00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on episode 764 of the inspired stewardship podcast. I'm Julie Tafolla. I challenge you to invest in yourself and others develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, talent and treasures, to live out your calling. Having the ability to communicate and build relationships is vital. And one inspirational way to develop that is to listen to this,
00:00:30 the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Mader we make it permanent. It's always true pervasive. It's true about all components and personal. It's not, I failed it's I'm a failure. We make it about us. And the truth is that happy file can help you break out of that feeling. And by breaking out of that feeling, you don't ignore the bad,
00:01:03 but you can begin to take action on it. 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, to learn, to invest in yourself,
00:01:27 invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world Episode about investing in others through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about why we all need a happy file, especially in a year like this. Why finding the good doesn't mean ignoring the bad, but it does mean not dwelling on it. And I also talk about how a happy file helps you to actually do this.
00:01:59 You've heard me talk about developing your talent and what are 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.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial. There's over 180,000 titles to choose from.
00:02:26 And you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via audible. 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. So we come to the end of 2020 a rather crazy year. I think we would all agree. It reminds me of how often, even in a quote, normal year,
00:02:56 even in a year where things aren't as crazy as they, this year, we need to be reminded of gratitude. We need to be reminded of the good things we need to be reminded of the good we've done into the world. And one of the things that I strongly suggest to clients, to other coaches that I'm working with to myself is the creation of what I call a happy file.
00:03:21 And I'll be honest. Mine is actually within arms reach of me here, where I work, where I do most of my coaching, where I do all of the work that I do on the podcast and other things here in my little office within arms reach to the right of me is a file folder full of notes. If I get a testimonial from a client,
00:03:43 I print it out. I put it in that file. If, if I've been in a newspaper article, that's a positive write-up I print it out and I put it in that file. If I get a little note or card or gift from a client, I make a copy of it. And I put it in that file. If there's something that my son or my wife gives me that creates happiness and joy and reminds me of something that I've done for them that was good or beneficial or something I've done for a friend or my church,
00:04:10 basically anything that when I look at it, it creates a happy memory. It draws up in me happy feelings. It helps me remember things that I've done that were good and that were received by others. Well, anything that falls into that category, I try to keep either the original or a copy in that file at all times. The reason why is because sometimes I know this is hard to believe,
00:04:38 but we have a bad day. Sometimes things don't go, well, maybe we do something in our life and it feels like everything went wrong. We have those moments where we begin to re realize that, you know, things just aren't going right. W right now, and I think, you know, for most of us, 2020 has been a year full of those.
00:05:01 And it's a good time to pull out that file and remind yourself of the good that you've done. Remind yourself of the fact that there are people that are grateful that you exist and that you have a moment that you've done good in the world. It's a good chance to recapture those feelings. See the truth is paying attention to the good paying attention to gratitude,
00:05:25 but the gratitude you feel for others and the gratitude they feel for you doesn't mean that you ignore the bad. It doesn't mean that you look at it and just go up, look, see, everything is perfect. But what it does mean is it helps you break you free from dwelling on it. See worry dwelling about the bad. All of the time tends to trap you in a downward spiral of energy.
00:05:52 You feel bad, which causes you to do less, which causes you to feel worse, which causes you to do even less. You begin to go down into, and if you have depression, you can actually be trapped in that feeling. It can be a very negative place to be. You know, worry is like sitting in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth,
00:06:14 as hard as you can and expecting to get somewhere, you won't go anywhere. And if you dwell on it, it gets you stuck there. But the cool thing is with the happy file, you can begin to recognize some of the good you've done, and it keeps you from dwelling on the negative. At least for me, it makes it where I can begin to look at the negative a little bit more objectively.
00:06:39 I can recognize that it's not a permanent situation. It's not a pervasive situation that infects every area of my life. And it probably wasn't even personal. That the truth is oftentimes when something negative happens, it's either things that are out of our control, or if it is something that's in my control, I can recognize it. And now take action and do something about it.
00:07:03 The happy file helps you do that because it lets you see that the pattern of bad isn't permanent pervasive or personal. You've heard me talk before about the three PS that tends to be what traps us in that cycle of negativity. When we begin to take anything that's negative and we say, it's all about us. It's true all of the time. And it's not just true about this part of my life.
00:07:30 It's true about all parts of my life. We make it permanent. It's always true pervasive. It's true about all components and personal. It's not, I failed. It's, I'm a failure. We make it about us. And the truth is that happy file can help you break out of that feeling. And by breaking out of that feeling, you don't ignore the bad,
00:07:51 but you can begin to take action on it. You can begin to be a little bit more objective about it. You begin to reach out to other people because you recognize that you have other people in your life and all of those things help us move forward effectively. So as we get to the end of this crazy year, spend some time, go back through your email,
00:08:15 go back through your calendar, go back through the cards as you get Christmas cards or other holiday cards over the next few weeks, harvest from them. Some of the good feelings harvest from them and keep some of the good energy and create a file that you can use all throughout 2021 to remind you that it wasn't all bad. There were some good things that happened even in a year like 2020.
00:08:45 Thanks for listening. 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 liked this episode on the stewardship of talent, you can go over to inspired stewardship.com/talent and sign up for our five week series on the stewardship of talent.
00:09:21 Or if you're in the us, you can text four, four, two, two, two talent tips. That's talent tips to four four, two, two, two, and get those tips until next time, invest your time, your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact.