designed to fill in a way that no one else does. And as you do that you will discover that your passion and your work both become worship.
00:07:57 They both become something that you're putting out into the world, and you're saying this is what God in the universe and the beings around us want me to be doing.
00:08:10 This is my way of joyfully putting back into the world that which I am designed to do. It becomes a form of worship.
00:08:23 It becomes a way of sending the message out, to whatever power you believe in that I recognize that it's not all about me.
00:08:34 I recognize that there is a larger need. There is, ah, larger community. There's a bigger world than me.
00:08:42 The center of the earth does not run through my head, but instead my job is to serve others and do and put out into the world love and care and kindness and support and work and effort in joy.
00:09:01 And what's funny is then your passion will really ignite, and you may even discover a new passion one you didn't even know you had.
00:09:10 You suddenly discover that things connect and follow in a way that you didn't believe before. Now I think it's important to also say that that doesn't mean everything about everything you do in work is going to be fun.
00:09:30 It doesn't mean that everything you do in your day is always going to ignite your passion and your joy and just light up your eyes.
00:09:39 They're still gonna be things that you do and have to do that just aren't fun that you don't enjoy.
00:09:46 But those things are still sacred work. There still things that we lift up as a form of worship and what causes that is our attitude about it.
00:09:58 Are you doing those things begrudgingly? Because you feel like you're being forced to do them. I've got to do this.
00:10:06 I hate every minute of it. You know, if that's true, find a way to outsource that.
00:10:11 Find a way to find someone where that is their passion in their joy and give them an opportunity to do that.
00:10:22 But to do that, you've got to find those things that you are good at that you are uniquely made to do and then begin to do those with excellence.
00:10:33 And if you want to start a business around it. You certainly can. You don't have to. By the way,
00:10:38 it's okay if you're calling to serve as a hobby and you'd have a career that pays the bills. That has nothing to do with your actual calling.
00:10:47 There's nothing wrong with that. I actually know people who do that and are quite fine and happy and joyful about it.
00:10:55 But if you have that calling to start a business around it, I can almost guarantee you that that can happen.
00:11:03 And I can work to help you do that. That's one of the things that I do is a coach,
00:11:08 but I encourage you to identify your calling. First and out of that will come your passion. And then you begin to do the soul feeling work that you are designed to do,
00:11:22 and even the work that you don't enjoy becomes sacred work because your joy lifts it up as worship. Thanks for listening.
00:11:34 Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
00:11:48 but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you like this episode on the stewardship of talent,
00:11:58 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.
00:12:10 S. You can text 44222 Talent tips. That's talent tips to 44222 and get those tips until next time investor time,
00:12:24 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:

  • Why we often confuse our passion with our calling...
  • How you can have your passion and your work and both can be worship...
  • How to recognize the sacred versus the soul filling....
  • and more.....

Each of us has a unique part to play in the healing of the world.
― Marianne Williamson

Click to Tweet

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 518: What to Put on Your Calendar Versus Your To-Do List

By Leave a Comment

Join us today for an episode about the difference between a calendar and a to-do list and why it is important...

Today's episode is focused on having your calendar and to-do list work for you...

In today’s episode about investing in yourself by stewarding your time, I talk with you about why the way you use your calendar and your to do list is important.  I also share the tactic of dealing with blocking time versus working from a list.  I share with you why this makes a difference to your productivity.

Join in on the Chat below.

00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on Episode 518 of the inspired Stewardship podcast. Hey, guys, this is Matt Ham from you.Print would encourage you to find your own journey to living your life's calling, and one way to be inspired. To do that is to listen to the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend Scott mater, especially if you really do put the step in of consciously making a decision about what makes it on your to-do list in terms of what's at the top and what's on the bottom. I will tell you the kinds of task of my to-do list go into the future by months and months and months,
00:00:41 sometimes a year or more into the future. Sometimes I just put things on the to-do list that are someday, maybe ideas that I just want to capture and get out of my head. But they don't even have a due date yet. 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, 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,
00:01:11 invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact in today's episode about investing in yourself by stewarding your time I talk with you about why the way you use your calendar and your to-do list is important. Ah, share the tactic of dealing with blocking time on a calendar versus working from a list and why this could make a real difference in your productivity 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? It turns out you can't.
00:01:50 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, just use inspired stewardship dot com slash amazon Ah, calendars and to do list. You know, the truth is, most of us have multiple calendars and often multiple to do list floating around where we've got a list for work and a calendar for work and then a calendar for our home life and list about things that we want to do at home.
00:02:29 Maybe we carry around a grocery list and other list as well. And the truth is, it's it's funny, but what ends up happening a lot of times as we end up not using these things well, because we're scattered, we're all over the place. We've got multiple documents and multiple things that show our time and compete, and we end up getting confused, getting things lost. Yeah, it's the old joke of I have to have a list so that I know where to find all my list. I have to have a master calendar that pulls all of my calendars in that.
00:03:02 Actually, sometimes it's not a bad idea. The truth is, oftentimes, if we can end up with a single calendar and a single to-do list that we use is sort of the dominant thing that controls all of our time,
00:03:18 we're much more effective because we have one life. We have one calendar. We have one life. We have one list Now,
00:03:26 the other thing that ends up happening a lot of times people hear that and they go great, so I should get it down.
00:03:31 The one thing. So let me use my calendar as my to-do list. And I would suggest that these two things air actually used in different ways,
00:03:42 if you want to be, is effective as possible with how you use your time. So let's talk a little bit about the difference between a calendar and a to-do list and how you determine what you use each four.
00:03:56 See a calendar is really just a list of days and times, and then what we usually add to a calendar.
00:04:04 I mean, the kind of stereotypical system is to think of a calendar is a place to put appointments,
00:04:11 and that's true what you can do with the calendars. You can put things on there that have a fixed time,
00:04:19 a fixed place that they need to occur. It could be an appointment. Now here's the interesting thing.
00:04:25 It doesn't just have to be an appointment with others. It can also be an appointment with yourself. So if there's something that on Thursday,
00:04:35 you need to sit down in front of your computer, and do a certain thing because it's due Thursday afternoon.
00:04:43 And so you've got time blocked out on your calendar on Thursday morning to be able to get it done,
00:04:49 then that's an appointment with yourself that's appropriate to block that time out on your calendar to commit to it physically,
00:04:56 I'm going to be at a certain time at a certain place, even though it's just with myself. And then if somebody else comes along and wants to schedule a meeting or a time during that time on Thursday morning,
00:05:07 you legitimately can say no. I've got an appointment now. You don't have to tell them that the appointment is with yourself.
00:05:15 It's an appointment. It doesn't matter who it's with. They don't need to know that information. It's not necessarily relevant.
00:05:21 So this is a way of blocking time out on the calendar. Four appointments. Now let me share something else.
00:05:28 Another trick on the calendar. Let's say, for instance, you actually have to drive to an appointment.
00:05:35 What we usually fail to do is take into account the time it takes us to get there, and the time it takes us to get back or to the next location.
00:05:43 I'm suggesting that you actually block out on your time transportation time. The amount of time it takes you to get to the appointment,
00:05:51 the amount of time it takes you to get back from the appointment as well. Because again, that time has a fixed time and place.
00:05:59 You're going to be in the car. You're going to be traveling now. Obviously, you can't get everything perfectly right.
00:06:05 Sometimes you put down an hour in the appointment only takes 30 minutes. Sometimes you put an hour in the appointment actually takes an hour and 1/2.
00:06:13 But you can at least get a fairly good grasp of your time. And you can see, for instance,
00:06:19 right away. Hey, this appointment is going into the transportation time. Therefore, I need to call someone and let him know I'm gonna be late to the next thing or I need to rearrange something on my schedule.
00:06:30 It gives you visibility of how your time is flowing throughout the day. So if that's a calendar, then why not just take everything for my to-do list and begin to put blocks of time and say,
00:06:43 hey, this one hour time This is where I'm going to get this done. Well, the truth is,
00:06:48 if you have never noticed your to-do list, oftentimes ends up being somewhat fluid. Sure, there are things that you put on your to-do list that are must do things.
00:06:59 You've got to get this done today because it has a due date. Those oftentimes can come over to your calendar.
00:07:06 But there's a lot of other stuff on your to-do list where it's I need to get these seven or eight things done.
00:07:12 And honestly, if I do three of them on Monday, three of them on Tuesday and three of them on Wednesday,
00:07:17 it really doesn't matter which three I do each day. The order isn't important. It's just the fact that it needs to get done.
00:07:25 It's things that you have a little bit of control over. Um, I'm gonna work on this in the morning,
00:07:30 and we're gonna work on it in the afternoon. Where can it fit in during my day? Or it may be a series of small task that you need to pick up and put down and be able to kind of slot in where you have time so that to-do list is really just a list of all of the possible things that you might want to do.
00:07:49 And then you can prioritize that list and move things around and put certain things at the top of the list and other things at the bottom of the list.
00:07:57 This is why I use Electronic Tool because it makes it much easier for me to drag and drop and move things around.
00:08:03 But this list is somewhat fluid, not completely fluid. There are still things that are locked to certain due dates,
00:08:09 but there's also a lot of things that just kind of get moved around and slotted in where they fit.
00:08:14 And then there's things that I'll pick up and put on my to-do list for today. But then something changes.
00:08:20 A new priority comes in, and I make a conscious decision to move something from today to tomorrow and slot something new in as the priority for today notice.
00:08:31 However, I said I made the conscious decision. What's interesting is if you put those things on your on your calendar,
00:08:39 if you made that kind of time commitment that often feels like a bad thing that feels like it's a failure in some way.
00:08:46 That feels like I was trying to get this done in the morning and I didn't get it done until the afternoon,
00:08:51 and that feels bad. But if you're moving things around on your to-do list and then slotting them in on your calendar is you have time.
00:08:59 It doesn't it doesn't emotionally feel is bad, especially if you really do put the step in of consciously making a decision about what makes it on your to-do list in terms of what's at the top and what's on the bottom.
00:09:12 I will tell you the kinds of task of my to-do list go into the future by months and months and months,
00:09:18 sometimes a year or more into the future. Sometimes I just put things on the to-do list that are someday,
00:09:23 maybe ideas that I just want to capture and get out of my head. But they don't even have a due date yet,
00:09:29 and periodically a review that kind of captured document. And look at these things that don't even have a date and decide.
00:09:35 Is this something I need to move into my priorities? for this quarter this month. This year, whatever it ISS I do.
00:09:42 That is part of that review process that we've been talking about the last few weeks. So my to-do list is a capture tool for all of these ideas.

+ Click to view entire transcript
- Click to collapse


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

  • Why the way you use your calendar and your to do list is important... 
  • The tactic of dealing with blocking time versus working from a list... 
  • Why this makes a difference to your productivity...
  • and more.....

You have to calendar time for yourself even if you have no idea what you're going to do with it. - Susie Bright

Click to Tweet

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 517: Faith Versus Fear

By Leave a Comment

Join us today for an episode about the reason faith and fear are both good in a way...

Today's episode is focused on navigating fear through faith...

In today’s spiritual foundation episode about investing in yourself, I talk with you about why faith and fear can both be good though not exactly the way you might think.  I share why fear is not a fruit of the spirit but still has benefits.  I also share how you can use faith to navigate and mitigate fear. 

Join in on the Chat below.

00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on Episode 517 of the inspired stewardship Podcast I'm Ryan Engelstad from Pop Psych One oh one I encourage You to Find Health and one way to be inspired To do that is by listening to this the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend Scott made her what belongs to the place outside of you and the being outside of you to God and others that are above and beyond you, recognizing that you can control the things you can control, and you can do the things you can do, but you can't do everything.
00:00:41 And what's more, you're not even supposed to 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 Stewardship podcast, we'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world in todays spiritually Foundation episode about investing in yourself.
00:01:23 I talk with you about why faith and fear can actually both be good why fear, though it's not a fruit of the spirit,
00:01:32 can still be beneficial. But then how to navigate fear through faith? Ah, fear and faith, you know,
00:01:42 at first glance and oftentimes the people hold these up as as opposites to each other, that that faith is the ultimate cure for all fear.
00:01:53 And there's definitely some truth to that. I mean, it is true that it says that fear is not a fruit of the spirit.
00:02:01 Fear is not something that results from something that is given to you by God. Instead, fear comes out of the world.
00:02:11 Fear comes out of us. Fear comes out of our response to the world. Fear comes out of,
00:02:19 often times a place where we are worried about our lack. We're worried about not being able to do something.
00:02:27 We're looking to ourselves for the strength to be able to achieve what we want to achieve. Fear comes often out of not looking towards God,
00:02:38 and in that respect, if faith is defined as looking towards God than faith and fear are indeed opposites.
00:02:47 But I also think sometimes that when we hold that up, what comes across to people is this idea that if you have fear,
00:02:56 it means your faith isn't strong enough that you're doing something wrong that somehow if you only you know if you only believe harder,
00:03:07 that all your fear would go away. And I found that that's often not helpful for folks because fear first off fear actually serves a purpose.
00:03:17 God has put fear inside of us to serve a purpose. Fear is meant to hold us back from doing things that are physically are socially harmful to us.
00:03:28 Fear is meant to keep us in a place that's safe. The problem is that our ability to discern what truly is something to be afraid of and what we fear really for no good reason is often not very well developed inside of our brains.
00:03:48 We we look at public speaking and we think we're gonna die if we do that, and the reason we think that is because it's connected to this idea of social isolation,
00:03:57 it's it's connected to this idea that if I don't do this well, then people are gonna ostracise me,
00:04:03 and if you can get rid of that belief, then you can get rid of that fear and What I would argue is if fear can be good and faith can be good,
00:04:12 that belief in those things that you cannot see that you cannot prove also serves a function. Faith is their too
00:04:20 allow us to. Have hope. Faith is there to allow us to move forward and be more connected to God.
00:04:27 Faith is there to allow us to recognize that we can't do it all. It's not all on our shoulders.
00:04:34 It's not all upto us that there is a higher power out there, so they both serve a benefit.
00:04:40 They're both good. If I agree that fear is indeed not afraid of the spirit, it's not given to us something given to us by God.
00:04:51 In terms of, God has given us that specific fear. God has given us the ability to feel fear to keep us safe.
00:05:00 But God doesn't sit down and say here, let's instill this fear of public speaking. Then how can we work together?
00:05:07 How could we use faith to navigate through fear? The first thing to recognize is that faith is not something that you have.
00:05:17 It's not something that you get. It's not something that you do instead, faith actually comes to us as a gift from God.
00:05:27 Face comes to us is something that we are blessed with. We have it there, we have access to it.
00:05:35 It's inside of us. It's there to tap into. But sometimes we choose to ignore it. Now I've talked before on the podcast about how I'm a very scientifically minded person.
00:05:47 I'm I'm very interested in science and math and history and these sorts of things, and I often look at the world and very black and white empirical ways.
00:05:58 And at first glance, to talk about faith seems so anti this view of the world as to be crazy.
00:06:05 But the truth is, faith is also not necessarily against anything in the world. Instead, it's that gift that God gives us to tap into the divine and to recognize the powers and the abilities and the things that are outside of us that are not ours to depend on.
00:06:27 They're not ours, too, own. They're not ours to do. It allows us to abdicate and give up certain things.
00:06:34 Why keeping others? It allows us to be driven forward. Why we yet remain content with what we have It allows us to see the world where it's not on us tow,
00:06:46 have more faith so that we do not fear. It's up to us to have that relationship with God that allows faith toe flow through us.
00:06:58 And out of that comes a lack of fear and the presence of hope. See, it's not a blame thing.
00:07:06 It's not. If you have fears, it means your faith isn't strong enough. Instead, it means that you need to turn first toe learning how to tap into that faith.
00:07:16 You need to turn first towards whatever it is that allows you to begin to tune into that higher power in that higher place of being whatever it is that allows you to connect with others in a way that builds your relationships with other people that builds your relationships with God and that builds your relationship with yourself and through that hope through that faith,
00:07:40 through tuning into that recognition of what truly is on you versus what belongs to the place outside of you and the being outside of you to God and others that are above and beyond you to to.
00:07:54 Recognizing that you can control the things you can control and you can do the things you can do, but you can't do everything.
00:08:01 And what's more, you're not even supposed to through that, you begin to use faith to navigate fear,
00:08:10 and you begin to recognize the fear that truly is coming from inside you and given to you as a place to protect you versus the fear that is holding you back from doing the things that God has called you to do.

+ Click to view entire transcript
- Click to collapse


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

  • Why faith and fear can both be good...
  • Why fear is not a fruit of the spirit... 
  • How to navigate fear through faith...
  • and more.....

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. - Deuteronomy 31:6

Click to Tweet

Let Me Know What you Think Below....

>