GMR 119: How Dealing with Money Problems Makes Us Better
At first glance, problems can be seen as frustrating, and therefore to be avoided. That's no surprise since humans naturally seek pleasure and try at all costs to prevent pain. Money problems are especially painful because a lack of money threatens so many areas of life. In this episode of GMR, we discuss how dealing with our money problems can help us not only in fixing our money problems but also in improving ourselves.
Show Notes
3 Steps to Getting Better
Accept that life has difficulties.
Be a neutral observer of what you’re saying.
Be truthful about your condition and take personal responsibility.
1. Accept that Life has Difficulties
Growth requires change, and change is often uncomfortable, even difficult.
Butterfly Analogy - 4 stages
The Egg
The Larva (Caterpillar)
The Pupa (Chrysalis)
The Adult Butterfly
Every stage of a butterfly’s life is necessary.
The changes in each stage are crucial to its proper development.
Helping them without understanding each step of the process could harm them or prevent them from becoming fully functioning butterflies.
When you see the larva (caterpillar) struggle to get out of its egg or the butterfly out of its chrysalis its natural to want to help it, but in the process of helping you may harm it. It’s the strain of getting out of chrysalis that causes the butterfly to flourish.
Take one out or shorten it in any way and the butterfly will cease to be what it was created to be.
Every stage of our development is also necessary.
Like a butterfly, we also are being developed through changes that are sometimes difficult and painful.
We are a culmination of our experiences, good and bad, but especially the bad ones, because they leave a deeper imprint into who we ultimately become.
Sometimes we need help and support, but our efforts are crucial to our development and maturity.
The benefit of dealing with problems.
Nobody wants to experience pain, no one wakes up looking for pain.
But, just like when you exercise you must embrace pain; the threshold for improvement is the pain.
If you don’t push yourself and allow the pain and push through it then you won’t have the results. If you don’t have any new results, then you’ll stop exercising and see no progress. The same goes for your money problems. Facing them and working through them will help you to conquer them and get better.
When we look to someone or something outside of ourselves to take care of us, then we might not try as hard. We may not push ourselves hard enough. I’m grateful for the government improving unemployment insurance, and yet, if people start to look to the government as the provider, we will lose a part of ourselves in the process.
1. Life has difficulties.
The difficulty is not targeted specifically at you. You’re not the only one who faces difficulty. Everyone’s difficulty is unique, yet we all experience a baseline of difficulty in life.
Spending your whole life avoiding difficulty and pain will leave you unfulfilled.
Know that challenges actually give you the chance to rise above and feel joy, fulfillment, purpose, and grow to new heights.
We all have an innate desire to grow, be healthy, and find purpose. Oftentimes, the difficulties we experience in life is what gives us the chance to do things better and pursue our purpose.
2. Be a neutral observer of what you’re saying.
Be self-aware of what’s coming out of your mouth.
Take time to reflect on what filter is over your mouth, over your heart, over your beliefs. Take time to look at the root of your actions and what you display publicly.
Do an inventory of who you are, what you believe.
Do you know the real you, or have you become a mouthpiece for other people’s beliefs?
Whatever you say and believe will affect your perception of where you are in life.
Poverty or wealth mentality
A have or have not mindset.
This will impact how you spend, whether you save or not, and how far down the road you think about your finances, especially if you ever consider having investing goals.
3. Be truthful about your condition and take personal responsibility.
How are your finances?
Are you on the edge of death?
There are people who eat every other day
Are you just lacking margin and choices
Don’t get to have access to as many choices as we used to
How did you get there?
Is it because of the choices you made?
Education choices?
Pain from your childhood?
Inability to work
Are you using this time to:
connect with family?
grow your knowledge base and marketable skills?
finding ways to help other people?
Serving people leads to fulfillment and often leads to an increase in finances.
You are the only one that can ultimately determine your future outcome.
What you do consistently will equal your outcome
Focus on learning, growing, improving, which is hard.
Or Resist by wasting your time, and continue as you are.
Problem: Missed expectation -> Offense -> Anger -> Hate
Solution: Love -> forgiveness -> grace
4 FINANCIAL STEPS TO PURPOSEFUL LIVING
Spend on purpose “spend on purpose...so that you know where you are.”
Save before you spend “Save before you spend...so you experience stability today and in the future.”
Increase your financial margin “Increase your financial margin...to pursue your true life’s purpose.”
Invest wisely “Invest wisely...to increase your impact.”
RESOURCES
Budget Forms and Tools
David’s New Book - Jesus on Money
David’s New Website - www.stewardshippastors.com