00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on Episode 5 74 of the inspired Stewardship podcast. I'm Matt Woodrum, Park Castor and Father and training. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invested others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talents and treasures having the calling to face your demons and struggle to become a great father for your Children and one way to be inspired to do this. It's so listen to the inspired stewardship podcasts with my friend Scott Medard that this time might highlight to use some things that you need to change.
00:00:54 You know, the truth is, if dearing this time you've discovered that there are problems in the systems that you use, that maybe you're not set up financially the way that you really should be, Maybe you're discovering that now that you're working from home, that you're being Maur or less productive than you used to be. 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,
00:01:24 your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired Searchie podcast will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world in today's episode about impacting the world through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about dealing with stress and anxiety when the world just seems to be falling apart, why you can remain happy even in the darkest of times. But it's also okay if you aren't happy. And why, this time a highlight some of the things that you need to change for the future.
00:02:10 You've heard me talk about developing your talent, and one of the best ways to do that is through books. 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 Go to inspired stewardship dot com slash audible to sign up, and you can get a 30 day free trial.
00:02:32 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.
00:02:43 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 right now.
00:02:55 It's probably one of those times where you begin to notice that you're struggling sometimes with dealing with frustration. Your stress levels are a little higher,
00:03:07 you know. We're in the midst of here in the largest community that I live close to. They've now done a shelter in place,
00:03:14 order and so many different places or dealing with these sorts of things where shops are shutting down. We've seen that small businesses are being affected.
00:03:22 Some of us been affected personally, either in our income or jobs. Are family members being sick or being worried about being sick?
00:03:32 And the truth is, dealing with stress and anxiety when things feel like they're falling apart is really challenging.
00:03:42 It's sort of the time where you you find out if things are gonna work or not in the with the way you've set it up.
00:03:49 You know life is not the way it's supposed to be, but it is the way it is that the trick is how you deal with it.
00:04:00 And that's Ah, quote by Virginia City here. The truth is one of the things that's funny about this is some of the tips that you'll hear,
00:04:10 people will say, Well, just remain positive, you know, Keep keep happy. Uh, focus on the good stuff,
00:04:17 these sorts of things, and don't get me wrong. Those are all really good things to do, but you may be struggling with actually doing them.
00:04:27 So let's talk about some of the things that you conducive to, uh, to help keep yourself a little less stressed,
00:04:35 a little less anxious right now. One is used this as an opportunity to get creative. Put some things into your day that maybe use some of the juice is behind your mind in a way that you don't normally do,
00:04:50 especially if you've been given the gift of time. Right now. Use that time toe toe, flex your creative muscles,
00:04:58 do some art, do something like writing, do something that uses your brain in a new and different way.
00:05:05 You could also recognize that no matter what is going on right now, you can learn from it. We'll talk more about that in a minute.
00:05:13 You can identify use. This is a way to identify and kind of bug test and find out what's been working and what hasn't so that later you conduce Maura about it,
00:05:23 and you can start taking action today. But you can begin to change that up in a real way and make it better.
00:05:32 There's other tips to, you know, people tell you to remain grateful, but they don't talk about what that looks like.
00:05:39 You actually can sit down and each and every day challengers that self to come up with three things that you're grateful for and don't allow yourself to repeat them.
00:05:48 We've talked about this before, is a technique that we use. And then I recommend around this podcast.
00:05:56 Focus on what you can control. Don't focus on what you can't control and focus on what you have,
00:06:04 not what you don't have to know. The truth is there are things that you can do something about each and every day.
00:06:12 But there are also things that you simply can't do anything about. You have no control, you don't have the power to fix him.
00:06:20 And when you don't have the power, don't take that in is something that you have to fix. Recognize the fact that you need to surround yourself with other people you need to surround yourself with the community.
00:06:35 And right now, even though we're socially isolated and I hate that term, we need to not be isolated from each other.
00:06:42 It's really about physical isolation, but you can use tools that we have around us to still connect with people around you.
00:06:52 We'll talk more on Saturday, some of the ways that you can do this, especially if you're an introvert or an extra vert.
00:06:59 Recognize that you need to be kind to yourself, and you need to forgive yourself and others. You need to not focus on the negative things.
00:07:08 Make a list of all of the things that you have. Make a list and write out your story and what's going on.
00:07:15 There's something about writing things down that actually helps you process it. If you've got a faith background like so many of us do,
00:07:26 spend some time in prayer and meditation with that higher power, but constantly look for tools and inspiration in the world around you because you can always find things that you can do that are positive.
00:07:43 Seek those opportunities out, seek out the opportunities you have to pour into someone else and to help other people as well.
00:07:51 The act of helping other people does so much for our own spirit and our own mind. The other thing I wanted to call out is a lot of times people right now will be saying things like Keep happy,
00:08:05 make sure that you're happy right now. Don't don't frown. Don't be sad. Don't be stressed out and I want you to be clear.
00:08:12 That is not what I'm saying. In fact, if you're not happy right now, if you're frustrated if you're scared,
00:08:18 acknowledge those emotions. Recognize them, feel them. But don't dwell in them because it's fine if you're happy with the world's going toe heck in a handbasket and is also find if you're not now,
00:08:33 don't get me wrong, either. When I say it's fine, if you're happy, I don't mean you're happy because something bad is happening to other people.
00:08:41 But you're happy despite that, because you have a sense of gratitude. You have a sense of faith that keeps your mind and your spirit happy.
00:08:50 That's okay. Don't feel guilty about that, but also recognize the fact that that's not how everyone reacts in times of stress and anxiety.
00:09:00 And by the same token, if you're very scared and frustrated and not happy, recognize that that's not the way that everyone acts.
00:09:09 Ah, lot of the Post that I see now where people are getting mad at each other. It's because,
00:09:14 you know, if they don't want to deal with it with humor than they're mad at anyone that's using humor and the people that want to use humor or mad at the people that don't.
00:09:22 But the truth is, it just means that there's different people who process this in different ways, and that's okay.
00:09:29 And earlier I mentioned that this time might highlight to use some things that you need to change. You know,
00:09:36 the truth is, if Dearing this time you've discovered that there are problems in the systems that you use,
00:09:42 that maybe you're not set up financially the way that you really should be, Maybe you're discovering that now that you're working from home,
00:09:50 that you're being Maur or less productive than you used to be, because the truth is when you're at home,
00:09:58 oftentimes the way we deal with time really changes. Maybe you've discovered now that you're not working, that the job that you had you are keeping because it put a a paycheck on your in your pocket gave you money,
00:10:11 but it really wasn't what you're called to do. There's something else that you're really called to do, whatever it is that it's uncovering in you.
00:10:18 I want to encourage you to spend some time identifying that feeling that processing that, writing it down and even if you can start working on it now great,
00:10:29 start working on it now. But if you can't, because maybe financially or other ways you can't that's fine to at least acknowledge it and bring it apart so that as you recover from this,
00:10:41 you can begin to work on it. Take this negative energy and turn it into something positive for you and for others.
00:10:50 And as you do that, then and really, then you'll begin to recognize that even as frustrating, as scary,
00:10:58 as stressful. As anxious as you are, you have the power of choice, and that power gives you the ability to make changes,
00:11:09 and I encourage you to identify from this what it is that you need to change and then take action to change it.
00:11:19 Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener,
00:11:32 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.
00:11:42 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.
00:11:57 S. You can text 44222 Talent tips. That's talent tips tau 442 to 2 and get those tips until next time investor time,
00:12:11 your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact world.