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{\b\fs48 Episode 1541: Interview with Cindy Baker About Faith, Entrepreneurship, and ADHD\b0}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ }

{\cf2 [00:00:00]}

{ Thanks for joining us on episode 1,541 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ I'm Cindy Baker. 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. Having the ability to manage your attention instead of time is the key.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.}

{\pard \line \par}

{People will say, well, I wish I had more hours in the day. That's, that's not the answer. If you have more hours in the day, you'd spend it the same way you're spending the hours you have now. And once you can get clarity, and again, I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and many of them struggle in their business 'cause they don't have clarity.}

{\pard \line \par}

{But when you can get that clarity, then you can. Do what }

{\cf2 [00:01:00]}

{ matters in the time that you have. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ 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.}

{\pard \line \par}

{In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.}

{\pard \line \par}

{In this podcast episode I interview Cindy Baker. I asked Cindy about the relationship between faith and entrepreneurship. I also asked Cindy about a DHD and entrepreneurship, and Cindy also shares with you the key mindset shift that entrepreneurs need. I have a great book that's been out for a while now called Inspired Living.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering your time, your }

{\cf2 [00:02:00]}

{ talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about that book over@inspiredlivingbook.com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it, as well as purchase a copy there. I'd love to see you.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world. Speaker and coach, Cindy is the founder of CBC, Cindy Baker coaching, a coaching and educational company for entrepreneurs with a master's in counseling in over 19 years as an educator, Cindy's mission is to share the success secrets that she has discovered.}

{\pard \line \par}

{In her own journey as an entrepreneur with A DHD to inspire other creative professionals to leverage their brain's superpowers to become positive, prepared, and productive. Her productivity training has helped countless entrepreneurs grow their businesses by overcoming. Overwhelm, gaining clarity and focus and managing their time fueled by faith and }

{\cf2 [00:03:00]}

{ coffee.}

{\pard \line \par}

{She loves being a wife, a grandma, and a dog Mom. When not coaching, she can be found singing in her church's choir or spending time outdoors. Welcome to the show, Cindy. Thank you. It's good to be here. Absolutely. So I shared a little bit in the intro about some of the things you've done, some of the work you've done around your work with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, specifically with A DHD.}

{\pard \line \par}

{But I always think it's interesting to, to back up, intros, just show us where we got. And the, to me, the journey is so much more interesting. What brought us to the point that this is the work we're doing, or this is the message we're putting out in the world. So would you mind backing up and sharing a little bit about your journey and what, what brought you to the point of doing the work you do?}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Yeah. I've had an interesting journey. I've always been in helping professions. I was in youth ministry and then I was in education as a school counselor and a teacher. And I have a master's }

{\cf2 [00:04:00]}

{ in counseling that I got before I switched to school counseling and learned a lot about A DHD. And I started working with a lot of adolescents that had a DHD and their parents and I started, I.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Thinking, I really relate to these symptoms. I think I have this. And I didn't really know much about getting a diagnosis as an adult. Now that's common knowledge, but I finally realized that I could just go to a psychologist and they would, they had a test and series of questionnaires and.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And I was pretty high achieving. So I looked at him, I said, are you sure I have this? And he said, oh yeah, textbook. You have a DH, D. Once I found that kind of, that new label I. I really just wanted to learn everything I could about adult A DHD, because it does manifest differently and I wanted to figure out what worked and what didn't.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And so I read books and went to workshops and tried all }

{\cf2 [00:05:00]}

{ these different things and figured out what worked and what didn't, and finally put together a framework of strategies, routines, habits, and just my life just changed. I be, I became really successful. Didn't just get that one master's degree.}

{\pard \line \par}

{I got two and had a long-term successful career, 19 years as an educator and started a business while I was teaching and now doing it full-time all while having a DHD. So once that kind of clicked for me, I started to help other people and I realized, wow, that this could be a business.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Yeah. So that's how it happened. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ Okay. So one of the things you just mentioned is that, A DHD is different as an adult and presents differently as an adult. What are some of the differences that you found between, what people think of, as a DHD, which is usually in children and adolescents and what happens?}

{\pard \line \par}

{For an adult with a DHD. }

{\cf2 [00:06:00]}

{ }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Yeah some of the symptoms are the same. We just handle 'em differently. But there's a whole different. Set of social skills that you have as an adult and you've learned, most adults have learned to compensate and work around some of the things that are challenges.}

{\pard \line \par}

{But some things are different. For instance, hyperactivity. You don't really see an adult bouncing off the walls as much as a kid. But they might do things like, talk too much or talk too fast or interrupt or be fidgety in a meeting, so there, there are just some differences in the ways that it manifests.}

{\pard \line \par}

{If you don't get a diagnosis until you're an adult, there are probably some self-esteem issues that have happened along the way because not knowing that the reason you acted the way you did is because of a neurological. Issue in your brain, you probably got some criticism and things like that and internalized that.}

{\pard \line \par}

{What that does for an adult is it just makes 'em work }

{\cf2 [00:07:00]}

{ extra hard to try to overcompensate, and I don't just work with people with a DHD. The interesting thing is that these. A DHD friendly strategies work for anybody who kinda has a lot of things going on. A busy brain, somebody who's easily distracted.}

{\pard \line \par}

{A lot of entrepreneurs go through my program because, entrepreneurs have that creative out of the box thinking, and we're doing, we're juggling a lot of plates at the same time. It does work. These strategies do work for me and for many others, }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ so you mentioned earlier that, you started in helping fields with ministry work and other things like that.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Talk a little bit about your faith journey and how that's shaped where you find yourself and what you find yourself doing. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Yeah. That's the undercurrent in, in everything that I do. Became a Christian when I was seven years old, and I was very fortunate to }

{\cf2 [00:08:00]}

{ go to a Christian school, seventh through 12th grade, and youth group and all that stuff, young life.}

{\pard \line \par}

{So I got a good foundation of the Bible and just really began to try to question, what am I supposed to do? With my life and I wanted to make an impact on others, and actually ended up going to seminary. I. After college, he went to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.}

{\pard \line \par}

{At the time Billy Graham was the chairman of the board, so he signed my diploma, which was pretty cool, and I got to meet him. And I went through a training program for international youth Ministry called Young Life, and I ended up serving on Young Life staff for several years. The last part, I was living in Germany.}

{\pard \line \par}

{I lived in Germany for four years, and worked with us students whose parents were in the army, in the US Army, and they have a partnership with Young Life. And }

{\cf2 [00:09:00]}

{ so I did that before education and young life's philosophy was to reach unchurched kids. And I still had that. Desire. There's a lot of students who would never grace the door of a church.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And so I thought where are these kids? They're in the school, when I transferred over into education. That was my thinking is that I was, I was gonna be like in the movies where you go in and you make this difference in the lives of all these kids, and nobody told me really that it's about testing and politics, but that's a whole nother podcast.}

{\pard \line \par}

{But I did just wanna make a difference. And so as I got older and started working more with adults, it just was an easy transition. And now I'm doing a lot of speaking and of course I think the Lord really used the counseling and the teaching experience to help me become an effective speaker and I enjoy it.}

{\pard \line \par}

{So it's }

{\cf2 [00:10:00]}

{ all connected in some ways. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ How did your own journey and finding out you had a DHD and not whatnot as an adult reflect back on, how do you think that affected the choices you've made around becoming an entrepreneur around, doing your business around making some of those decisions that you've made? Do you think it, influenced those decisions or, }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ yes. Definitely. When I looked back on my life through this new lens, everything started to make sense. It was like, oh, that's why I did this, or that's why this happened, or I reacted this way for one, I had no stability in my life.}

{\pard \line \par}

{I was just all over the place and changed jobs all the time, and. Non-committal. I got married late in life. And so once I got the A DHD diagnosis and learned how to work with the way my brain is wired, instead of wishing it wasn't that way then I really started to have some stability have some clarity.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And so }

{\cf2 [00:11:00]}

{ definitely branching out into coaching, I decided. Two things really. One, I wanted to be my own boss. I was tired of somebody else trying to fit me in a, square peg in a round hole, if you will. I was certified in a lot of different subjects, and so my job changed frequently as an educator and I didn't like that.}

{\pard \line \par}

{I don't like somebody else, telling me how to. Live my life, basically. Not that it wasn't out of rebellion, it was more just, I just knew that some of those positions were not a good fit for me and I could excel doing something else. So part of it was that, but the other reason is that I floundered around for so many years not knowing I had a DHD, and I just don't, I can't stand by and watch other people.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Go through what I went through, but they don't have to, I've done all of the trial and error all the }

{\cf2 [00:12:00]}

{ years of experimenting and now I've got this framework that works and I just decided, the phrase my mess was gonna become my message. So I just decided this is a secret that I can share with others and it's fulfilling for me to see.}

{\pard \line \par}

{That light bulb come on. The people have hope when they see there's another way to live, that they don't have to struggle so much. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ So what are some of the the the approaches you take, in terms of the framework that you use or the approach you use when working with entrepreneurs that you see makes such a difference?}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Man there's several things, but the overarching theme is a lot of people will say I wish I had more hours in the day. That's not the answer. If you have more hours in the day, you'd spend it the same way you're spending the hours you have now. So time management is not really the issue.}

{\pard \line \par}

{It's more about focus and }

{\cf2 [00:13:00]}

{ attention management. And once you can get clarity, and again, I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and many of 'em struggle in their business 'cause they don't have clarity. But when you can get that clarity, I. Then you can do what matters in the time that you have and really build the life and the business that you want.}

{\pard \line \par}

{So I, I have a method called the Focus Sprint method. I'm really not sure I made that up, but I use that. I don't, I call it that, but I'm sure somebody else has got a better name for it. But basically you identify your, your air, your time zone of the most energy. So you kinda go through the day for two or three days and jot down, when am I mentally sharpest, when am I, emotionally up, all those things.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Physically sleepy, tired, whatever. And you identify three }

{\cf2 [00:14:00]}

{ important things to do every day, just three. You can do more than that, but you have to just the three most important things. And it could be a small piece of a bigger project, but those three things, I like to write 'em down the day before, have 'em on a little index card on my desk so when I come in, I'm not wasting half the morning figuring out what I'm supposed to do.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And you take those three important things, you pick one of them and you put your phone in the other room. Set some boundaries with your family. Put your noise canceling headphones on if you have to. You set a timer and you just work. I'm distracted for 90 minutes is optimal because that's your natural energy cycle, but you could start with 30 and then go to 60 and then 90, and you'd be amazed.}

{\pard \line \par}

{You, you take a break after that, like a five minute break. And then do a couple more cycles. You'd be amazed at how productive and focused you can become }

{\cf2 [00:15:00]}

{ when you get some clarity on what are your priorities. Of course, if you're a business owner, your main focus needs to be revenue producing activities.}

{\pard \line \par}

{So if you're spending, two hours shuffling around emails or. Trying to find the perfect color for a social media post on Canva, that's not gonna move the needle in your business, so I help my clients decide what's important and what's not, and what can they delegate, what can they take off their plate, that type of thing.}

{\pard \line \par}

{So there's a lot more to it. But those are just some things. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ Awesome. That No that's helpful. So when you think about the not enough hours in the day kind of thinking and right there you were focused on the work side of it. But I also see that come up, with entrepreneurs where when they're working they feel guilty 'cause they're not.}

{\pard \line \par}

{At home or, spending their time that way. And then when they're at home, they feel guilty 'cause they're not working. It's that constant tension between }

{\cf2 [00:16:00]}

{ my attention at home and my attention at work and being torn between the two. What do you what strategies or ideas do you have around that kind of work-life balance or, finding the ability to focus, to be present when you're present, where you're present, so to speak.}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Yeah. I think this is a challenge for entrepreneurs who work from home and even other people who had to start working from home during the pandemic. You have to create a structure. You can't just say, I'm gonna work whenever and have your personal and your work life completely meshed. There has to be boundaries.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Nobody else is gonna set those boundaries. If you're an entrepreneur, you have to do it. Nobody's gonna come in and say the bell's gonna ring at this time, and then it's gonna be second period and the whole, all these kids will leave and more kids will come in. So that was a struggle for me.}

{\pard \line \par}

{I had to be like, wait a minute. Nope, there's not an external }

{\cf2 [00:17:00]}

{ structure anymore. But you do have to have, definite work hours, just like you would in an office, and you get up, you have a morning routine, you put your, your work clothes on. If you're a girl, you put your makeup on, you do your hair and you act like you're going to work, but you're just going to a place in your house where you work.}

{\pard \line \par}

{You keep a planner. And you schedule things. So e even if it's not a meeting, like this podcast was a meeting, right? But let's say I had a project and I need to work on individually. I might break that project up into little pieces and schedule on this day at this time block, I'm gonna work on.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And I treat it like an appointment. Just if I were gonna had a doctor's appointment this morning, I showed up, 'cause it was a doctor's appointment, it was at a certain time. That's the way you have to treat it with yourself. You said you were gonna do }

{\cf2 [00:18:00]}

{ this.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Don't break promises that you make to yourself. You gotta have that. And it's, that's just part of self care too. You mentioned living in the present. So many entrepreneurs burn out because they don't take care of themselves, they don't get enough sleep. They they just stay up late at night working on things while they're watching Netflix or whatever.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And you just have to have a cutoff. Even when I was a teacher, like I never gave my home phone number out to parents, and some teachers did. And I was like, no way. They can't reach me, and I didn't check my work email at night, and I was a rare person that did that, but felt like it was important to set those boundaries.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Manage your time, get support. I think that's one of the great things about my coaching program is that there's accountability and there's support. People can ask each other, how are you managing your schedule, so boundaries is key. }

{\cf2 [00:19:00]}

{ }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ So when you think about entrepreneurs, what are some of the other mindsets or frameworks or thoughts that, or approaches, that you've seen them need to shift to begin to have more success, have more balance, have more control over their time and what they're doing?}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Yeah. This goes without saying, but you have to have a positive mindset. You can look at the glass as half empty or half full, and you, and that's a choice. So that's one thing. And you've heard the whole phrase, growth mindset. That's important because there are gonna be, there's gonna be a learning curve if you're an entrepreneur.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Things are changing so quickly in technology and you have to, be okay with knowing that just because I don't know something now doesn't mean I can't learn it. Just like when I was teaching, then a kid would say, I'm not good at math. And I would teach 'em to say, I'm not good at math yet, but I'm learning.}

{\pard \line \par}

{\cf2 [00:20:00]}

{ There's a, if you just add the word yet, it changes your mindset a little bit. And then, you gotta be creative. And you gotta have resiliency and, grit really, because it's hard. Being an entrepreneur is hard. It's not sitting, with your laptop on the deck of a high rise overlooking the ocean and you're typing and that's, no, there's a whole lot more to it than that.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And so you do have to manage your time, manage your emotions. It's another thing. You can't just work when you feel like it. You have to act first and then maybe the motivation comes. And then I think another thing that I run into is comparison. Especially when we looking at social media, if you're an entrepreneur and you're just starting out.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Don't compare your chapter one with somebody else's Chapter 10. Nobody was born knowing how to do all this }

{\cf2 [00:21:00]}

{ stuff. Nobody's born knowing how to do marketing or sales or any of that. And rather than looking at somebody else's success and saying, the cards were just in their favor.}

{\pard \line \par}

{They worked hard to get where they are. Maybe that maybe you're further ahead in your first year than they were in their first year. You just have to have that perspective. I think, and if you are a person of faith, I think mindset has to be addressed there too. I think it's important to not run ahead of God, pray about what you're doing. If you have big decisions to make in your business. He's the CEO that's important as well. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but before I go and ask those, is there anything else about the work you do that you'd like to share with the listener?}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Yeah, I, I. I will just tell you a little bit about my coaching program because it's }

{\cf2 [00:22:00]}

{ fairly, it's a new one. I have had a coaching program for many years, but I'm now really focusing on business people and entrepreneurs and helping them get those high impact tasks done. And about half the time get rid of the distractions and then really be able to make.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Increase the profits in their business without burnout. And it's a hybrid group program. So there's some parts that are recorded and self-paced. And then some parts are live, some parts are on Zoom. And I'm really looking for more, paid in-person speaking opportunities. So I'm doing a lot of virtual things, so if any of your listeners know of an event organizer or anything like that my keynote speech is focusing your way to Fortunes, how to leverage your Unique Brain Wiring for Business Success.}

{\pard \line \par}

{So I would love to to talk to anybody who's looking for a speaker.}

{\cf2 [00:23:00]}

{ }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ So my brand has inspired stewardship and I run things through that lens of stewardship, and yet over the years I've discovered that's one of those words that can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. So when you hear the word stewardship, what does that word mean to you?}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ Stewardship is managing something, the management of your time, your money, and if you're, if you're a Jesus follower you believe everything belongs to him anyway. So I love the definition. I think it was Dave Ramsey that said stewardship is managing let see if I can get it right.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Managing God's blessings God's way for God's glory. And I really think that kinda sums it up. So you're you're just aware all the time and it comes out of a heart of gratefulness. You're aware all the time that, that the things that you've been given the relationships, the time, the money, the business, everything is a gift that has been given }

{\cf2 [00:24:00]}

{ to you and you're responsible for, managing it in a way that brings God glory, that makes a positive impact on others. I have an online business. There's a lot of shady people out on the internet, so I always feel like that part of being a good steward is to to really be authentic. A lot people get to know, who I really am.}

{\pard \line \par}

{And so they can make a, an informed decision of do I wanna work with this person or not, and that's, that comes into play as well. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ So this is my favorite question that I like to ask everybody. Imagine for a moment that I could invent this magic machine, and with this machine I was able to take you from where you are today and transport you into the future.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Maybe 150, maybe 250 years. Through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life and see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left behind. What impact do you hope you've left in the world? }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ }

{\cf2 [00:25:00]}

{ Wow. That is a good question. And I know this is gonna sound vague, but I just wanna have a positive impact.}

{\pard \line \par}

{I, I love to inspire hope in people. I would love to know that people were introduced to Jesus Christ through my life. And I would love to think that people got who have a DHD got hope that there's a different way to live, or entrepreneurs who struggle with getting their business organized, that there's another way to live, that I've helped them reach their goals.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Just to leave a legacy in that way. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ So what's on the roadmap? What's coming next as you continue on this journey? }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ As I mentioned I'm doing more speaking. I. I just won first place in a speaking contest, so I've really been practicing my craft. I just wrote a book. It is not published yet.}

{\pard \line \par}

{But you can be on the lookout for that. And when it is I'll send you the link, you can add it to the show notes. But my hope is }

{\cf2 [00:26:00]}

{ that would be book one of a three book series. So I've got more books coming and grow my. Growing my coaching business. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ So you can find out more about Cindy Baker on her website@cindybakercoaching.com.}

{\pard \line \par}

{Of course, I'll have a link to that, the show notes as well. Cindy, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener? I. }

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf3 Cindy Baker:\b0}

{ No, just that, I think you're gonna put a link to a free gift that I have for your listeners on a little mini course on how to beat procrastination at wait no more. Dot net.}

{\pard \line \par}

{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ I'll be happy to add that to the show notes as well. Thanks so much for coming today. Thank you for having me.}

{\pard \line \par}

{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 }

{\cf2 [00:27:00]}

{ act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode. Please. Please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes.}

{\pard \line \par}

{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 your feed. Until next time, invest your time. Your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.}

}