Episode 1296: Interview with JR Rivera About Finding God's Meaning and Message

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1,296 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] JR Rivera: I'm Jonathan Rivera. 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 treasure to live out your calling. Having the ability to deliver the right words to the right person at the right time is.

[00:00:26] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott made.

[00:00:41] That's actually the overarching mission of my work Is The right word, from the right person at the right time can change a life. And I know you've experienced it. I've experienced it. Whether we're reading a biography or we're watching some historical documentary or at a conference and a speaker on [00:01:00] stage is telling a story.

[00:01:04] Scott Maderer: 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, who will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that.

[00:01:27] Can impact the work.

[00:01:34] In today's podcast interview I interview JR Rivera Jr. Shares with you how his faith journey changed his message and his calling. I also ask Jr to share with you how the right person at the right time can change your life. And JR also talks with you about the power of borrowed. One reason I like to bring you great interviews like the one

[00:01:56] you're

[00:01:56] Scott Maderer: gonna hear today is because of the power in [00:02:00] learning from others.

[00:02:01] Another great way to learn from others is through reading books. But if you're like most people today, you find it hard to find the time to sit down and read, and that's why today's podcast is brought to you by Audible. Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial.

[00:02:22] there's over 180,000 titles to choose from, and instead of reading, you can listen your way to learn from some of the greatest minds out there. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast. His teacher said he would never amount to.

[00:02:44] But God had another plan for him. From high school dropout to faith-driven entrepreneur, living a life of limitless possibilities. Jonathan a k a Jr believes the right words from the right person at the right time can change [00:03:00] your life. And that's exactly why he's dedicated his life to having meaningful conversations at.

[00:03:06] His core values are faith, family, fitness, and finances, and God gave us talents and we must use them to make the world a better place. That's why he built the podcast factory every day there they're inspiring, entertaining, and influencing listeners to live lives of infinite fulfillment. Welcome to the

[00:03:26] JR Rivera: show, JR.

[00:03:27] Hey, thanks for having me. Stoked to be here.

[00:03:30] Scott Maderer: Absolutely. Looking forward to it. We talked a little bit in the intro about how the description that God had a plan for you. You kind went from dropout and now you're an entrepreneur, you work with other faith-based entrepreneurs and this kind of thing.

[00:03:48] Tell us a little bit. More about your journey and why now you're focused on helping others deliver their real message.

[00:03:57] JR Rivera: I read the I read the Bible daily for [00:04:00] some inspiration and the I'm I'm not even gonna try to tell the story but it's the story of talents, right? God gave us all talents to, to Good work with.

[00:04:13] So the people with talents, they're gonna multiply them and the story goes, there's three slaves or servants or whatever is politically correct today. And one gets one talent, another one gets two, the other one gets three. The one with three multiplies it. The one with two multiplies, the one with one buries it and says, look, master I saved your talent.

[00:04:32] I buried. And that was a disgrace. He buried his talent. And that's what I think is the nucleus of my work that I do for myself, for the people I serve for our clients, is we've got talents. It's our duty to take those talents and multiply those talents and share 'em with other people so that they can be inspired to do the same thing.

[00:04:55] And so over the years I'm figuring it out, but that's where I'm at. [00:05:00] So what let's go back

[00:05:01] Scott Maderer: a little bit though, cuz you haven't always done this.

[00:05:03] JR Rivera: No. How did it start out? How did you discover that this is where you wanted to put at least today? This is what you're called to do

[00:05:13] right now.

[00:05:15] Yeah it's Man, you said it in with the intro where I didn't really do too hot in high school, and I was a high school teacher. There are a lot of people don't do too hot in

[00:05:26] high school. It's okay. . There was so I just, I pretty much failed every class or maybe got some DS and there was one class that I always aced and that was TV product.

[00:05:40] So I did the morning news. I did videos. I did all that kind of work and I liked it. It was fun. And so I knew that was in me, that creativity from my high school days. Now I went and I became an electrician for nine years. I did real estate for many years, and I didn't come back to this till, [00:06:00] I don't know, around oh eight when I did my first podcast.

[00:06:03] But it was ingrained in me this idea of using. Media to get a message out and I just got fortunate that when I got online, everybody was talking about thought leadership and the prevailing form of thought leadership was having a blog and I wasn't gonna write anything. Mac, and I had garage band on there and I'm like, oh, hit and record.

[00:06:28] Okay, great. Now I've got an audio file. Oh, these audio files can be put online. And I went through figuring all that out and figuring out how to get the pieces together. And I was at the forefront of the people that I was surrounded by of putting audio online to do podcasts, to get a message out there, to share thought leadership and to use as a marketing device for business.

[00:06:50] And it was ingrained in me. I happened to get. And have good timing, and now it's what I do every single day is helping [00:07:00] people get their messages out there.

[00:07:03] Scott Maderer: So you said get Lucky . I'm not so sure about that though, because you had to have had the mindset and the preparation and.

[00:07:13] the idea, by the way, the reason I do a podcast is the same thing cuz everyone's like, you write something. I'm like, oh, please know let's stick a microphone in front of my face and I'll talk. I'm good with that kind of thing. So that, but that idea of you, you looked at what you were good at you looked back.

[00:07:30] Do you feel like you were reawaken. A passion

[00:07:33] that

[00:07:33] Scott Maderer: was in you at a young age or discovering something new or how did that show up for you?

[00:07:41] JR Rivera: Yeah I hadn't thought of it in those terms, but it was something that came naturally and it was easy for me to grasp onto the idea and listen somewhere online is my, Podcast, which I did in oh eight, and it's not gonna sound like I sound today.

[00:07:59] Let's get that [00:08:00] clear. Yeah. We know that. Please don't go back and listen to

[00:08:03] Scott Maderer: the first 20 episodes of this podcast either. Yeah,

[00:08:06] JR Rivera: exactly. . But the idea of telling a story, sharing the message, doing it, and this, I was online or I was doing this before it was digital. Now we're all digital.

[00:08:20] Doing this media thing through video, through audio, yeah. That, that came naturally. That felt good and that felt like my way to do the work that I needed to do, which was get online, create a reputation, get a perspective and a point of view out there so that I separated myself from my competition. At the time I was doing real estate training agents.

[00:08:44] For years I did this training agents how to get listings, how to get referrals how to get buyers online. And this was the method that I taught them is Hey, build your platform, share your message, and convert the people who [00:09:00] listen into clients. Yeah it was partially because it's all I.

[00:09:04] Partially because it was what I was good at and later on I realized that it had more to do with my calling than I thought. And that, that's one of the reasons

[00:09:14] Scott Maderer: I wanted to bring that out is a lot of times people are struggling. They talk about finding their calling or what's my calling and all of that, and.

[00:09:23] often our calling shows up almost when we're not looking for it as opposed to when we're striving to find it. And that's kind of part of a, part of your destination too. You feel like you at least this is now the expression of your calling, but you probably didn't know that when you first

[00:09:40] JR Rivera: started it.

[00:09:41] No. And there, there was a. It really hit me. We're in a more post covid world these days where people are getting back to normal. But there was a time when we were all locked down and isolated. I remember those times as some of the best times of my [00:10:00] life because I was right here in this apartment with my wife and my son Hudson, and we were together all the time doing things, and I loved that.

[00:10:09] I was breaking rules around that time because they didn't want us outside. And I would go outside to get some vitamin D three. Don't believe the hype, fresh air and sunlight is good for you. That's what I would tell people. So I would go out there and get some sunlight and fresh air, get some exercise, keep my body moving.

[00:10:26] And I have a lake right outside of my house a block away. It's a landmark here in Orlando Lake Ola, and I was going around that lake. And thinking about the situation, about what we were looking at, about how dark the world was at that time. And I was asking, God, what can I do? How can I help? And I'm not gonna do like nights of Columbus Toots sea roll drives or baby bottle drives.

[00:10:55] I'll donate, I'll help with that stuff. But I felt bad about that. I was feeling a little bit low, like [00:11:00] what can I do to help bring the. And that's when it hit me. It was like the Holy Spirit spoke to. Hey, knucklehead, you're doing it. This is it. What you need to do is lean into what you're good at, and that is this media thing, this podcast thing, this sharing of words, thoughts, ideas, to bring the light to people.

[00:11:23] And it reminds me, I've got it written here so I don't butcher it, but it re remind reminds me because this weekend we were talking about this in church, Matthew four 19, as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew casting into the sea. They were fishermen. He said to them, come after me and I'll make you a fisher of man.

[00:11:44] That's what it was. I'm here to fishmen, to God's light, show 'em a reflection of God's light. Show 'em the goodness, show 'em what's possible, give them hope, inspire them to do something differently. And I do that through my work speaking here with you. And I do that [00:12:00] through my clients with their positive messages, their light, bringing it to more people.

[00:12:04] And I. There, there's the answer You've been waiting for, son. So how does you've mentioned spending time with the Bible now daily and there feeling the call of the Holy Spirit on you. How did your faith journey intersect with the journey that you were on from high school to now doing what you do over at the podcast

[00:12:27] factory?

[00:12:27] That was where they I was like many of us grew up, I grew up with, thank goodness that my parents took me to church and did the, they put me in Catholic school till I got kicked out , and they planted the seeds of virtue. So I'm grateful for all of that. But there was a time where I was just that Sunday Catholic, just show up Sunday and do the work.

[00:12:52] And then as. I call my wife Cupcake. So as Cupcake and I decided to have children, we couldn't do it [00:13:00] naturally. We decided to go the adoption route and we went through a faith-based organization and part of it was like, are you practicing? And so we had to make sure that we were practicing so that we could give that to our son, or we didn't know it was gonna be a son at the time.

[00:13:16] Give that to our child and. That's where it got a little more steady, like, all right, every Sunday. And then when the kid came home, taking him to church was a chore. God, I would just love to listen to the word, but I have to walk around with this kid who's throwing fits every two seconds. But that was part of the test.

[00:13:33] And so being a dad has helped me get closer to God, but in that time with. Covid and questioning my purpose and what I was put here for, it brought me even closer, realizing that my purpose was tied to the man above and bringing more people, his light. And so it wasn't till then that I really got in the last three years deeper into it, and now I'm hungry.

[00:13:57] I'm searching every day. I'm [00:14:00] looking to learn more, go deeper because I understand. With my relationship with Christ and God the Father, I find more peace and I find more purpose, and I find myself happier. So that's again,

[00:14:14] Scott Maderer: part of the reason for calling that out is most of us don't have a straight line in our journey.

[00:14:22] Looking back on it now, you can start connecting dots, but do you think while you were in the moment, You were seeing the pattern that you see now when you look back on.

[00:14:34] JR Rivera: I think I had an awakening that, that time around the lake and it actually freaked my wife out because I I had that awakening where I was like, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

[00:14:44] I'm supposed to be getting closer, sharing the message. In fact, I even started a show around that time. Called the Daily Bread Project, where we were bringing the light to our listeners, and I went daily, every day live with everybody in my network to bring good [00:15:00] news to bring light because it was a dark time.

[00:15:02] You're watching the news you're seeing nothing but death counts and virus counts and all that. I just didn't watch the news . Yeah. That I didn't either. I didn't either, but I know what the people were getting out there. So I brought the light and I started. Going through that transition and my wife's you all right over there, . And and then I went through a time of mourning where I'm like, I am no longer who I used to be and I have to be a new person and I have to have a renewed purpose. And so I saw that part of the transition clearly that I was moving into another phase of life and closer to my faith.

[00:15:46] But, , all of it leading up to that. No, not at all. So one of the things

[00:15:51] Scott Maderer: that I've heard you talk about and say is the right word from the right person at the right time can change your [00:16:00] life. What does that mean to you and how has that showed up in your life?

[00:16:04] JR Rivera: Man, how hasn't it showed up?

[00:16:05] So many different times. It's one, the, that's actually the overarching mission of my work is The right word from the right person at the right time can change a life. And I know you've experienced it. I've experienced it. Whether we're reading a biography or we're watching some historical documentary or we're at a conference and a speaker on.

[00:16:27] Telling a story that just clicks with us, and in that moment, we're awakened, we're renewed, and we see the world differently that has been. A recurring event in my life through mentorship, through coaches, through friendships, through reading the Bible or just reading any book is the right word, from that person at that time is the one that clicked with me and made me change something for the [00:17:00] better.

[00:17:00] Hopefully not for the worst, but that's my whole mission here and that's why I do what I do is. Our conversations. You and I right here today, have the opportunity to say something that might trigger an idea in one of our listeners' minds and they will forever be changed. So that's my duty and that's, I take that seriously and that's feeding into the fisher of men.

[00:17:23] I'm bringing more people to hear these words so that we can change their life. Because I grew up with very limited expectations. My parents wanted me to be. They told me to get a trade like that was the most I could aspire to get a trade. And I did that. I was an electrician for nine years and realized this is not fulfilling for me.

[00:17:43] I need more. And I went on the search for more. And right now, I have the opportunity. You have the opportunity. We have the opportunity to give people more ideas, more perspective, more experience through [00:18:00] podcasting, through books, through emails, through social media, whatever we want. We can inspire somebody to live a different life.

[00:18:07] Cuz we have proven that it's possible. And I don't know about you, but I'm not that bright. So if I can do it, I know our listeners can do it. And that's

[00:18:15] Scott Maderer: the thing is. And maybe it's not for them, a podcast or even writing a book or whatever. It could show up for different ways for different people.

[00:18:25] But that idea of and I love the fact that you called out, those words aren't necessarily. From your neighbor or your brother-in-law, , or it might be, but it also might be from a book or virtual mentor is what I call 'em. The people that sometimes mentors us. We've never even met 'em, but they're still a mentor of ours because they pour into our life through a podcast or words or a book or other forms.

[00:18:54] When you think about some of the most important paradigm shifts in your life, can you [00:19:00] identify. A particular one where it was something that you read or something that you heard or something that somebody said that kind of caused that

[00:19:07] JR Rivera: shift? Yeah I can I can go back to a recent one where I happen to know my limitations and I know that I don't know everything.

[00:19:19] Which is not how I was when I was a young man, . And so I invest in mentorships, I invest in coaches. I invest in masterminds and I made an investment a few years ago into very high level exclusive Mastermind. And one of the draws was that there was a lot of real estate guys in there, and I had.

[00:19:45] I have a real estate business. I have the the agency, the podcast, factory agency. And then I was thinking I think it's time to double down on real estate. We have good systems, we have good marketing, let's do this. And Cupcake and I were like, okay, yeah, let's join. [00:20:00] We're we'll meet people, get into deals and all that.

[00:20:03] And The guy running the thing. His name's Mark Evans. Mark Evans dm, deal maker, dream Maker, . He does a podcast called Making of a dm. And he's a big personality and he's an inspiring fella. And I got on a call with him and I told him, look, I think we're we're ready. I think we're gonna go ahead and double down on our real estate holdings and add to our portfolio.

[00:20:30] And he's quiet for a second. You like real estate. You like dealing with tenants. You like tying up big chunks of money to acquire property. No. No. No . Then why are you thinking of adding more real estate to your portfolio? I'm like, I don't know. Is this what? That's what I'm supposed to do?

[00:20:55] I don't. I don't know. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? And he's don't be done, [00:21:00] man. Double down on what you're doing at the podcast factory. Double down on that. And so he changed the game. In my mind, think of each new client as a new tenant for new. And then I started playing the game. Oh, we got a duplex this month.

[00:21:15] Oh, four plex this month. Okay. Single family this week started playing that game with clients, and that changed my perspective on how I thought I was supposed to be doing. The thing. Making more money, making more impact he brought me back into, don't you like your lifestyle? Why would you ruin your lifestyle?

[00:21:35] And that's just one example. I've got many of those from many people who have helped me. And I

[00:21:39] Scott Maderer: think that's great because I've as a coach I've occasionally I love that question of do you like this ? It's then why are you doubling down on that instead of this thing over here?

[00:21:51] Cuz sometimes what it is we get so caught up. What you just said. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? That we've stopped to? We don't take that [00:22:00] moment to stop and think, but is that what I actually want to do? Or is it what I'm supposed am I doing it cuz I have to, or I'm supposed to, or am I doing it because that's actually what.

[00:22:09] I want to do because there's more than one way to solve all of these problems, but so often we get bought into, to the one way to do it. That's great. I love that. I love that question. And h and he had again, this is an example of somebody that in some ways had a vested interest to actually feed into your paradigm and say, oh yeah, join the mastermind, do all of that.

[00:22:29] So that speaks highly to him and his character too, that he. He really was sincerely wanting what was best for you, not what was best for him. love that.

[00:22:39] JR Rivera: One of the other

[00:22:40] Scott Maderer: things that we talked a little bit about and I've, again, I've checked into, you talk about ahead of time and go listen to things and whatnot.

[00:22:50] Is, and I, this is the one I really wanna unpack because you talk about it as the law of borrowed. And I've talked about this on the [00:23:00] show before. Now I don't call it the law of borrowed belief, but I love that phrasing and that, that idea. Can you unpack a little bit for folks? What is the law of borrowed belief?

[00:23:11] JR Rivera: Man, it is the thing that gets me through every day, , , we are our own worst critics. And I can remember. Right now, anytime I think about it is when in 2008 I was holding a bunch of le of real estate and quite levered, quite leveraged in that real estate. And that's when the market turned and I got stuck holding a bunch of properties and.

[00:23:48] Or closure, PZA, right? Losing properties, losing money. I lost my house. Dad lost his house. It was unpleasant, , to say the [00:24:00] least. It wasn't a good time. And the little devil showed up. See you didn't deserve this. Who did you think you were trying to escape? Trying to do something bigger? You need to go back and get a job and quit playing these games.

[00:24:18] This little devil showed up on my shoulder talking all those horrible things that really it was It was hard to fight and it was my first time really dealing with that cuz I had taken such a big risk leaving what I knew. I was a, I was running jobs and I had the van. I was at the pinnacle of what it was to be an electrician at a young age running cruise.

[00:24:42] And I took this big risk. I had a nice time. And then I was in worse shape than I was before I left being an electrician. So it's dude, what? What did you think you were doing? And I was crushed. I was absolutely crushed. And it was a funk. [00:25:00] And the only thing that I had going for me was cupcakes.

[00:25:06] Big, beautiful brown eyes looking at me, believing in me. You said we could do this. I believe we could do. Let's do this. Somehow. She still believed in me after we lost everything and I had to make a choice. I was like, dude, are you gonna go get a job and be mi miserable for the rest of your life? Is that what you're gonna do?

[00:25:30] Or are you gonna rebuild this thing? And I had to borrow her belief in me. To go and rebuild. And so I went back and I started doing real estate wholesaling. I started getting back into the game. I started rebuilding our rental portfolio, doing deals, and eventually we did build it and it was better than before and we were in a good position, but I didn't believe in myself, so I had to borrow her belief.

[00:25:57] And this is something that goes back to the idea of [00:26:00] modern management, think. Jim, Ron, I believe said you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And so we have to look at the people that we are spending the most time with and ask ourselves. Are these people lifting me up or holding me back?

[00:26:18] And the more that we can surround ourselves with people who lift us up, the more that they are gonna see things in us that we don't see in ourselves. And when that happens, we need to borrow their belief and use that to elevate to the next level. And so I make it my life's purpose to get around better people, get around better thinking and get around.

[00:26:43] The folks who are gonna lift me up. And even if I don't believe in myself, and this still happens today, somebody in my group is gonna say, yeah, you do. You're not doing that, man. You ought to be doing that. Why haven't you done that? And so I look for those opportunities to get around those people who are gonna lift me up, borrow their belief, [00:27:00] and get up to another level that I didn't know was possible.

[00:27:02] And I

[00:27:03] Scott Maderer: think it's important to recognize that too. You mentioned you're the average of the five people that you hang out with, Jim, Ron, and. So it works both directions. You're going to borrow belief from the people around you. Now the question is yeah it's gonna happen.

[00:27:21] So now what kind of belief are you borrowing or are, how are how are you surrounding yourself with the right people, the right words know, we're back to that, the right word at the right time kind of message too. They work together. How have you seen this or let me ask a different way.

[00:27:37] If there's somebody out there right now that heard that and it's going, oh geez, you. Yeah, I'm barring belief, but it's not good necessarily, and yet sometimes it's the people, it's our family it's our friends. It's the people that we care about and love the most. How do you deal with that when it shows up in the negative way?

[00:27:59] JR Rivera: So [00:28:00] we have to look at the people around us, and we have to ask ourselves, are these people moving in the same direction as me? Do they believe? What I believe are we all lifting each other up? And this is a hard thing to do. It. It's so easy to take the path of this is what I've always done, this is the way it is.

[00:28:20] These are the people I've always been around. But fact is you're either growing or you're dying. And if you're thinking the same thoughts that you had last week, last month, last. You might be dying, you might be around the wrong people. Because I look back at my journals from last year, three years ago, five years ago, and I find 'em entertaining.

[00:28:45] Sometimes. It's things that I forgot about that I should still be doing, and sometimes it's like, how was I even thinking like that? And so I think that, The first thing that you need to do is audit the people around you and audit whether or not they're [00:29:00] moving in the same direction as you, whatever that is whatever you wanna do.

[00:29:04] I guess even a step further back, man, we gotta take a step further back, Scott. The first thing that we need to do is know what we want. Because a lot of us are sitting here. Programmed by the media, programmed by school, programmed by clergy, telling us what we want. But is that really what you want?

[00:29:25] Once you know what you want, you have to start building a plan to it, and that's where you do the assessment. Are these people around me? Moving in the same direction. If they're not moving in the same direction, you're gonna have to start building some walls. And it's not easy. I do it, I've done it, and I will continue to do it.

[00:29:42] You have to build a mode around your mind to protect it. And You

[00:29:48] let

[00:29:48] JR Rivera: the drawbridge down and you listen to inspired stewardship , and you're uplifted, right? You bring that drawbridge up before you get around your work friends who are gonna drag you down. You're gonna have to protect [00:30:00] that mind space.

[00:30:00] And this is not easy. And in terms of the holidays and all that stuff, sure, you're gonna have to hang out with your parents. You're gonna have to hang out with your uncle a and your cousin who annoy you. But you have to go in there fortified knowing. I'm just gonna be topical here. I'm just gonna say whatever.

[00:30:21] Let's talk about sports, let's talk about the weather. Let's not talk about anything that matters, but you have to start getting strategic about who you spend your time with and when you're No C circumstances where you have to spend time with Aunt Sally, who's always a Sad Sally. You have to know going into that, all right, sad, Sally's gonna bring me down and I know that, and I'm gonna be prepared for it going in.

[00:30:41] And so it's a matter of knowing these things, building a strategy around it, and then protecting your mind. And that's gonna be the hardest part. And we talked about this earlier. I don't watch the news. I don't read the paper. I don't do any of that. Why? Because I got a fortress around my mind, and I only let the drawbridge down when I know it's something that's gonna [00:31:00] benefit me.

[00:31:00] And so that it's a lifelong pursuit, is what I will say. Ain't easy. But if you want better, you don't have a choice.

[00:31:08] Scott Maderer: And it's that I think too, that idea of oftentimes that voice that shows up, you talked earlier about the little devil showing up on your shoulder. That voice that shows up, that starts talking to us like that, a lot of times that voice isn't our voice.

[00:31:25] It's the memory of. What we were told when we were six or and the person who said, it didn't even mean what we took from it . You know what I mean? , it wasn't, it was usually, it's not even like that was what was meant, but it doesn't matter. We internalize that and then we start regurgitating that back to ourselves too, so that we're with what you're talking about with borrowed belief is also going out of ourselves, but doing it deliberately, doing it intentionally doing it in a targeted way.

[00:31:53] To create that positive feedback loop as opposed to being trapped in that negative feedback loop. It's going back to Covid, [00:32:00] it's one of the reasons I was real big during Covid. If I kept telling, every time anyone would say social distancing, I'd correct them and say, no, it's physical distancing.

[00:32:08] We still need to be social. Now we may have to do it from six feet away, or wave instead of go give a big hug. , which is tough, but at the same time it's physical distancing. It's not social. We need to still have the social circle. We still need to be talking to people. We still need to be on the phone or dropping food off for neighbors and doing all of those things that, that we're supposed to do.

[00:32:32] But so often we got trapped in social distancing , not physical distancing. And that's bad. That's when we wallow in those places that we

[00:32:43] JR Rivera: don't want to. Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you, man. I like that.

[00:32:48] Scott Maderer: So is there anything else you know, about the work you do about that journey that you've been on that you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:32:58] JR Rivera: I think just as a quick [00:33:00] recap, it's know what you want, know what you want that, that's number one. And then line up the pieces that you need for that. For me it's, Family, fitness, finances, those are my pillars of purpose. When I have those right the rest of my life is right. Know what you want.

[00:33:22] Line up to pieces that you need, and then don't let anything stop you. Build that fortress. Protect yourself. If there's influences around you that bring you down, you have to eliminate them. You have to protect your mind, and you have to let everything else go and like you. Begin building a new story because whatever we heard as kids, whatever we thought we heard might not be true.

[00:33:47] Likely isn't true. And the beauty that God gave us as humans is we can think, we can think about our thoughts. It's called metacognition. We can say, why [00:34:00] am I thinking that? Does that thought serve me? If it doesn't serve me, how do I replace it? And we can do that. That's the gift that we were. Thanks.

[00:34:08] Thanks.

[00:34:09] Scott Maderer: We're renewed by the transformation of our minds. That's Romans. That, that renewal comes by transforming the way we think about the world is right there outta the Bible. So my brand is inspired stewardship, and that's the lens I run things through is this idea of stewardship.

[00:34:30] So I like to ask all of my guests this for you. What does the word stewardship mean and what has its impact been on your life?

[00:34:39] JR Rivera: Man, that is a and that's why I connected with you and was so grateful that I got the invitation to be on the show is because this is we're looking at it.

[00:34:51] The work that you and I are doing right now is stewardship, and like you said earlier, It doesn't have to be a podcast or a book [00:35:00] or a social media post. It could be going to feed

[00:35:03] the

[00:35:03] JR Rivera: homeless it could be volunteering somewhere to help people. It could be any number of things going to read to the elderly.

[00:35:11] It could be sitting down and doing some homework with your kid. The thing is, we were put here to do good things. And in fact, I didn't even realize this is gonna come up, but all right, let's use some Ephesians here because I read this this weekend for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

[00:35:38] We were put on earth to do good works. Whatever those good works are to you, it's your job to do them. That's to me what stewardship is. So this is

[00:35:47] Scott Maderer: my favorite. Let's say I invented this magic machine and I was able to pluck you from the seat where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe 150, 200 years.

[00:35:59] And through the [00:36:00] power of this machine, you were able to look back on your entire life and see all of the ripples, all of the connections, all of the impacts you've left behind. What impact do you hope you've left on the

[00:36:10] JR Rivera: world? We've talked about it over and over again. We've it, I'm actually living my mission.

[00:36:16] I don't just talk about it. I live it. And one of the things that we did last year was work on our mission for our company, and it was to inspire 10 million people a year, which is the number just sounds ridiculous to me. It doesn't even sound realistic. And that's 10 years. So I'm looking at 800,000 people a month inspiring them right now while I'm still here on Earth.

[00:36:40] And the ripple effect of that is I'm gonna do that by helping other hosts, having conversations like this and enlightening people. Number one most important to me right now is, this is what a Catholic man looks like. Whatever the media tells you what, whatever [00:37:00] the people in the club tell.

[00:37:02] It, this is what we look like. We're here to serve. We're here to help. We're here to inspire because God made us good and we want to share that with you. That's number one. Number two is I know that. One of my big goals is to be more generous, and I wanna be the most generous person in my circle.

[00:37:22] I got some generous people in my circle. It's really it, it's a high bar, but even in my immediate family, I am now the most generous in terms of dollars to church dollars to things I care about. So there's that piece of it and where I'm putting my money. Has provided for us, and it is my job to not only take care of my family, but take care of all the people I serve.

[00:37:49] So to, to be more generous, to inspire more people and to help more people. Be free in terms of, you might have been told to be an electrician. You might have been told all you [00:38:00] can amount to is to be a school teacher. You might have been told a whole slew of things. That might not be true. There might be more for you.

[00:38:08] And so I want to unlock lives, untether them, and help them to live the freedom that I enjoy today. And in the future it'll be even more. But that's how I want to be remembered is right words, right person, right time. We're inspiring people, most generous guy, and unlocking lives. So what's coming

[00:38:28] Scott Maderer: next for you as you continue on the journey

[00:38:30] JR Rivera: in this new.

[00:38:31] This year I am refining the words I use and refining my message so that I can do more of this good work. And what's really close to me nowadays is. My, my faith journey really it's where we live and I'm seeing it here in my house. My, my kid, I love God. I love Jesus. I love animals. I love mommy and daddy.

[00:38:55] I want more of that. I want more of that all around me. My wife and I read the [00:39:00] Bible together now, which last year wasn't even an idea. And I want to inspire more people to live that truth. And however I can do that is what I'm gonna.

[00:39:15] You can find out

[00:39:15] Scott Maderer: more about JR over@thepodcastfactory.com or find him over on Facebook or YouTube under the podcast factory. Jonathan, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:39:30] JR Rivera: That's it. If you were inspired today, go to. Inspired stewardship. Wherever you listen to podcasts, give us a rating.

[00:39:37] Tell Scott you loved my interview, so maybe he'll invite me back. And then other than that there's so many awesome men and women who are sharing the light, sharing good messages, helping you break free over at the podcast factory. Just check out the client showcase, and if you're thinking about sharing your message, we can also help you with that as well.[00:40:00]

[00:40:04] Scott Maderer: 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, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes.

[00:40:30] Rate all one word, iTunes rate. It'll 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. Until next time, invest your time,

[00:40:48] your

[00:40:49] Scott Maderer: talent, and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.[00:41:00]