Episode 899 Questions to Ask
[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 899 of the inspired stewardship podcast.
[00:00:06] Heather Heuman: [00:00:06] I'm Heather Heuman from sweet tea, social marketing. 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.
[00:00:23] Having the ability to reach others is key. And one way to be inspired to do just that is to listen to this. The inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.
[00:00:36] Scott Maderer: [00:00:37] It's not just the questions you ask yourself in times of strain, but also the questions you ask yourself every day, when things are maybe going well, that actually prepare you for the challenges. The truth is thinking about what's right, or what's good rather than what's wrong. Helps you prepare for winter.
[00:00:57] Do go wrong. [00:01:00] 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. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.
[00:01:25]in today's episode about investing in yourself through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about asking good questions of yourself. I share why sometimes it's about asking what's good about this rather than what's wrong. And I share how the way we frame things for ourselves really matters. You've heard me talk about developing your team.
[00:01:47] 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 [00:02:00] 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.
[00:02:11] And you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via. 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. One of the things that I've found in working with clients over the years is that the questions that we ask ourselves is so important to really being able to grow, to develop, to get what you want out of life, to find the things that you're really meant to do.
[00:02:44]All too often, we get into a situation where maybe things aren't going the way we want them to go and we immediately focus on what's wrong. What did I do wrong? What's wrong with this situation? What's bad about this situation. That's the kind of phrasing we [00:03:00] use, even in our own head, as we're thinking about the situation and the truth is the way you frame the situation really does matter.
[00:03:10] When you think about it in terms of what opportunities does this, give me, what are the new things that can come to fruition because of this event, even if it's a rough event, you begin to actually frame it in that way. What else can I do? What other options do I have? Always trying to find the openness to the situation.
[00:03:36] And so when I think about that, I think about how there are powerful questions that we can ask ourselves. So I'm just going to give you a list of some of the questions that you can ask yourself, and maybe you're somebody who journals or who does periodic reflection. These are questions you can work into that routine.
[00:03:56] These are questions that you can work into what you [00:04:00] do already to review yourself and to reflect and to think about new directions. So again, in no particular order and without any predictor, Priority to these, what do I need to do each day to be happy in life? What activities are there that make me happy when I'm working and what activities are there that make me happy when I have time off, when I am unhappy, how do I find happiness?
[00:04:30] Other questions? What do I want my life to look like in the future? And then the more important part of that, why. And then am I doing what I should be doing each day to reach my own definition of success? What do I need to go do and define to continue to grow my passion for what I love to do? What fears do I have?
[00:04:57] And are they holding me back from doing what I [00:05:00] want to do? How come I spend money or do activities that I know I should not be doing or should not be spending. What are the distractions in my life that are keeping me from doing what I really want to do? What activities do I do that either take away from or add value to my mindset?
[00:05:24] How do I know if I'm really present in the moment? And what activities should I be doing today to make tomorrow more successful? What bad habits do I have? Or what habits do I have that I wish I could stop? And what habits do I not have that I wish I could start thinking about the habits that you have is important.
[00:05:50] What thoughts are in my mind each and every day, what are the things that come into my brain, whether I want them to, or not reflect [00:06:00] on that? Who do I interact with that maybe I shouldn't be? And who do I not interact with that? I wish I could. Who do I need to separate from my life? What other things do I need to get out of my life that perhaps are in it today, but that I really wish were not reflecting on your own internal state, your own feelings every day.
[00:06:26] How do I feel today? And why am I feeling that is important? Because over time you begin to learn to get more tuned into those. And then you can ask questions. What are some of my deepest fears? What are some of my deepest wants? What happens whenever I do these things, these are some powerful questions that you can begin to ask yourself to identify things about your inner state and things about your mind.
[00:06:57]It's not just the questions you ask yourself in times [00:07:00] of strain, but also the questions you ask yourself every day, when things are maybe going well, that actually prepare you for the challenges. The truth is thinking about what's right, or what's good rather than what's wrong. Helps you prepare for when things do go wrong.
[00:07:19] The way we frame things really matters, not just when we're talking to someone else, but when we're talking to ourselves as well, because oftentimes the way we think about the world creates the reality that we are living in. I always say that perception is what creates reality. And the truth is that matters.
[00:07:44] Your reality matters how you see the world matters, how you think about yourself matters. And if that's not something that you're easily able to do well, then you need to think about what you need to be doing differently. [00:08:00] And to do that, you need to ask yourself really powerful questions. Thanks for that.
[00:08:09]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.
[00:08:40] Or if you're in the us, you can text 4, 4, 2, 2, 2 talent tips. That's talent tips to 4 4 2, 2, 2, and get those tips until next time. Invest your time. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and [00:09:00] impact the world.