Podcasts about evaluate

Concerned about retirement planning in a market full of uncertainty and noise? In this episode of the Retire Sooner Podcast, Wes Moss and Christa DiBiase bring practical context to today's financial headlines and common retirement questions. • Analyze movements in gold prices and the U.S. dollar to clarify what currency shifts may indicate for markets and everyday economic conversations. • Explain why a modestly weaker dollar is not inherently negative and how it can affect U.S. company competitiveness. • Break down how the 4% retirement withdrawal rule of thumb is commonly discussed and why flexibility is central to long-term planning. • Compare viewpoints from prominent financial commentators on sustainable retirement withdrawals and why results may differ by household. • Outline considerations for retirement drawdowns, including when cash reserves versus equities are often referenced during market stress. • Evaluate diversification considerations for investors concerned about concentrated exposure to technology- and AI-focused funds. • Address the widespread concern about running out of money in retirement using commonly referenced planning frameworks. • Review how pension cost-of-living adjustments work and the factors considered when comparing lump-sum and annuity options. • Discuss the potential role and risks of high-yield bonds within balanced, income-focused portfolios. • Highlight why aligning brokerage account registrations with a living trust is frequently referenced in estate planning discussions. Listen to the Retire Sooner Podcast for clear, educational context on the retirement topics investors are talking about right now. Subscribe to stay connected to ongoing conversations focused on long-term planning, discipline, and perspective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s actually a good thing that some books push you to the edge of your ability to understand. But there’s no doubting the fact that dense, abstract and jargon-filled works can push you so far into the fog of frustration that you cannot blame yourself for giving up. But here’s the truth: You don’t have to walk away frustrated and confused. I’m going to share with you a number of practical strategies that will help you fill in the gaps of your reading process. Because that’s usually the real problem: It’s not your intelligence. Nor is it that the world is filled with books “above your level.” I ultimately don’t believe in “levels” as such. But as someone who taught reading courses at Rutgers and Saarland University, I know from experience that many learners need to pick up a few simple steps that will strengthen how they approach reading difficult books. And in this guide, you’ll learn how to read challenging books and remember what they say. I’m going to go beyond generic advice too. That way, you can readily diagnose: Why certain books feel so hard Use pre-reading tactics that prime your brain to deal with difficulties effectively Apply active reading techniques to lock in understanding faster Leverage accelerated learning tools that are quick to learn Use Artificial Intelligence to help convert tough convent into lasting knowledge without worrying about getting duped by AI hallucinations Whether you’re tacking philosophy, science, dense fiction or anything based primarily in words, the reading system you’ll learn today will help you turn confusion into clarity. By the end, even the most intimidating texts will surrender their treasures to your mind. Ready? Let’s break it all down together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HLbY4jsFg Why Some Books Feel “Too Hard” (And What That Really Means) You know exactly how it feels and so do I. You sit down with a book that people claim is a classic or super-important. But within a few pages, your brain fogs over and you’re completely lost. More often than not, through glazed eyes, you start to wonder… did this author go out of his or her way to make this difficult? Are they trying to show off with all these literary pyrotechnics? Or is there a deliberate conspiracy to confuse readers like me? Rest assured. These questions are normal and well worth asking. The difficulty you might feel is never arbitrary in my experience. But there’s also no “single origin” explanation for why some books feel easier than others. It’s almost always a combination of factors, from cognitive readiness, lived experience, emotions and your physical condition throughout the day. This means that understanding why individual texts resist your understanding needs to be conducted on a case-by-case basis so you can move towards mastering anything you want to read. Cognitive Load: The Brain’s Processing “Stop Sign” “Cognitive load” probably needs no definition. The words are quite intuitive. You start reading something and it feels like someone is piling heavy bricks directly on top of your brain, squishing everything inside. More specifically, these researchers explain that what’s getting squished is specifically your working memory, which is sometimes called short-term memory. In practical terms, this means that when a book suddenly throws a bunch of unfamiliar terms at you, your working memory has to suddenly deal with abstract concepts, completely new words or non-linear forms of logic. All of this increases your cognitive load, but it’s important to note that there’s no conspiracy. In Just Being Difficult: Academic Writing in the Public Arena, a variety of contributors admit that they often write for other specialists. Although it would be nice to always compose books and articles for general readers, it’s not laziness. They’re following the codes of their discipline, which involves shorthand to save everyone time. Yes, it can also signal group membership and feel like an intellectual wall if you’re new to this style, but it’s simply a “stop sign” for your brain. And wherever there are stop signs, there are also alternative routes. Planning Your Detour “Roadmap” Into Difficult Books Let me share a personal example by way of sharing a powerful technique for making hard books easier to read. A few years ago I decided I was finally going to read Kant. I had the gist of certain aspects of his philosophy, but a few pages in, I encountered so many unfamiliar terms, I knew I had to obey the Cognitive Load Stop Sign and take a step back. To build a roadmap into Kant, I searched Google in a particular way. Rather than a search term like, “Intro to Kant,” I entered this tightened command instead: Filetype:PDF syllabus Kant These days, you can ask an LLM in more open language to simply give you links to the syllabi of the most authoritative professors who teach Kant. I’d still suggest that you cross-reference what you get on Google, however. If you’re hesitant about using either Google or AI, it’s also a great idea to visit a librarian in person to help you. Or, you can read my post about using AI for learning with harming your memory to see if it’s time to update your approach. Narrowing Down Your Options One way or another, the reason to consult the world’s leading professors is that their syllabi will provide you with: Foundational texts Core secondary literature Commentaries from qualified sources Essential historical references Once you’ve looked over a few syllabi, look through the table of contents of a few books on Amazon or Google Books. Then choose: 1-2 foundational texts to read before the challenging target book you want to master 1-2 articles or companion texts to read alongside In this way, you’ve turned difficulty into a path, not an obstacle. Pre-Reading Strategies That Warm Up Your Reading Muscles A lot of the time, the difficulty people feel when reading has nothing to do with the book. It’s just that you’re diving into unfamiliar territory without testing the waters first. Here are some simple ways to make unfamiliar books much easier to get into. Prime Like a Pro To make books easier to read, you can perform what is often called “priming” in the accelerated learning community. It is also sometimes called “pre-reading” and as this research article discusses, its success has been well-demonstrated. The way I typically perform priming is simple. Although some books require a slight change to the pattern, I typically approach each new book by reading: The back cover The index The colophon page The conclusion or afterword The most interesting or relevant chapter The introduction The rest of the book Activate Prior Knowledge Sometimes I will use a skimming and scanning strategy after reading the index to quickly familiarize myself with how an author approaches a topic with which I’m already familiar. This can help raise interest, excitement and tap into the power of context-dependent memory. For example, I recently started reading Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht. Since the Renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno comes up multiple times, I was able to draw up a kind of context map of the books themes by quickly going through those passages. Take a Picture Walk Barbara Oakley and Terence Sejnjowski share a fantastic strategy in Learning How to Learn. Before reading, simply go through a book and look at all the illustrations, tables, charts and diagrams. It seems like a small thing. But it gives your brain a “heads up” about upcoming visual information that you may need to process than prose. I used to find visual information like this difficult, but after I started taking picture walks, I’m now excited to read “towards” these elements. If still find them challenging to understand, I apply a tip I learned from Tony Buzan that you might like to try: Rather than struggle to interpret a chart or illustration, reproduce it in your own hand. Here’s an example of how I did this when studying spaced repetition: As a result, I learned the graph and its concepts quickly and have never forgotten it. Build a Pre-Reading Ritual That Fits You There’s no one-sized-fits-all strategy, so you need to experiment with various options. The key is to reduce cognitive load by giving your mind all kinds of ways of understanding what a book contains. If it helps, you can create yourself a checklist that you slip into the challenging books on your list. That way, you’ll have both a bookmark and a protocol as you develop your own pre-reading style. Active Reading Techniques That Boost Comprehension Active reading involves deliberately applying mental activities while reading. These can include writing in the margins of your books, questioning, preparing summaries and even taking well-time breaks between books. Here’s a list of my favorite active reading strategies with ideas on how you can implement them. Using Mnemonics While Reading On the whole, I take notes while reading and then apply a variety of memory techniques after. But to stretch my skills, especially when reading harder books, I start the encoding process earlier. Instead of just taking notes, I’ll start applying mnemonic images. I start early because difficult terms often require a bit more spaced repetition. To do this yourself, the key is to equip yourself with a variety of mnemonic methods, especially: The Memory Palace technique The Pegword Method The Major System The PAO System And in some cases, you may want to develop a symbol system, such as if you’re studying physics or programming. Once you have these mnemonic systems developed, you can apply them in real time. For example, if you come across names and dates, committing them to memory as you read can help you keep track of a book’s historical arc. This approach can be especially helpful when reading difficult books because authors often dump a lot of names and dates. By memorizing them as you go, you reduce the mental load of having to track it all. For even more strategies you can apply while reading, check out my complete Mnemonics Dictionary. Strategic Questioning Whether you take notes or memorize in real-time, asking questions as you go makes a huge difference. Even if you don’t come up with answers, continually interrogating the book will open up your brain. The main kinds of questions are: Evaluative questions (checking that the author uses valid reasoning and address counterarguments) Analytical questions (assessing exactly how the arguments unfold and questioning basic assumptions) Synthetic questions (accessing your previous knowledge and looking for connections with other books and concepts) Intention questions (interrogating the author’s agenda and revealing any manipulative rhetoric) One medieval tool for questioning you can adopt is the memory wheel. Although it’s definitely old-fashioned, you’ll find that it helps you rotate between multiple questions. Even if they are as simple as who, what, where, when, how and why questions, you’ll have a mental mnemonic device that helps ensure you don’t miss any of them. Re-reading Strategies Although these researchers seem to think that re-reading is not an effective strategy, I could not live without it. There are three key kinds of re-reading I recommend. Verbalize Complexity to Tame It The first is to simply go back and read something difficult to understand out loud. You’d be surprised how often it’s not your fault. The author has just worded something in a clunky manner and speaking the phrasing clarifies everything. Verbatim Memorization for Comprehension The second strategy is to memorize the sentence or even an entire passage verbatim. That might seem like a lot of work, but this tutorial on memorizing entire passages will make it easy for you. Even if verbatim memorization takes more work, it allows you to analyze the meaning within your mind. You’re no longer puzzling over it on paper, continuing to stretch your working memory. No, you’ve effectively expanded at least a part of your working memory by bypassing it altogether. You’ve ushered the information into long-term memory. I’m not too shy to admit that I have to do this sometimes to understand everything from the philosophy in Sanskrit phrases to relatively simple passages from Shakespeare. As I shared in my recent discussion of actor Anthony Hopkins’ memory, I couldn’t work out what “them” referred to in a particular Shakespeare play. But after analyzing the passage in memory, it was suddenly quite obvious. Rhythmical Re-reading The third re-reading strategy is something I shared years ago in my post detailing 11 reasons you should re-read at least one book per month. I find this approach incredibly helpful because no matter how good you get at reading and memory methods, even simple books can be vast ecosystems. By revisiting difficult books at regular intervals, you not only get more out of them. You experience them from different perspectives and with the benefit of new contexts you’ve built in your life over time. In other words, treat your reading as an infinite game and never assume that you’ve comprehended everything. There’s always more to be gleaned. Other Benefits of Re-reading You’ll also improve your pattern recognition by re-treading old territory, leading to more rapid recognition of those patterns in new books. Seeing the structures, tropes and other tactics in difficult books opens them up. But without regularly re-reading books, it can be difficult to perceive what these forms are and how authors use them. To give you a simple example of a structure that appears in both fiction and non-fiction, consider in media res, or starting in the middle. When you spot an author using this strategy, it can immediately help you read more patiently. And it places the text in the larger tradition of other authors who use that particular technique. For even more ideas that will keep your mind engaged while tackling tough books, feel free to go through my fuller article on 7 Active Reading Strategies. Category Coloring & Developing Your Own Naming System For Complex Material I don’t know about you, but I do not like opening a book only to find it covered in highlighter marks. I also don’t like highlighting books myself. However, after practicing mind mapping for a few years, I realized that there is a way to combine some of its coloring principles with the general study principles of using Zettelkasten and flashcards. Rather than passively highlighting passages that seem interesting at random, here’s an alternative approach you can take to your next tour through a complicated book. Category Coloring It’s often helpful to read with a goal. For myself, I decided to tackle a hard book called Gödel Escher Bach through the lens of seven categories. I gave each a color: Red = Concept Green = Process Orange = Fact Blue = Historical Context Yellow = Person Purple = School of Thought or Ideology Brown = Specialized Terminology Example Master Card to the Categorial Color Coding Method To emulate this method, create a “key card” or “master card” with your categories on it alongside the chosen color. Use this as a bookmark as you read. Then, before writing down any information from the book, think about the category to which it belongs. Make your card and then apply the relevant color. Obviously, you should come up with your own categories and preferred colors. The point is that you bring the definitions and then apply them consistently as you read and extract notes. This will help bring structure to your mind because you’re creating your own nomenclature or taxonomy of information. You are also using chunking, a specific mnemonic strategy I’ve written about at length in this post on chunking as a memory tool. Once you’re finished a book, you can extract all the concepts and memorize them independently if you like. And if you emulate the strategy seen on the pictured example above, I’ve included the page number on each card. That way, I can place the cards back in the order of the book. Using this approach across multiple books, you will soon spot cross-textual patterns with greater ease. The catch is that you cannot allow this technique to become activity for activity’s sake. You also don’t want to wind up creating a bunch of informational “noise.” Before capturing any individual idea on a card and assigning it to a category, ask yourself: Why is this information helpful, useful or critical to my goal? Will I really use it again? Where does it belong within the categories? If you cannot answers these questions, either move on to the next point. Or reframe the point with some reflective thinking so that you can contextualize it. This warning aside, it’s important not to let perfectionism creep into your life. Knowing what information matters does take some practice. To speed up your skills with identifying critical information, please read my full guide on how to find the main points in books and articles. Although AI can certainly help these days, you’ll still need to do some work on your own. Do Not Let New Vocabulary & Terminology Go Without Memorization One of the biggest mistakes I used to make, even as a fan of memory techniques, slowed me down much more than necessary. I would come across a new term, look it up, and assume I’d remember it. Of course, the next time I came across it, the meaning was still a mystery. But when I got more deliberate, I not only remembered more words, but the knowledge surrounding the unfamiliar terms also stuck with greater specificity. For example, in reading The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner, memorizing the ancient Greek word for will or volition (Prohairesis) pulled many more details about why she was mentioning it. Lo and behold, I started seeing the word in more places and connecting it to other ancient Greek terms. Memorizing those as well started to create a “moat of meaning,” further protecting a wide range of information I’d been battling. Understanding Why Vocabulary Blocks Comprehension The reason why memorizing words as you read is so helpful is that it helps clear out the cognitive load created by pausing frequently to look up words. Even if you don’t stop to learn a new definition, part of your working memory gets consumed by the lack of familiarity. I don’t always stop to learn new definitions while reading, but using the color category index card method you just discovered, it’s easy to organize unfamiliar words while reading. That way they can be tidily memorized later. I have a full tutorial for you on how to memorize vocabulary, but here’s a quick primer. Step One: Use a System for Capturing New Words & Terms Whether you use category coloring, read words into a recording app or email yourself a reminder, the key is to capture as you go. Once your reading session is done, you can now go back to the vocabulary list and start learning it. Step Two: Memorize the Terms I personally prefer the Memory Palace technique. It’s great for memorizing words and definitions. You can use the Pillar Technique with the word at the top and the definition beneath it. Or you can use the corners for the words and the walls for the definitions. Another idea is to photograph the cards you create and important them into a spaced repetition software like Anki. As you’ll discover in my complete guide to Anki, there are several ways you can combine Anki with a variety of memory techniques. Step Three: Use the Terms If you happened to catch an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast back when I first learned Prohairesis I mentioned it often. This simple habit helps establish long-term recall, reflection and establishes the ground for future recognition and use. Expand Understanding Using Video & Audio Media When I was in university, I often had to ride my bike across Toronto to borrow recorded lectures on cassette. Given the overwhelming tsunamis of complex ideas, jargon and theoretical frameworks I was facing, it was worth it. Especially since I was also dealing with the personal problems I shared with you in The Victorious Mind. Make no mistake: I do not believe there is any replacement for reading the core books, no matter how difficult they might be. But there’s no reason not to leverage the same ideas in multiple formats to help boost your comprehension and long-term retention. Multimedia approaches are not just about knowledge acquisition either. There have been many debates in the magical arts community that card magicians should read and not rely on video. But evidence-based studies like this one show that video instruction combined with reading written instructions is very helpful. The Science Behind Multi-Modal Learning I didn’t know when I was in university, or when I was first starting out with memdeck card magic that dual coding theory existed. This model was proposed by Allan Paivio, who noticed that information is processed both verbally and non-verbally. Since then, many teachers have focused heavily on how to encourage students to find the right combination of reading, visual and auditory instructional material. Here are some ideas that will help you untangle the complexity in your reading. How to Integrate Multimedia Without Overload Forgive me if this is a bit repetitive, but to develop flow with multiple media, you need to prime the brain. As someone who has created multiple YouTube videos, I have been stubborn about almost always including introductions. Why? Go Through the Intros Like a Hawk Because without including a broad overview of the topic, many learners will miss too many details. And I see this in the comments because people ask questions that are answered throughout the content and flagged in the introductions. So the first step is to be patient and go through the introductory material. And cultivate an understanding that it’s not really the material that is boring. It’s the contemporary issues with dopamine spiking that make you feel impatient. The good news is that you can possibly reset your dopamine levels so you’re better able to sit through these “priming” materials. One hack I use is to sit far away from my mouse and keep my notebook in hand. If I catch myself getting antsy, I perform a breathing exercise to restore focus. Turn on Subtitles When you’re watching videos, you can help increase your engagement by turning on the subtitles. This is especially useful in jargon-heavy video lessons. You can pause and still see the information on the screen for easier capture when taking notes. When taking notes, I recommend jotting down the timestamp. This is useful for review, but also for attributing citations later if you have to hand in an assignment. Mentally Reconstruct After watching a video or listening to a podcast on the topic you’re mastering, take a moment to review the key points. Try to go through them in the order they were presented. This helps your brain practice mental organization by building a temporal scaffold. If you’ve taken notes and written down the timestamps, you can easily check your accuracy. Track Your Progress For Growth & Performance One reason some people never feel like they’re getting anywhere is that they have failed to establish any points of reference. Personally, this is easy for me to do. I can look back to my history of writing books and articles or producing videos and be reminded of how far I’ve come at a glance. Not only as a writer, but also as a reader. For those who do not regularly produce content, you don’t have to start a blog or YouTube channel. Just keep a journal and create a few categories of what skills you want to track. These might include: Comprehension Retention Amount of books read Vocabulary growth Critical thinking outcomes Confidence in taking on harder books Increased tolerance with frustration when reading challenges arise You can use the same journal to track how much time you’ve spent reading and capturing quick summaries. Personally, I wish I’d started writing summaries sooner. I really only got started during grad school when during a directed reading course, a professor required that I had in a summary for every book and article I read. I never stopped doing this and just a few simple paragraph summaries has done wonders over the years for my understanding and retention. Tips for Overcoming Frustration While Reading Difficult Books Ever since the idea of “desirable difficulty” emerged, people have sought ways to help learners overcome emotional responses like frustration, anxiety and even shame while tackling tough topics. As this study shows, researchers and teachers have found the challenge difficult despite the abundance of evidence showing that being challenged is a good thing. Here are some strategies you can try if you continue to struggle. Embrace Cognitive Discomfort As we’ve discussed, that crushing feeling in your brain exists for a reason. Personally, I don’t think it ever goes away. I still regularly pick up books that spike it. The difference is that I don’t start up a useless mantra like, “I’m not smart enough for this.” Instead, I recommend you reframe the experience and use the growth mindset studied by Carol Dweck, amongst others. You can state something more positive like, “This book is a bit above my level, but I can use tactics and techniques to master it.” I did that very recently with my reading of The Xenotext, parts of which I still don’t fully understand. It was very rewarding. Use Interleaving to Build Confidence I rotate through draining books all the time using a proven technique called interleaving. Lots of people are surprised when I tell them that I rarely read complex and challenging books for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. But I do it because interleaving works. Which kinds of books can you interleave? You have choices. You can either switch in something completely different, or switch to a commentary. For example, while recently reading some heavy mathematical theories about whether or not “nothing” can exist, I switched to a novel. But back in university, I would often stick within the category while at the library. I’d read a core text by a difficult philosopher, then pick up a Cambridge Companion and read an essay related to the topic. You can also interleave using multimedia sources like videos and podcasts. Interleaving also provides time for doing some journaling, either about the topic at hand or some other aspect of your progress goals. Keep the Big Picture in Mind Because frustration is cognitively training, it’s easy to let it drown out your goals. That’s why I often keep a mind map or some other reminder on my desk, like a couple of memento mori. It’s also possible to just remember previous mind maps you’ve made. This is something I’m doing often at the moment as I read all kinds of boring information about managing a bookshop for my Memory Palace bookshop project first introduced in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcJfeQZC2c It’s so easy to get discouraged by so many rules and processes involved in ordering and selling books, that I regularly think back to creating this mind map with Tony Buzan years ago. In case my simple drawings on this mind map for business development doesn’t immediately leap out at you with its meanings, the images at the one o’clock-three o’clock areas refer to developing a physical Memory Palace packed with books on memory and learning. Developing and keeping a north star in mind will help you transform the process of reading difficult books into a purposeful adventure of personal development. Even if you have to go through countless books that aren’t thrilling, you’ll still be moving forward. Just think of how much Elon Musk has read that probably wasn’t all that entertaining. Yet, it was still essential to becoming a polymath. Practice Seeing Through The Intellectual Games As you read harder and harder books, you’ll eventually come to realize that the “fluency” some people have is often illusory. For example, some writers and speakers display a truly impressive ability to string together complex terminology, abstract references and fashionable ideas of the day in ways that sound profound. Daniel Dennett frequently used a great term for a lot of this verbal jujitsu that sounds profound but is actually trivial. He called such flourishes “deepities.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-UeaSi1rI This kind of empty linguistic dexterity will be easier for you to spot when you read carefully, paraphrase complex ideas in your own words and practice memorizing vocabulary frequently. When you retain multiple concepts and practice active questioning in a large context of grounded examples and case studies, vague claims will not survive for long in your world. This is why memory training is about so much more than learning. Memorization can equip you to think independently and bring clarity to fields that are often filled with gems, despite the fog created by intellectual pretenders more interested in word-jazz than actual truth. Using AI to Help You Take On Difficult Books As a matter of course, I recommend you use AI tools like ChatGPT after doing as much reading on your own as possible. But there’s no mistaking that intentional use of such tools can help you develop greater understanding. The key is to avoid using AI as an answer machine or what Nick Bostrom calls an “oracle” in his seminal book, Superintelligence. Rather, take a cue from Andrew Mayne, a science communicator and central figure at OpenAI and host of their podcast. His approach centers on testing in ways that lead to clarity of understanding and retention as he uses various mnemonic strategies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlzD_6Olaqw Beyond his suggestions, here are some of my favorite strategies. Ask AI to Help Identify All Possible Categories Connected to a Topic A key reason many people struggle to connect ideas is simply that they haven’t developed a mental ecosystem of categories. I used to work in libraries, so started thinking categorically when I was still a teenager. But these days, I would combine how traditional libraries are structured with a simple prompt like: List all the possible categories my topic fits into or bridges across disciplines, historical frameworks and methodologies. Provide the list without interpretation or explanation so I can reflect. A prompt like this engineers a response that focuses on relationships and lets your brain perform the synthetic thinking. Essentially, you’ll be performing what some scientists call schema activation, leading to better personal development outcomes. Generate Lists of Questions To Model Exceptional Thinkers Because understanding relies on inquiry, it’s important to practice asking the best possible questions. AI chat bots can be uniquely useful in this process provided that you explicitly insist that it helps supply you excellent questions without any answers. You can try a prompt like: Generate a list of questions that the world’s most careful thinkers in this field would ask about this topic. Do not provide any answers. Just the list of questions. Do this after you’ve read the text and go through your notes with fresh eyes. Evaluate the material with questions in hand, ideally by writing out your answers by hand. If you need your answers imported into your computer, apps can now scan your handwriting and give you text file. Another tip: Don’t be satisfied with the first list of questions you get. Ask the AI to dig deeper. You can also ask the AI to map the questions into the categories you previously got help identifying. For a list of questions you can put into your preferred chat bot, feel free to go through my pre-AI era list of philosophical questions. They are already separated by category. Use AI to Provide a Progress Journal Template If you’re new to journaling, it can be difficult to use the technique to help you articulate what you’re reading and why the ideas are valuable. And that’s not to mention working out various metrics to measure your growth over time. Try a prompt like this: Help me design a progress journal for my quest to better understand and remember difficult books. Include sections for me to list my specific goals, vocabulary targets, summaries and various milestones I identify. Make it visual so I can either copy it into my own print notebook or print out multiple copies for use over time. Once you have a template you’re happy to experiment with, keep it visible in your environment so you don’t forget to use it. Find Blind Spots In Your Summaries Many AIs have solid reasoning skills. As a result, you can enter your written summaries and have the AI identify gaps in your knowledge, blind spots and opportunities for further reading. Try a prompt like: Analyze this summary and identify any blind spots, ambiguities in my thinking or incompleteness in my understanding. Suggest supplementary reading to help me fill in any gaps. At the risk of repetition, the point is that you’re not asking for the summaries. You’re asking for assessments that help you diagnose the limits of your understanding. As scientists have shown, metacognition, or thinking about your thinking can help you see errors much faster. By adding an AI into the mix, you’re getting feedback quickly without having to wait for a teacher to read your essay. Of course, AI outputs can be throttled, so I find it useful to also include a phrase like, “do not throttle your answer,” before asking it to dig deeper and find more issues. Used wisely, you will soon see various schools of thought with much greater clarity, anticipate how authors make their moves and monitor your own blind spots as you read and reflect. Another way to think about the power of AI tools is this: They effectively mirror human reasoning at a species wide level. You can use them to help you mirror more reasoning power by regularly accessing and practicing error detection and filling in the gaps in your thinking style. Why You Must Stop Abandoning Difficult Books (At Least Most of the Time) Like many people, I’m a fan of Scott Young’s books like Ultralearning and Get Better at Anything. He’s a disciplined thinker and his writing helps people push past shallow learning in favor of true and lasting depth. However, he often repeats the advice that you should stop reading boring books. In full transparency, I sometimes do this myself. And Young adds a lot of context to make his suggestion. But I limit abandoning books as much as possible because I don’t personally find Young’s argument that enjoyment and productivity go together. On the contrary, most goals that I’ve pursued have required fairly intense periods of delaying gratification. And because things worth accomplishing generally do require sacrifice and a commitment to difficulty, I recommend you avoid the habit of giving up on books just because they’re “boring” or not immediately enjoyable. I’ll bet you’ll enjoy the accomplishment of understanding hard books and conquering their complexity far more in the end. And you’ll benefit more too. Here’s why I think so. The Hidden Cost of Abandoning Books You’ve Started Yes, I agree that life is short and time is fleeting. But if you get into the habit of abandoning books at the first sign of boredom, it can quickly become your default habit due to how procedural memory works. In other words, you’re given your neurons the message that it’s okay to escape from discomfort. That is a very dangerous loop to throw yourself into, especially if you’re working towards becoming autodidactic. What you really need is to develop the ability to stick with complexity, hold ambiguous and contradictory issues in your mind and fight through topic exhaustion. Giving up on books on a routine basis? That’s the opposite of developing expertise and resilience. The AI Risk & Where Meaning is Actually Found We just went through the benefits of AI, so you shouldn’t have issues. But I regularly hear from people and have even been on interviews where people use AI to summarize books I’ve recomended. This is dangerous because the current models flatten nuance due to how they summarize books based on a kind of “averaging” of what its words predictability mean. Although they might give you a reasonable scaffold of a book’s structure, you won’t get the friction created by how authors take you through their thought processes. In other words, you’ll be using AI models that are not themselves modeling the thinking that reading provides when you grind your way through complex books. The Treasure of Meaning is Outside Your Comfort Zone Another reason to train for endurance is that understanding doesn’t necessarily arrive while reading a book or even a few weeks after finishing it. Sometimes the unifying insights land years later. But if you don’t read through books that seem to be filled with scattered ideas, you cannot gain any benefit from them. Their diverse points won’t consolidate in your memory and certainly won’t connect with other ideas later. So I suggest you train your brain to persist as much as possible. By drawing up the support of the techniques we discussed today and a variety of mnemonic support systems, you will develop persistence and mine more gold from everything you read. And being someone who successfully mines for gold and can produce it at will is the mark of the successful reading. Not just someone who consumes information efficiently, but who can repeatedly connect and transform knowledge year after year due to regularly accumulating gems buried in the densest and most difficult books others cannot or will not read. Use Struggle to Stimulate Growth & You Cannot Fail As you’ve seen, challenging books never mean that you’re not smart enough. It’s just a matter of working on your process so that you can tackle new forms of knowledge. And any discomfort you feel is a signal that a great opportunity and personal growth adventure awaits. By learning how to manage cognitive load, fill in the gaps in your background knowledge and persist through frustration, you can quickly become the kind of reader who seeks out complexity instead of flinching every time you see it. Confusion has now become a stage along the path to comprehension. And if you’re serious about mastering increasingly difficult material, understanding and retaining it, then it’s time to upgrade your mental toolbox. Start now by grabbing my Free Memory Improvement Course: Inside, you’ll discover: The Magnetic Memory Method for creating powerful Memory Palaces How to develop your own mnemonic systems for encoding while reading Proven techniques that deepen comprehension, no matter how abstract or complex your reading list is And please, always remember: The harder the book, the greater rewards. And the good news is, you’re now more than ready to claim them all.

Dr. Aaron Zelikovich discusses recent survey findings highlighting the wide variability in how clinicians evaluate and diagnose small fiber neuropathy. Fill out the Neurology® Clinical Practice Current survey.  Show citation:  Thawani S, Chan M, Ostendorf T, et al. How Well do We Evaluate Small Fiber Neuropathy?: A Survey of American Academy of Neurology Members. J Clin Neuromuscul Dis. 2025;26(4):184-195. Published 2025 Jun 2. doi:10.1097/CND.0000000000000502  Show transcript:  Dr. Aaron Zelikovich: Welcome to today's Neurology Minute. My name is Aaron Zelikovich, a neuromuscular specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Today, we will discuss a recent article, How Well Do We Evaluate Small Fiber Neuropathy? A survey of The American Academy of Neurology members, which evaluates small fiber neuropathy in clinical practice. The current landscape of evaluating and testing for small fiber neuropathy remains highly variable in regards to serum testing, skin biopsy, and nerve conduction studies. In this survey study, 800 members of The American Academy of Neurology were randomly selected and emailed a survey. 400 neuromuscular physicians and 400 non-neuromuscular physicians were selected. The overall response rate was 30% with half of the completed surveys coming from neuromuscular physicians. The most common overall initial blood work for this patient population was a CBC, vitamin B12, basic metabolic profile, TSH, and hemoglobin A1C. Other high yield blood tests included ESR, SPEP, immunofixation, and ANA. 70% of responders would also order a nerve conduction study as part of the initial workup. Second line evaluation had less consensus and included skin biopsies for intraepidermal nerve fiber density, hepatitis panel, HIV, and paraneoplastic testing. Responders noted that if the patient had acute onset of symptoms, had symptoms that were asymmetric, or being under 30 years old, they would order a more extensive workup. The authors discussed the importance of both clinical exam, history, and diagnostic workup in patients with symptoms compatible with small fiber neuropathy. They highlight that there is no current objective gold standard for a diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy. The current diagnostic recommendation by the AAN for distal symmetric polyneuropathy includes serum blood sampling for glucose, vitamin B12, SPEP, and immunofixation. Clinical practice in the diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy remains highly variable based on the provider and clinical context of the patient. Neurology Practice Current is currently accepting surveys on clinical practice patterns for patients with small fiber neuropathy. Please check out the link in today's Neurology Minute to complete the survey. Thank you and have a wonderful day. 

1 Samuel 3:1–18 God gave one of the most severe warnings, recorded in Scripture, to a child. Witness with Pastor Chuck Swindoll the disintegration of a family, God's warning, and their responses. Learn the four signs of domestic disintegration from the life of Eli and his sons in 1 Samuel 3. Evaluate your own family life. In what areas could you grow? Commit to obedience to God and thoughtfulness with your family!

Send Jackie A Message!Another Pilates studio just opened down the street. Another yoga space launched with “expert teachers” and a “welcoming community.” And suddenly, referrals feel slower, growth feels harder, and you're wondering what actually makes a studio stand out anymore.In this episode, Jackie Murphy breaks down exactly how one Pilates studio generated $81,605 in revenue over a single Black Friday weekend—and why it had nothing to do with luck, hustle, or having “better teachers.”You'll learn why the old boutique fitness playbook (word-of-mouth and hoping people find you) no longer works, how omni-channel marketing and paid ads now drive growth, and why changing less and repeating what works is the real path to sustainable profit.Jackie walks you through the strategy behind the sale: waitlists, consistent messaging across every platform, ads that supported (not replaced) organic marketing, and why a $226 ad spend produced a 359x return.If competition feels intimidating right now, this episode will show you how to stop reacting—and start leading.Timestamped Outline[00:00] Why competition feels louder in 2026[02:30] The $81,605 Black Friday case study[05:30] Change less, evaluate more, repeat[07:30] Omni-channel marketing explained[10:00] Why Black Friday doesn't start on Black Friday[12:30] Email + SMS + ads working together[15:00] The $226 ad spend breakdown (359x ROAS)[18:00] Why ads work better when they support organic[21:00] Long-term nurturing vs short-term sales[24:00] Setting big goals without attaching fear[27:00] Why this is possible for your studio tooKey Takeaways Competition isn't the problem—unclear messaging is“Great teachers” is not a differentiator anymoreSustainable profit comes from repeating proven campaignsOmni-channel marketing makes buying easierAds amplify what's already working organicallyYou don't need a massive ad budget to get massive resultsLong-term trust builds high-ticket sales like annual membershipsPull Quotes“Change less. Evaluate more. Repeat.”“Black Friday doesn't start on Black Friday.”“Ads don't replace organic marketing—they support it.”“People don't buy the first time they see something.”“You don't need hustle. You need a plan.”FAQ (AEO-Optimized)Why doesn't word-of-mouth work like it used to for yoga studios? Because the industry is more saturated. Consumers have more options and need clearer messaging to choose.Do yoga and Pilates studios really need paid ads now? Yes—organic marketing alone no longer reaches enough people. Ads help amplify what's already working.How much should studios spend on ads for campaigns like Black Friday? There's no one number, but this case study shows that even low ad spend can produce high returns when paired with strong messaging.Is Black Friday still worth it for boutique studios? Yes—when it's planned in advance, supported by trust, and aligned with your long-term strategy.What makes a Black Friday sale successful?Work with Jackie Murphy Say Hi on Instagram @studioceoofficial 3 Marketing Mistakes Yoga & Pilates Business Owners Make: https://www.jackiegmurphy.com/3-marketing-mistakes Join The Studio CEO Program: https://www.jackiegmurphy.com/studioceo

In this episode of The Distribution, Brandon Sedloff sits down with Lara Banks to explore her investing career and her long tenure at Makena Capital. Lara shares how her early background in energy, quantitative trading, and project finance shaped her perspective as an allocator, and how her role evolved as Makena expanded its private equity and venture platform. The conversation dives into Makena's origins, its approach to serving endowments, foundations, and families, and how the firm balances innovation, customization, and disciplined portfolio construction in private markets. Together, they also discuss how talent, alignment, and long-term thinking drive Makena's approach to manager selection and capital deployment across cycles. They discuss: Lara's career path from energy and quantitative trading to leading private equity and venture investing at Makena Makena Capital's evolution from a Stanford endowment model to evergreen private equity and venture vehicles The firm's focus on emerging managers, independent sponsors, and people-driven investing How Makena manages liquidity, pacing, and secondaries within evergreen private market portfolios Current themes in private equity and venture, including AI, energy infrastructure, and biotech inflection points Links: Lara on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lara-banks-4216a69/ Makena Capital - https://www.makenacap.com/ Brandon on LinkedIn - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/⁠ Juniper Square - ⁠https://www.junipersquare.com/⁠ Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:21) - Lara's career journey (00:08:06) - Leadership evolution at Makena Capital (00:12:34) - Makena Capital's structure and customization (00:17:48) - Role of an OCIO and client interaction (00:20:39) - Focus on emerging managers and investment strategies (00:27:49) - Private equity and venture capital insights (00:34:51) - Managing liquidity in private markets (00:40:37) - Trends and opportunities in venture capital (00:47:06) - Conclusion and final thoughts

1 Samuel 3:1–18 God gave one of the most severe warnings, recorded in Scripture, to a child. Witness with Pastor Chuck Swindoll the disintegration of a family, God's warning, and their responses. Learn the four signs of domestic disintegration from the life of Eli and his sons in 1 Samuel 3. Evaluate your own family life. In what areas could you grow? Commit to obedience to God and thoughtfulness with your family!

Welcome to episode 235 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we will examine the topic of digital discipleship.  Key takeaways:   Technology isn't just a tool we use; it's a tool that uses us—or more precisely, it shapes our habits, expectations, attention, and relationships. If we don't anchor identity in Christ, we will anchor it in public approval, and that becomes a new form of slavery. Sometimes what looks like a “spiritual problem” is also a formed habit problem—people are exhausted and overstimulated. The challenge isn't to reject technology completely, but to use it in ways that honor God and build His kingdom.  Quotable:   We become what we repeatedly do.  Application:   The phrase "think on these things" means to calculate, consider carefully, or meditate on. It's an accounting term—we should carefully evaluate what we allow into our minds through screens. The battle for your life is won or lost in your thought life. Guard your mind with the same vigilance you'd guard your home. There is no "off the clock" for the Christian. Your social media isn't a "free zone" where different rules apply. The same Lord who sees you in worship sees you on Facebook at 11 PM. You wouldn't let a thief into your house to steal your possessions. Why do you voluntarily hand him your phone and let him steal your hours? Evaluate your screen time with one question:  Is this helping me love God and love my neighbor—or training me to love myself and the world?  Connect with us:   Web site:  https://springbaptist.org   Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus)   https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus)   Need us to pray for you? Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/      If you haven't already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Why is self evaluation a necessity? Why is this a healthy practice for the believer? Today Pastor Mike & Connor talk over the importance of evaluating your life, and the contents of it!

Join Digital Education Committee Member and podcast host Deep Chandh Raja, MBBS, MD, PhD , and his guests Georgios Leventopoulos, MD, and Muthiah Subramanian, MD, CCDS, CEPS-A, for this week's Lead episode. This Heart Rhythm article investigates the Bachmann bundle as a target for pacing by using retrograde electrical mapping and correlating findings with underlying myocardial microstructure. The piece provides detailed insights into how Bachmann bundle activation pathways relate to tissue architecture, with implications for optimizing physiologic pacing strategies. These findings may help refine pacing techniques that aim to better mimic natural conduction and improve clinical responses.   Learning Objectives Describe the anatomical and electrophysiologic characteristics of the Bachmann bundle and its role in atrial conduction. Explain how retrograde mapping and microstructural correlation can identify optimal pacing targets within the atrial conduction system. Evaluate the potential clinical implications of Bachmann bundle pacing for achieving more physiologic atrial activation.   Article AuthorsDaniel L. Lustgarten, MD, PhD, FHRS, Nicole Habel, MD, PhD, Margaret Infeld, MD, MS, Daniel Correa de Sa, MD, Robert Lobel, MD, Peter Spector, MD, FHRS, Nathaniel Thompson, MD, Joseph Winget, MD, Neal Duong, BME, Bo Ye, MD, PhD, Paul A. Iaizzo, PhD, Markus Meyer, MD, PhD Podcast Contributors Deep Chandh Raja, MBBS, MD, PhD Georgios Leventopoulos, MD Muthiah Subramanian, MD, CCDS, CEPS-A Article Being Discussed Host and Contributor Disclosure(s): G. Leventopolous Nothing to disclose. D.C. Raja Nothing to disclose. M. Subramanian •Nothing to disclose.  

Market volatility, global headlines, and policy uncertainty continue to shape how investors experience 2026. In this episode of the Money Matters Podcast, Wes Moss and Jeff Lloyd focus on context, not commentary, to help listeners interpret today's fast-moving financial narrative. • Frame rising investor anxiety amid market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, highlighted by global discussions at Davos. • Contextualize geopolitical developments—including Arctic defense strategy, Greenland, Venezuela, and Middle East tensions—and their influence on markets and sentiment. • Illustrate how rapid headline shifts, from escalation risk to de-escalation, can move markets and emotions within a single trading day. • Outline how fiscal and monetary forces—policy stimulus, liquidity measures, tax dynamics, and regulatory discussions—may be shaping 2026 economic expectations. • Evaluate the role of interest rates and upcoming Federal Reserve meetings in current market narratives. • Review market drawdowns and recoveries since 2020, reinforcing long-term perspective alongside recent volatility. • Emphasize discipline and zooming out as recurring themes when navigating short-term uncertainty. • Examine artificial intelligence discussions through the lens of productivity, workforce evolution, and economic impact. • Compare assets often associated with perceived stability, including gold, utilities, energy, and companies with durable business models. • Revisit historical dividend trends and their role in income-focused investment conversations. • Explain how frequent reaction to news and emotional decision-making have historically influenced investor outcomes, referencing DALBAR research. • Note every day financial changes—such as the end of new penny minting—and their practical implications. Markets will keep changing, but perspective remains essential. Listen and subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast to follow Wes Moss and Jeff Lloyd as they provide structured, long-term context on the financial headlines shaping today's investing conversations.

uest Author: Paul GregoryHeadline: A Helping Hand: The Gregorys Meet the OswaldsSummary: In June 1962, the Texas Employment Office asked Pete Gregory to evaluate Lee Harvey Oswald's Russian fluency. Impressed by Lee's fluency despite his poor grammar, Pete wrote a recommendation and introduced Lee to his son Paul, who began taking Russian lessons from Marina to help the impoverished couple.Article: In June 1962, Lee Harvey Oswald arrived at Pete Gregory's office in a heavy wool suit during the Texas heat, seeking certification of his Russian language skills to avoid manual labor. Pete confirmed Oswald's fluency, though he noted the grammar was poor and uncharacteristic of a trained spy, and subsequently introduced Lee to his son Paul, who began visiting the Oswalds' duplex for Russian conversation lessons with Marina to provide them with modest financial support.

On this episode of Roots of Success, Chris Psencik welcomes Lex Mason from Weathermatic for a candid conversation on the systems, strategies, and tech elevating the landscape industry. Discover the secret to hitting the coveted 20% revenue mark for irrigation repairs, streamline your inspection processes, and learn direct-from-the-trenches tips to boost productivity and retain top talent—even in a labor crunch. Plus, hear how team development and focused innovation are shaping the road to 2026, and get a sneak peek at SmartCon—a premier industry event. For business owners ready to maximize resources and drive results, this episode delivers both motivation and a practical roadmap. THE BIG IDEA:  Focus drives profitability KEY MOMENTS: [03:37] "Streamlining Irrigation Operations Efficiency" [07:49] "Evaluating Operations Beyond Controllers" [09:41] "Irrigation Revenue and Maintenance Insights" [15:59] "Measure to Manage Effectively" [18:20] Streamlining Repairs with Kit Pricing [20:49] "Improving Performance Through Simplicity" [25:14] "Be a Champion of Initiatives" [29:28] "Driving Engagement Through Alignment" [33:45] "Evaluate, Question, Align, Maximize" [34:18] "Consultative Sales and Training" QUESTIONS WE ANSWER What strategies can be used to grow pre-approval limits for irrigation repairs, and why does it matter for field efficiency? How does upgrading operational processes in an irrigation division impact labor productivity and business profitability? What role does technology, especially automation and API integrations, play in streamlining the workflow from field inspection to billing? Why is tracking the penetration rate of irrigation repairs in relation to maintenance contract value considered a "golden metric"? What are the main benefits of implementing monthly irrigation inspections compared to seasonal startup and shutdown practices? In what ways can standardizing the inspection process and utilizing field management dashboards lead to better accountability and team performance? How has repair kit pricing improved efficiency for irrigation departments, and what parallels exist with the automotive industry? What are the risks for landscape businesses that delay adopting technology to optimize their operations and preserve profit margins? Why is champion development within a team critical for implementing new initiatives and advancing career growth in a landscape business? How does participating in industry events, peer networks, and cause-driven initiatives add value to both business performance and community impact?

Jan. 22, 2026 - The Capitol Pressroom brand is expanding to television, with host David Lombardo leading a monthly look at New York's state government that will air on PBS stations around the Empire State. In light of this news, we're going to cross the streams today and share an excerpt of our upcoming televised panel discussion. David led a conversation about Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget and the upcoming legislative session with Rebecca Garrard, co-executive director of Citizen Action of New York, Cam Macdonald, General Counsel at the Empire Center for Public Policy, and Jack O'Donnell, managing partner of O'Donnell & Associates.

Something New!  For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP236  In episode 236, the second part of a two-part conversation, Coffey continues his discussion with Jacob Morgan about building future-ready organizations by balancing empathy, performance, and technology in the modern workplace.  They discuss misalignment between employee expectations and career outcomes; long work hours versus work-life balance tradeoffs; honesty in company culture and career paths; the eight laws for future-ready organizations; decoding the human signal in leadership; empathetic excellence as a talent framework; learning as the new job security; flexibility in career design; people-first leadership principles; the role of leaders in shaping employee experience; using AI and technology to amplify humanity; risks of over-indexing on empathy; managing performance during personal hardship; AI augmentation versus job replacement; and why organizational redesign must precede true AI transformation.  Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.   If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.   About our Guest:  Jacob Morgan is an international best-selling author, professionally trained futurist, and keynote speaker. He also runs "Future of Work Leaders," an exclusive network of the world's top CHROs shaping the future of work and employee experience. His passion and mission is to create future-ready leaders, employees, and organizations. Jacob's work has been endorsed by the CEOs of Mastercard, Best Buy, Unilever, The Ritz Carlton, Nestle, Cisco, Audi, and many others. He has a popular podcast called Future-Ready Leadership With Jacob Morgan and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two kids, and two Yorkie rescue dogs.  Jacob Morgan can be reached at   https://thefutureorganization.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobmorgan8/  https://x.com/jacobm https://www.youtube.com/@JacobMorgan https://www.instagram.com/jacobmorgan8/ https://www.facebook.com/JacobMorgan8/ https://greatleadership.substack.com/   About Mike Coffey:  Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business' small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.  Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for customers, shareholders, and community. Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year.  Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas' 31 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. Mike and his very patient wife of 28 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.  Learning Objectives: Understand how misaligned expectations between employees and organizations undermine performance and engagement Evaluate talent using the empathetic excellence framework of competence, merit, and empathy Apply practical leadership approaches to balance empathy with accountability Explain the eight laws that define a future-ready organization Assess how AI and technology can augment human capability rather than replace it  

Join Digital Education Committee Chair and podcast host Michael S. Lloyd, MD, FHRS, and his guests Kelvin C. Chua, MBBS, MD, FHRS, CEPS-A, and Rahul N Doshi, MD, FHRS, for this week's Lead episode, which was recorded live at APHRS 2025 in Kyoto, Japan. This discussion will review recent evidence on the feasibility and safety of pulsed field ablation (PFA) for coronary sinus and left atrial appendage isolation, as well as mitral isthmus ablation, focusing on both acute and chronic outcomes. Panelists will examine procedural considerations, lesion durability, and safety signals highlighted in the study, and explore how these findings may inform evolving ablation strategies for complex atrial arrhythmias.   Learning Objectives Summarize the acute and chronic feasibility and safety outcomes of pulsed field ablation (PFA) for coronary sinus isolation, left atrial appendage isolation, and mitral isthmus ablation as reported in the study. Evaluate procedural techniques and lesion durability considerations associated with using PFA in anatomically complex atrial structures. Assess the potential clinical implications of these findings for incorporating PFA into ablation strategies for complex atrial arrhythmias, including patient selection and risk mitigation.   Podcast Contributors Michael S. Lloyd, MD, FHRS Kelvin C. Chua, MBBS, MD, FHRS, CEPS-A Rahul N Doshi, MD, FHRS   Host and Contributor Disclosure(s): K.C. Chua•Nothing to disclose. R. N. Doshi•Speaking/Teaching/Consulting/Authoring: Boston Scientific, Kestra Inc., Abbott, Impulse Dynamics USA    M. S. Lloyd •Honoraria/Speaking/Consulting: Medtronic, Agra MedTech, Circa Scientific •Membership on Advisory Committees: Boston Scientific   Article for Discussion

Sometimes a self-assessment can help you discover what you need to do next. We're going to look at 7 questions—ranging from questions about your faith to… questions about your confidence—to help you evaluate your spiritual progress.

Takeaways Avoid the noise of consensus narratives in player evaluations.Evaluate players based on both ceiling and floor, not just potential.Historical context is crucial in understanding current draft classes.Be critical of hype surrounding players, especially in the offseason.Identify red flags in player profiles to avoid making the same mistakes. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Red Flags in Rookie Drafts00:58 Identifying Landmines in Player Profiles05:25 Avoiding Consensus Narratives and Hype09:01 Evaluating Past Draft Classes for Insights19:44 Analyzing Current and Future Bust Candidates26:27 Comparing Players: Who's Likely to Bust?34:56 Evaluating Quarterback Prospects40:53 Ranking the Top Quarterbacks49:30 Wide Receiver Rankings and Potential Busts01:00:54 Future Quarterback Predictions01:05:09 Final Thoughts on Draft Prospects  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Executives often focus on salary when evaluating offers. But real wealth (and potentially real risk) usually lives in the equity package. In this episode, Brian Dress and Noland Langford unpack how to evaluate job offers through a strategic lens, helping leaders avoid costly missteps and uncover long-term value. Key Topics: • Why equity comp is often misunderstood, even by seasoned execs • How to compare offers with RSUs, options, and performance shares • The biggest blind spots when changing jobs • Timing and tax insights few people catch

Send Jackie A Message!What does a profitable, well-run Black Friday sale actually look like for a yoga or Pilates studio?In this episode of the Studio CEO Podcast, Jackie Murphy breaks down how one of her private coaching clients generated $81,605 in revenue over Black Friday weekend — without chaos, burnout, or massive ad spend.Jackie walks through the exact strategy behind the sale, including why repeating proven campaigns matters more than reinventing them, how omnichannel marketing drives conversions, and how paid ads can support organic marketing instead of replacing it. She also explains why Black Friday success starts months earlier, how nurturing your community impacts high-ticket purchases like annual memberships, and what data-driven decision making looks like in real life.If you've ever wondered whether big sales weekends are possible for boutique studios — or how to run them sustainably — this episode gives you a clear, grounded roadmap.Timestamped Outline[00:00] Welcome + episode context[02:30] The $81,605 Black Friday overview[05:30] Why repeating campaigns beats changing everything[08:00] Omnichannel marketing: being “everywhere”[11:30] Building a waitlist before Black Friday[15:00] Email + SMS strategy during Black Friday[18:30] Using ads to support organic marketing[21:00] The $226 ad spend breakdown + ROAS[25:00] Top/middle/bottom funnel ads explained[28:30] Why consistency with ads matters[31:00] Longer buyer journeys + community nurturing[34:00] Setting big goals without attachment[37:00] Why this was sustainable (even with a newborn)[40:00] CTA: Studio CEO ProgramKey Takeaways ✅✔ Sustainable profit comes from repeating what works ✔ Black Friday success starts weeks (and months) earlier ✔ Omnichannel marketing increases conversion ✔ Ads should support — not replace — organic marketing ✔ You don't need massive ad spend for strong results ✔ Longer buyer journeys require ongoing nurturing ✔ Big goals work when you detach emotion from outcomesPull Quotes“Change less. Evaluate more. Repeat.”“Black Friday doesn't start on Black Friday.”“Omnichannel marketing makes it easier for people to buy.”“You don't need a massive ad spend — you need alignment.”“Sustainable profit is built year over year.”FAQ How can a yoga or Pilates studio have a successful Black Friday sale? By planning early, repeating proven campaigns, building a waitlist, and using omnichannel marketing with strategic ads.Do studios need to spend a lot on ads for Black Friday? No. Ads work best when they support strong organic marketing and community nurturing.What types of offers work best on Black Friday? Warm-audience offers like annual memberships, class packs, and loyalty-based promotions.Why is consistency important for paid ads? Consistent ads help platforms gather data, improve targeting, and increase results over time.Work with Jackie Murphy Say Hi on Instagram @studioceoofficial 3 Marketing Mistakes Yoga & Pilates Business Owners Make: https://www.jackiegmurphy.com/3-marketing-mistakes Join The Studio CEO Program: https://www.jackiegmurphy.com/studioceo

Show SummaryOn today's episode, we're featuring featuring a replay of a recent conversation that PsychArmor's own Carole Turner had with Jim Lindsay on the Howard's Huddle podcast. Provide FeedbackAs a dedicated member of the audience, we would like to hear from you. If you PsychArmor has helped you learn, grow, and support those who've served and those who care for them, we would appreciate hearing your story. Please follow this link to share how PsychArmor has helped you in your service journey Share PsychArmor StoriesAbout Today's GuestHoward's Huddle Podcast is a show where untold stories find their voice and unfinished missions find their ending. During the show, Jim explores the lived experiences of veterans, military spouses, and the employers who believe in second service. The show honors the legacy of Sergeant Howard Gumm, a WWII hero who gave his life in service and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Now, they're on a mission to upgrade his honor to the Medal of Honor During this conversation, Jim has a conversation with Carole Turner, Senior Advisor at PsychArmor, joins Howard's Huddle to share her journey as a military spouse, advocate, and champion for military families. With over 30 years of lived experience, a background in communications and education, and leadership in both nonprofit and volunteer roles, Carole brings powerful insight into the challenges and opportunities facing military and Veteran communities.Links Mentioned During the EpisodeHoward's Huddle Podcast on YouTubePsychArmor Resource of the WeekThis week's PsychArmor Resource of the Week is The PsychArmor course 15 Reasons to Hire a Military Spouse. As an employer, you are looking for untapped talent pools. One talent pool that can be overlooked is the diverse and highly educated group of military spouses. Take this course to learn the top 15 Reasons to Hire a Military Spouse. You can find the resource here: https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/15-Reasons-to-Hire-a-Military-Spouse Episode Partner: Are you an organization that engages with or supports the military affiliated community? Would you like to partner with an engaged and dynamic audience of like-minded professionals? Reach out to Inquire about Partnership Opportunities Contact Us and Join Us on Social Media Email PsychArmorPsychArmor on XPsychArmor on FacebookPsychArmor on YouTubePsychArmor on LinkedInPsychArmor on InstagramTheme MusicOur theme music Don't Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families.  You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com  

The most important details in a real estate investment are rarely the ones on the first page of the marketing deck. In this candid and often humorous conversation, Chief Investment Officer Meghan Pinchuk and Director of Growth & Advice Chris Galeski explore how real estate funds should really be evaluated. From aggressive assumptions and fee structures to alignment of interests and downside stress testing, they explain why great-looking numbers don't always translate into great investments. Tune in if you're interested in…Common assumptions that inflate projected real estate returnsWhy fees and manager incentives matter more than most investors realizeHow to think about downside risk and stress testingThe hidden risks of open-ended real estate funds and “easy liquidity” promises

Gain clear, educational perspective on today's highly talked-about market, inflation, and household finance trends in this episode of the Money Matters Podcast. Wes Moss and Jeff Lloyd connect economic data, market history, and real-world stories to help listeners evaluate financial decisions through a long-term planning lens. • Review the start of earnings season and explain why early results from major banks are drawing attention. • Analyze the latest inflation data and discuss how current trends may affect everyday household expenses. • Clarify how small-cap, mid-cap, and mega-cap classifications are evolving amid growing market concentration. • Examine rising youth sports costs, proposed tax incentives, and why Congress seems increasingly focused on family affordability. Also, connect youth sports economics with personal stories involving travel teams, car repairs, and the changing balance between recreational and elite competition. • Define the concept of the “Tomorrow Investor” while exploring long-term shifts in middle-class wealth and saving behavior. • Highlight national championship ticket prices and how event costs can reflect broader inflation pressures. • Assess the impact of the recent Verizon outage and review typical customer compensation practices following service disruptions. • Compare asset class returns from 1928 through 2025, including inflation, cash, housing, bonds, gold, and U.S. stocks. • Evaluate historical S&P 500 drawdowns, bear markets, and how often market volatility has occurred over time. • Break down the latest U.S. inflation report and discuss why some indicators are described as a “Goldilocks” scenario. • Track changes in average 30-year mortgage rates and what rate movement may signal for homebuyers. • Monitor legislative proposals to cap credit card interest rates and their potential impact on consumer affordability discussions. • Survey improvements in inflation-adjusted income, household net worth, and changes in America's class structure. • Illustrate long-term growth in U.S. productivity, S&P 500 values, and dividend trends using historical data. This episode emphasizes context over commentary by pairing market history with real-life financial experiences. **Listen and subscribe to the **Money Matters Podcast to stay informed on markets, inflation, and long-term financial decision-making.

What happens to everything you've built if you don't plan your exit?Most business owners spend decades perfecting their craft but less than a year planning their exit—a mistake that leads to "seller's regret" for up to 90% of entrepreneurs.In this episode Kevon Saber, Co-Founder of Legacy Outcomes, reveals how intentional exit planning — executed early and with purpose — can protect your business, your legacy, and your family's future.Kevon reveal why the M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) market is often rigged against mid-sized owners and how a disciplined, team-based approach can protect your life's work for generations to come. Rather than reacting at the last minute like most sellers, he breaks down why legacy transitions often fail and how a disciplined, process-driven approach can dramatically improve outcomes.Legacy Moment: The reality is... my children told me repeatedly, they don't want to do this... I got to have that exit strategy to get out.Key Takeaways:2:30 – Who is Kevon Saber? (From Med-Tech to Legacy Outcomes)6:43 – Defining M&A: Mergers vs. Acquisitions explained.7:29 – Why starting your exit plan late leads to "suffering."9:34 – The startling stats: Why only 19% of businesses actually close.12:08 – The power of an M&A Team vs. a Solo Broker.14:01 – The Legacy Outcomes Framework: Prepare, Create, Attract, Evaluate, Legacy.18:21 – Handling family dynamics and owner objectives.20:50 – What happens when it goes wrong? (A $24M to $7M cautionary tale).22:51 – Kevon's closing advice: Life is a buffet table.Connect with Kevon Saber:Website: https://legacyoutcomes.comLinkedIn: Kevon SaberX (Twitter): @KevonSaberConnect with Corwyn:Contact Number: 843-619-3005Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/exitstrategiesradioshow/⁠FB Page:⁠ https://www.facebook.com/exitstrategiessc/⁠Youtube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxoSuynJd5c4qQ_eDXLJaZA⁠Website:⁠ https://www.exitstrategiesradioshow.com⁠Linkedin:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmelette/⁠Shoutout to our Sponsor: Country Boy HomesYou served your country with pride. Now it's time someone serves you. At Country Boy Homes, we believe every veteran deserves a safe, beautiful and affordable place to call home.We proudly offer VA loan friendly, manufactured and modular homes built with integrity, quality and your family and mine. Whether you're retiring to the peaceful low country or starting fresh with your family, we're here to build the future you've earned. Give us a call today, 843-574-8979.Country Boy Homes, Built to Honor, Built to Last.

Please visit answersincme.com/860/240201321-replay to participate, download slides and supporting materials, complete the post test, and get a certificate. Presented by Neda Amiri, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, ABIM; Dharini Mahendira, MD, FRCPC, MScCH and Eleftherios Soleas, PhD. In this activity, experts in rheumatology discuss evidence-based strategies to facilitate the selection and optimization of biologic therapies in women with inflammatory arthritis who are of childbearing potential. Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to: Describe how patient-specific factors, including fertility status, pregnancy, and lactation, inform personalized biological therapy selection in inflammatory arthritis; Evaluate the efficacy and safety profiles of approved biologics in women of childbearing potential across inflammatory arthritis indications; and Apply strategies to optimize management decisions in reproductive-age women with inflammatory arthritis.

I AM THE DOOR John 10.1-12 Gordon Dabbs, PhD John 10.1-9 (ESV) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Jesus chose to say something offensive: John 10.9 (ESV) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The Pharisees' conclusions about Jesus: • John 9.16 (ESV) “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” • John 9.17 (ESV) “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” In a world where sheep were common, everyone knew how shepherds would lie down across the doorway/opening of the sheep's pen at night. Nothing went in our out unless it went through the shepherd. John 10.9 (ESV) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The door doesn't trap sheep in their pen, it protects them. 1 Timothy 2.5 (ESV) For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus… John 14.6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Acts 4.11-12 (ESV) This Jesus… there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus is the door. This means: • Evaluate what enters your life. • Stop trying to be your own gatekeeper. • Practice boundary holiness. • When anxious, return to the door. He stands in the opening and says, “I am the door.” The door that guards. The door that holds. The door that leads to life.Subscribe to PRESTONCREST - with Gordon Dabbs on Soundwise

I AM THE DOOR John 10.1-12 Gordon Dabbs, PhD John 10.1-9 (ESV) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Jesus chose to say something offensive: John 10.9 (ESV) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The Pharisees' conclusions about Jesus: • John 9.16 (ESV) “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” • John 9.17 (ESV) “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” In a world where sheep were common, everyone knew how shepherds would lie down across the doorway/opening of the sheep's pen at night. Nothing went in our out unless it went through the shepherd. John 10.9 (ESV) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The door doesn't trap sheep in their pen, it protects them. 1 Timothy 2.5 (ESV) For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus… John 14.6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Acts 4.11-12 (ESV) This Jesus… there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus is the door. This means: • Evaluate what enters your life. • Stop trying to be your own gatekeeper. • Practice boundary holiness. • When anxious, return to the door. He stands in the opening and says, “I am the door.” The door that guards. The door that holds. The door that leads to life.Subscribe to PRESTONCREST - with Gordon Dabbs on Soundwise

Leading Into 2026: Executive Pastor Insights Momentum is real. So is the pressure. This free report draws from the largest dedicated survey of Executive Pastors ever, revealing what leaders are actually facing as they prepare for 2026. Why staff health is the #1 pressure point Where churches feel hopeful — and stretched thin What worked in 2025 and is worth repeating Clear decision filters for the year ahead Download the Full Report Free PDF • Built for Executive Pastors • Instant access Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're continuing our special series responding to insights from the National Executive Pastor Survey with an executive pastor from a prevailing church. Today we're joined by Eric Garza, Executive Pastor at Cross Church. Cross Church is one of the fastest-growing churches in the country, with 12 campuses across South Texas, serving both English- and Spanish-speaking congregations. In this conversation, Eric helps unpack the number-one fear expressed by executive pastors in the survey: running out of space and not knowing what to do next. Is your church growing but feeling physically constrained? Are facilities, kids' space, or parking holding you back from what God may want to do next? Eric offers practical, hard-earned wisdom from leading through rapid multisite expansion. Facilities don't just limit space—they shape momentum. // At Cross Church, growth has come through both campus planting and mergers or acquisitions of existing churches. In both cases, facilities either enable momentum or quietly choke it. Sustainable space must support all aspects of ministry—not just a worship room. Parking, kids' environments, lobbies, restrooms, storage, and office space all play a role. A building that works on paper can quickly fail if it can't support the full weekend experience. Don't rush into permanence. // One of Eric's strongest recommendations is to resist the pressure to own a building too early. Several Cross campuses began in leased spaces, which reduced operational burden and allowed the church to test viability without long-term risk. Leasing removes concerns like insurance, major maintenance, and long-term liability, freeing leaders to focus on ministry. If a campus stalls or misses the mark, leaders can pivot without being locked into a costly asset. Location matters more than you think. // Some facility lessons are learned the hard way. Eric humorously—but seriously—warns against launching next to railroad tracks or industrial zones. Visiting a facility during a Sunday morning timeframe is essential. Noise, safety, curb appeal, and accessibility all influence guest experience. Cross has launched campuses in libraries and event centers, learning to adapt acoustics and layouts while prioritizing safety and hospitality. Capital campaigns need margin. // Eric is candid about capital campaigns. Churches often believe in faith for a number that rarely materializes at full scale, especially since capital giving sits above normal tithes. Meanwhile, construction costs almost always rise. Cross learned the hard way that campaign timelines and construction timelines rarely align. Building 10–15% margin into every campaign accounts for inflation, surprises, and delays. If surplus remains, it becomes a testimony of generosity rather than a crisis averted. Remodeling vs. rebuilding requires sober math. // Acquiring an existing building can be a gift—or a trap. Before knocking down walls, Eric urges leaders to get third-party inspections and cost estimates. Some remodels quietly approach the cost of new construction while delivering less functionality. Evaluate whether a building should serve as a long-term campus, a ministry center, or even collateral for future development. Sometimes the wisest move is not to hold services there at all. Define a clear facility standard. // Over time, Cross Church developed a consistent “Cross standard” across campuses—shared color palettes, stage layouts, kids' safety ratios, and ministry flow. While floor plans differ, the experience feels familiar. This standard helps teams evaluate remodels quickly and ensures families know what to expect. It also clarifies where compromise is acceptable and where it's not. When space is tight, simplify strategically. // Not every constraint requires construction. Cross has increased capacity by adding services, adjusting service times, and consolidating kids' age groups when space is limited. Combining grades temporarily doesn't dilute quality—it preserves momentum. Eric defines excellence not as “having the best,” but “doing the best with what you have.” Obstacles are reframed as opportunities to steward growth faithfully. Communicate the season clearly. // Your people can endure inconvenience when they understand the why. Leaders don't need to share every detail, but they should frame facility strain as evidence of impact, not failure. Clear vision keeps people focused on mission rather than discomfort. To learn more about Cross Church, visit crosschurchonline.com or follow @crosschurchrgv on social media. You can also connect with Eric directly on social media at @ericpgarza. Watch the full episode below: Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Do you feel like your church’s or school's facility could be preventing growth? Are you frustrated or possibly overwhelmed at the thought of a complicated or costly building project? Are the limitations of your building becoming obstacles in the path of expanding your ministry? Have you ever felt that you could reach more people if only the facility was better suited to the community’s needs? Well, the team over at Risepointe can help! As former ministry staff and church leaders, they understand how to prioritize and help lead you to a place where the building is a ministry multiplier. Your mission should not be held back by your building. Their team of architects, interior designers and project managers have the professional experience to incorporate creative design solutions to help move YOUR mission forward. Check them out at risepointe.com/unseminary and while you’re there, schedule a FREE call to explore possibilities for your needs, vision and future…Risepointe believes that God still uses spaces…and they're here to help. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad that you have decided to tune in. We are in the middle of, in the in the midst of, is maybe a better way to say, these special set of podcasts where we’re responding to what you said in the National Executive Pastor Survey, which turned out to be the largest dedicated or direct executive pastor survey that we’re aware of ever, which is kind of cool. And hundreds of people were you know, logged in and told, gave us a sense of where ministry is at. And what we’ve been doing is spending time with an executive pastor from a prevailing church, and frankly, people I like, to get their ah thoughts on kind of what was surfaced. Rich Birch — And today we’ve got a big one. This is a significant issue. In fact, it was the single biggest fear that was expressed. We asked a question around, what’s your kind of biggest fear for this year? And nearly one in five executive pastors expressed fear about this. And what is that fear? It’s the whole issue of our facilities, space, capital projects, that sort of thing. Many churches are running out of kids space, parking, seating, lobby capacity. Rich Birch — You know, we’re all worried about in inflation of construction costs. If you got a building quoted on five years ago, you’re going to want to get it quoted on again, you know, renovation, building, all of this stuff. And, you know, we’re excited to have ah today a return guest, Eric Garza with us. He is from a fantastic church, Cross Church, which is located in Texas. It’s one of the fastest growing churches of ah in the country, and they have 12 campuses, if I’m counting correctly. So Eric has thought about facilities and so excited to have you back on the show, Eric. Thanks for being here.Eric Garza — Rich, thanks for having me back. Good to have an opportunity to have a great conversation about a big topic for a lot of pastors and executives across the country. Yeah.Rich Birch — Well, you’re going to solve all our problems for us today, Eric. So.Eric Garza — It’s just some nuggets of what I’ve learned and experienced. But if I can make your life and your world a little bit better, awesome.Rich Birch — That’s great. That’s good. Kind of tell us a little bit about Cross again, kind of set the context, you know, give us a bit of sense of the the church.Eric Garza — Yeah, so we’re in deep south Texas. Most of our campuses are within a half hour north of the US-Mexico border. So right at the bottom of the tip of Texas. 30 years going on 31 years as a ministry. In the last eight years, we went from one site ah to now seven locations, physical locations and 12 campuses.Eric Garza — We’re a bilingual ministry, which means we do we have English campuses and we have Spanish campuses. And we recently, last year in 2025, launched our first campus outside of our region in San Antonio, Texas. Rich Birch — Love it.Eric Garza — And you can imagine a lot of ah victories and a lot of challenges, ah you know leaving your space, your comfort area, the region where you’ve been, for 30 years and then heading out and venturing off into what we believe God called us to do in in Central Texas.Eric Garza — So ah just phenomenal growth. We’ve seen God’s hand up on our ministry and it’s come with, ah like I said, a lot of wins and a lot of challenges we’ve had to navigate. And being a a predominantly Hispanic ministry that reaches both English congregants and Spanish congregants, dealing with cultural, political issues in our region of the country ah has just been a whirlwind. But as anybody could imagine, it’s been a big learning season for us for expansion. You know, I know we’re talking about facilities going from one side to multisite and all of that that entails operationally, logistically, financially. So I wouldn’t say we know it all. We certainly don’t if we’re always learning. But man, if if we can just impart any wisdom, we’re we’re all for that.Rich Birch — Love it. Well, I would say I actually re-looked at a lot of these fears. And the overall tone, if you were to kind of summarize the the conversation that people seem to be expressing is like, there’s this sense from a lot of executive pastors, listen, our ministry could grow, but our space, frankly, is holding us back. And we’re not entirely sure what the path forward is. It’s like, we we see the physical space issues, but I’m not sure where to go from here. So I’d love to jump right in. Eric Garza — Sure.Rich Birch — How have you, as you’ve looked at your seven physical locations, 12 campuses, how do you evaluate facility limitations? And are they the things that are actually restricting growth or does the issue lie somewhere else? How do you, how are you discerning that when you look at, you know, this, this whole issue?Eric Garza — Yeah, a lot of our of our growth has come from us planting campuses, but some of our growth has come from, I guess, what the corporate world calls mergers and acquisitions, where we’ve merged or really acquired other ministries who either had an existing facility that we took over. Or where we partnered with them through the acquisition and launched a campus in a new building or a new facility.Eric Garza — So some of the things that we’ve done is, there’s a whole process, right, that that it’s entailed with going multisite. And one of those big key indicators of whether the campus or the church plant is going to succeed is whether they have a sustainable facility that can house all aspects of the ministry. And sometimes that can be difficult to find.Eric Garza — For example, you don’t just want meeting space to have services, right? You need maybe an office space, you need childcare space, you need a meeting space, you need lobby, restrooms, you need adequate parking. And all of those factors come into play when you’re looking to find the right spaces. So for us, We’ve just been blessed that ah either we’ve have you know gone through the capital campaigns, we’ve gone through the funding, the you know internal funding to build new facilities, or the acquisition that we’ve ah done over the last couple of years already had an existing facility, which is a plus. Because instead of building, we just went into a remodel phase to bring that building up to what we would call our Cross-standard to house our campus and facility. And so I mean it’s It’s a holistic approach. Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah.Eric Garza — You look at parking, kids space. What you don’t want to do and what what we’ve run into in the past, is it’s okay to to launch with limited space, but if you’re launching and you already have a couple of hundred people that are gathered, you’re going to want to find a space that’s going to give you ample room to have one or two services without having to crunch yourself in the short term. And it’s going to, in in in a larger sense, going to really facilitate some challenge and some angst and frustrations early on. And you want to minimize as much of that, especially when you’re when you’re launching and you’re setting out to start a new campus or a new church.Rich Birch — Yeah, so that’s one of those kind of pinch points would be too small, right? Like I’m assuming you’ve ended up in facilities where it’s like, okay, this is this just frankly is too small. Eric Garza — It’s not going to work. Rich Birch — And so we’ve got to, it’s not going to work. We’re going have to start with three services and that, you know, or something like that. Or we’ll start with two and we’ll be pinched too quickly. Are there any other kind of tripwires that you’ve run into that are like, oh, like it might be great on these five things, but this, these, if it’s not these two or three, if these aren’t right, we were not going in there. Are there any other things to get to, as you said, a sustainable facility? Are there any kind of big no-nos that you’ve bumped into, or maybe you wish you knew before? Yeah. Tell me about that.Eric Garza — Yeah, a couple of things. Number one is don’t ah start a church next to the railroad tracks. That may sound a little funny.Rich Birch — No, tell me more.Eric Garza — You never know that during your Sunday morning message at your 10 o’clock service, roughly about 10:40 a.m., this train… Rich Birch — Oh, gosh. Eric Garza — …who’s two or three blocks away is going to come blaring out ah and just completely disrupt your sound and and your service and your message for a few minutes. So it may sound comical, but ah yeah, definitely don’t do that. Right.Rich Birch — No, that’s very good.Eric Garza — Yeah.Rich Birch — That’s well, and even going and seeing, that’s a great takeaway because even going and seeing the facility during a Sunday morning, like, cause you wouldn’t know that if you’re there to just Tuesday afternoon or something, you would have no sense of that. Eric Garza — Yeah.Rich Birch — But, but cause it might be a train, but there’s, I could see lots of things where.Eric Garza — Trains are not confined to Monday through Friday.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.Eric Garza — They’re there every day as they need. And so you just you just never know. That has to happen a couple of times, and it’s incredibly frustrating. Rich Birch — Yeah. That’s interesting. That’s good.Eric Garza — And so you play it off the middle of the service, but man, it can it can mess it could mess with some stuff. The second thing I would say is is this when looking for a facility. There’s obviously some innate some internal perhaps pressure or self-imposed pressure as a pastor or an executive to want to get into a permanent facility right away.Eric Garza — One of the things that helped us early on with with a couple of our campuses is we actually rented. And here’s the benefit of renting or leasing, even for a year or two, as you grow that site is number one, you’re not worried about insurance, right? You’re not worried about lawsuits. You’re not worried about maintenance or you’re paying for that, right? But there’s a lot that you minimize when it comes to overloading your mind and your brain about what you have to handle.Rich Birch — Yep. Eric Garza — Alright. And so you pay a fee, but the building’s clean when you come in. And right after you set, you know, you tear down your equipment for the service in your kids area, you don’t have to worry about that because you’re leasing a space. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Eric Garza — And so if you can minimize, like I said, as much of the overload of operations and facilities on the front end, that’s that’s a great a great thing. And most spaces, right, what we did early on is if we had an event center where we would rent the main auditorium uh we would use conference rooms or or multi-purpose room for child care. We would safe proof them, right – all of our protocols in place. But that’s what we would do early on, and it would give us a chance to test and gather some data. Rich Birch — That’s so good.Eric Garza — Is this going to work long term? Right. Number one, we don’t believe we missed God. But if after a couple of years, this isn’t going anywhere. Well, thank God we didn’t buy a building… Rich Birch — Right. Eric Garza — …because now we’re you know up a creek without a paddle, as they say. And so leasing is not is not an entirely bad idea on the early outset.Rich Birch — No, that’s great.Eric Garza — But definitely the neighborhood that you’re in, right beside the town that you’re in, you want to be in a centrally as centrally as you can, centrally located as you can, and and not next to a railroad track or any industry or warehouses where there’s going to be trucks, just for safety concerns, for the curbside appeal. And so that’s why public libraries or where we had actually launched started campuses was at a public library – acoustic set because we couldn’t be so loud. So all of those facility concerns are are really things you want to keep in mind.Rich Birch — Yeah, I love that. I love the idea of the rental on the front end. What a great way to, it’s good use of capital. It’s a good, you know, it it gives you a chance to test… Eric Garza — Yeah. Rich Birch — …even if you stay for a couple of years, that’s, you know, that’s fantastic. So you’ve been through multiple, you know, capital campaigns, this whole process of like, we’ve got to raise money and then get a facility renovated or, you know, you know, expanded or whatever. Rich Birch — What, what do you wish you would have known before all that? Well, are there a couple like things that either, you know, you stumbled upon, you stubbed your toe or you wish, man, I wish somebody would have told me this. Are there any things that stand out to you?Eric Garza — Number, I think the first one is this. You have an you have a number in your mind, and you of course you believe God for it. It…Rich Birch — And it’s lower. It’s going to come in lower every time.Eric Garza — …it is. Every single, unless God does a miracle, which he is more than able to do… Rich Birch — Yes.Eric Garza — …it’s going to come in lower. And so I think have have high anticipation but realistic expectations… Rich Birch — Right. Eric Garza — …because most capital campaigns are campaigns that are above normal giving.Rich Birch — Yeah. Okay. Yep.Eric Garza — Right. And so at least for us, it’s above normal giving. Rich Birch — Yep.Eric Garza — We encourage and we get people to give towards a specific capital campaign, which is for a specific campus or a specific project or or what have you. But you have this number in mind and then if you can tend to early on. It’s not coming in yet. Or maybe you’ve done it for a year or give a specific timeline.Rich Birch — I see. Okay. Yep.Eric Garza — And you can get quickly discouraged, especially with capital campaigns where you’re like, we’re halfway through this thing and not even half has come in yet, or of what we thought would come in. And so it’s easier to get discouraged. But that was a big thing is that number in your mind, it’s going to be lower. And that’s not a bad thing. Right. That’s not a bad thing.Eric Garza — People are giving to a capital campaign above giving of their normal giving, sacrificially, they’re giving by faith. They’re giving with expectation. But at the same time, for those of us on the inside, right, those of us who are managing the resources and what have you, it’s it’s about having a realistic expectation that we have the faith that God can do it. But we’re all going to budget ourselves knowing that if there’s a high probability, not impossible, there’s a high probability that the number we had in mind, is not going to be what comes in for the capital campaign.Rich Birch — Let’s talk about that there. So there’s an interesting, um so I’ve seen that for sure in churches. There’s an interesting kind of tension that pulls in two different directions. One, you can have exactly what you’re talking about, which is, you know, we thought we would go in, we we were hoping we would raise X and we raised something less than that. Eric Garza — Yeah. Rich Birch — But then the other part of it is we were hoping the project was going to cost X and it costs X plus, you know, it’s costing us more than, than we anticipated. How do you manage that tension? How have you been able to kind of navigate that? That’s a, that’s a tough tension.Eric Garza — Yeah, the longevity of the capital campaign is gonna is not always going to be exactly match, it’s not going, rather, to exactly match what the building construction cost was at the beginning. Prices fluctuate and prices change.Eric Garza — And so let’s say you have let’s use so a rough even number, a million dollar capital campaign for your church organization. And the construction is going to cost, I don’t know, $900,000, $950,000. Well, a million dollars should cover it. But by the time a million dollars or shortly or short of that comes in, well, your budget is now at 1.2 or 1.3. Rich Birch — Right. Eric Garza — It’s fluctuated. And so the what’s congruent at the beginning can be really a little bit financially off by the time that can…In other words, the timelines of the capital campaign and your building projects sometimes don’t align perfectly. And we’ve run into that too, where we’ve had to take from our operating budget a little bit, or we’ve had to really emphasize a certain amount during the campaign, because that’s what needs to come in. We’ve you know met with with key givers and donors of the church. And those are challenges that you navigate ah during the capital campaign process. Rich Birch — Sure. Eric Garza — And and like I said earlier, it’s it’s challenging because, well, let me backtrack and say this.Eric Garza — This is why on the front end, you should add margin into your capital campaign… Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Eric Garza — …which we didn’t do that, perhaps the first go around. But certainly the later ah seasons, we added margin in our capital campaigns to account for any fluctuation in construction costs. And if there was ever in a surplus, well, we would tell the church it’s because of your giving and because of your support and generosity that we had more than enough come in. Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Garza — And so now we’re going to use those funds for X or they’re going to go back to the general fund or or whatever whatever the case. But I think that the key that would be to incorporate some 10 to 15% margin in your capital campaign on the outset to account for anything that might happen 12, 15, 18 months down the road.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. That’s really good. That’s good. You maybe just saved somebody a lot of headache two years from now… Eric Garza — Yeah. Rich Birch — …because of that part of the conversation. I want to go back to something you talked about earlier. You’ve had multiple buildings that you’ve acquired or you’ve merged with, and you were talking about remodeling and there’s like, that can be a blessing and a curse. Like it can be amazing. Like, wow, this is great. And…Eric Garza — You never know what you’re going to find.Rich Birch — …you know, you open up, you open up a wall and who knows what’s behind that wall. And, you know, there’s all that. And you talked about bringing it up to the Cross standard. Talk me through what how have you decided what that is? What is the Cross standard? And how do you what are the common things that you find, Oh, we’ve got to make this change. And how have you kind of defined that as you think about projects like that?Eric Garza — Yeah, so over the last few years, we’ve pretty much honed in on, I guess, the vibe and the look of what we want our campuses to to feel and look like.Rich Birch — Okay.Eric Garza — They may be different ah floor plans because some of them we built, some of them we acquired, properties we took over. But as far as color schemes, we do our very best to match wall colors, sanctuary colors. We use the same stage equipment, both branding and layout as best as possible across all of our sanctuary auditoriums, our stages. Eric Garza — Our kids spaces, ah we have an internal ratio of how many teachers or volunteers per infants, per toddlers, for school-age children we want. And so that determines our spacing. And so sometimes we’ve got to knock some walls down or build some walls in to accommodate for for what, like I said, our standard of ministry, both in appeal, but also in care for for our congregants and for our families.Eric Garza — And so when we remodel, you’re right, there’s some things that once you knock down a wall, you’re not going to know until you knock it down. And that’s where that, you know, that margin comes in. But for the most part, right, we’ve had we do inspections, we get we get third party opinions on the building, on the cost estimates, and like we would encourage anybody to do, right.Eric Garza — But that’s our Cross standard is the look, the feel, the equipment, the wall colors, you know is there enough space for our our guests, connect area, our next steps area for first impressions. Does every ministry have adequate space to store their items – all of those factors come into play in deciding how we’re going to remodel a facility. Eric Garza — And I’ll say the second thing is this is why before you break or before you knock down a wall, get an inspector or or get some people either in your church or in the construction industry or somebody that you know in in your community. Because sometimes when you have a building, your initial thought is to remodel. That may not always be the most financial financially wise decision. And here’s why. Because you may not know all that you’re going to encounter, you may in the long run end up spending just as much as if you had built a brand new facility with the exact floor plan you want.Eric Garza — And so that’s where you’re evaluating and deciding, is it more feasible to remodel this building for X amount of dollars? Or are we within 5% to 10% budget margin, where we might just say it’s it’s in the best interest of the church perhaps to use either this facility as collateral for our next building or a brand new building, or is it better to use it a multisite building, excuse me, multi-purpose building, and we end up building a new facility…Rich Birch — Right.Eric Garza — …for the church or for the campus. And so those cost estimates are going to help you make the best, most informed decision of where you’re going to steward the resources financially in either remodeling or in building a site.Rich Birch — Yeah, I love that. One of my favorite churches, Mercy Hill Church in North Carolina, they they had a building that was given to them and they did, they weren’t entirely sure what to kind of, it was in a part of town, they weren’t necessarily sure they wanted to launch a campus and just they had a campus closer and all that. And they ended up using it turned it into a really a student center and it’s a fantastic ministry building and it’s active, you know, five, six days a week.Rich Birch — Now they don’t do Sunday morning services there, but they do all kinds of other stuff, which is fantastic. Like is a great, you know…Eric Garza — And we’ve seen that too. Yeah. They use for leadership meetings, for small chapel receptions… Rich Birch — Yeah. Eric Garza — …or gatherings or next gen events, youth, young adults, even renting it out to the community as a means to supply income to the church…Rich Birch — Yep. Yep. On a daycare or something.Eric Garza — …to like, you know aligned organizations, of course, whatever your church policy is. But yeah, sometimes the best use of that building is not for church services.Rich Birch — Have you, have you run into facilities that you’ve evaluated and then decided, no like this is going to cost way too much to renovate and we’re, so we won’t go forward with it. Have you run into that after evaluation?Eric Garza — Well, not entirely, but I’ll say this…recent… Rich Birch — I know that risk is there for sure.Eric Garza — Yeah, there is risk. There is risk. And the risk assessment is different when you’re leasing a space or remodel… Rich Birch — Right. Eric Garza — …and when you’re when you’re obviously building your own facility, as far as and including the costs associated with that. One of our campuses recently, and I mean in the last 24 months, before we moved into our new building was leasing a space and we were given the option to remodel the space we were leasing. Because though it was suitable for what we needed for the ministry, for Sunday services and and all the other ministries, parts of it were not really conducive to growth for the congregation and for the ministry.Eric Garza — So we did contemplate remodeling. I think I think what kept us from doing that number one is whatever you remodel for the landlord the landlord is going up keeping. And so the return on that investment would be short term and not long term, We were already in the midst of building our building but we were growing at a rapid rate, and so we were eight, twelve months out from from being in our building and the campus was growing, and so we needed a short-term solution. Rich Birch — Right.Eric Garza — So we did think, Well, we’ll spend X amount of dollars to remodel our site where we’re leasing before we get into the new building. But we found out that shifting our service times and and doing different different strategies ended up alleviating in the short term the constraints we had to give us a time to get into our new building, which is now more than enough space for us to grow for for years and years to come.Rich Birch — Right. That’s cool. Yeah. Cause I’ve said as a, I feel like I’ve been in a ton of conversations with XPs where, you know, they’re talking about this issue and you know, there’s like a building that they’re, maybe it’s another church that’s come to them and they’re having a conversation and they’re, I would say their mindset is like, I’m not sure we should do this. Like this is, they’re like, this other church came to us and statistically, actually the most likely for these mergers to succeed are when the joining church comes to the lead church. Eric Garza — Yeah.Rich Birch — So they would come to your church and be like, Hey, we’re interested. So it actually happens a fair amount. And I’ve, I feel like I’ve talked, tried to talk so many executive pastors into like, man, it’s gotta be a really bad building. If particularly if it’s like has debt or has no debt or very little debt on it, it’s gotta be a very bad building to not want to take it. Cause it’s like, you know, you can, you can take, invest, you know, a moderate amount of money. You don’t need to dump a ton into it and get something great. And like you said, as long as you’re above board with everybody, you know, five years from now, if it doesn’t work, you could take that asset, sell it and move on and use those resources somewhere else.Eric Garza — And that’s very good because when you talk about acquiring a ministry, especially if it has a low balance on their mortgage or or they don’t have much to pay off the building, and if you’re in a position to pay that off within the first year of acquiring the ministry… Rich Birch — Right. Eric Garza — …think of a collateral and the equity that your organization now has because of that new facility that’s in your portfolio.Rich Birch — 100%.Eric Garza — And I know it sounds very business-minded, but when you’re looking to expand into the future, even at another site in your church ministry organization, you now have more collateral, more resources to leverage for a better financial position in the future when you do want to actually build a building. Eric Garza — And the second thing is this, if you’re acquiring a ministry that already has an existing building, in most cases, it’s already built out for church purposes. So that’s very helpful. So at that point, you may be putting in a smaller amount and just… Rich Birch — Right. Eric Garza — …you know, refurbishing it, painting the walls, putting some new equipment, some new screens, maybe be changing out the flooring a little bit, or some of the fixtures in different spaces… Rich Birch — There’s technology or whatever, yep. Eric Garza — …because it’s already built out for a church. And so that’s the benefit of going or acquiring in a ministry if you’re going that route that already has an existing facility.Rich Birch — Yeah, we had, ah we were running, our budget was about $8 million dollars and we were, we had a church come to us and they were, they had really, they had had a tough season and the summer before we ended up merging with them or they joined us really, they had multiple Sundays where they had two people show up on Sunday. They had the person that was preaching and the guy that was opening the door, like it was, it had really atrophied down.Rich Birch — And I remember in one of those conversations, they had had a bit of a roof problem. The facility was worth just probably south of 2 million. It was like ah a great facility, but they had a roof problem. And I remember one of the the elders leader person, he said, you know, we we got a quote on the roof and it’s it’s going to cost maybe about $15,000 to fix. Do you think you guys will be able to fix that? And they had no debt and were going to give us their building. Rich Birch — Well, like I humbly had to say like, like, yeah, we’ll we’ll be okay. Like, it’s gonna it’s gonna be fine. Like, you know, I what I didn’t want to say is like, I feel like our youth guys have like wasted $15,000 this year. Like, you know, like it’s like we can, you know, the exchange just on paper. And again, that’s not why you go into those conversations. Eric Garza — Of course.Rich Birch — But a part of that is, particularly in our seats as executive pastors, that’s a part of what we have to wrestle through and think about those things. So let’s get back to the renovation thing. A lot of what churches were talking about is like, pressure of like, man, I just, our physical facilities are, are holding us back. Rich Birch — Any other thoughts around, you know, changes you’ve made to increase capacity or, um you know, things that maybe are like some low hanging fruit or creative solutions that have that, that maybe we’re not thinking about, but as a leader who’s been through this, you know, you’ve been, you’ve wrestled through that, that we, we could, you know, benefit from.Eric Garza — Yeah, absolutely. A couple of things. You can please everybody, right? Rich Birch — That’s good. Eric Garza — And so I think one of the ministry pressures well, we want to please the next gen. We also want to please the child care. We also want to please the elders of the church. And we also want to please the younger families of the church and young professionals. And when you’re when you’re in a facility that wasn’t originally built according to your specs, it’s going to be difficult to do that.Eric Garza — And so you have to focus, as we have, on the most critical areas, sanctuary and child care. If you don’t have child care, it’s going to be a barrier to growth because families or parents are not going to have the comfort level they need to come to your church on a regular basis and to be a part of the community. And so for us, when we’ve remodeled, the first things we look at are sanctuary and then the kid space. Do we have enough adequate kids space?Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Garza — Some of the solutions when we’ve been limited in space is is launching multiple services to we have a smaller sanctuary or a smaller space, we’ll offer more service opportunities. Or when it comes to our kids ministry, we’ve evaluated with our kids directors and our our kids department of how can we best merge age groups to maximize the space that we have. So if you have right an ideal facility where you have you know your child your child care divided by grade level or age level, sometimes you have the amenity to do that and many times you don’t. And so what we’ve done is instead of having first grade on their own, maybe we’ll put you know kindergarten and first grade level kids together.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Eric Garza — We’ll put second and third together, fourth and fifth together as a way to consolidate because we don’t have the space that we prefer to have, at least in this season. And so for us, sometimes you’re not watering down in essence, the content, the quality, but you are consolidating in the short term or even medium term… Rich Birch — Right. Eric Garza — …if you will, if that’s even a term, to make adequate space for the constraints that you may have. Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Garza — And so you have 600 members and you only have 200-seat sanctuary, 250. Well, that’s an opportunity for three services. Rich Birch — Right.Eric Garza — Is that is that is that Is that a strain? Well, it can be if you see it from core perspective versus a perspective of, Man, we’re so large and we have the space. You know, one of our core values at our church is excellence. And we’ve defined excellence as not having the best, but doing the best with what you have.Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good.Eric Garza — So we may not have a thousand seat auditorium for this growing congregation, but what we do have, we’re going utilize it and steward it to our best ability. So if that means two or three services, well, God give us the strength and the people to manage and to lead and to execute three strong services every weekend, or every Sunday, in order to meet the need of the congregation that we have.Eric Garza — And and I think one of the biggest things, Rich, is also communicating this. It’s keeping them current, right. You’re not going to go into all the details per se, unless that’s your preference and that’s your senior pastor’s prerogative. But to share with them the overarching theme of, hey, here’s where we’re at as a ministry. Here’s our facility. And here’s what we’re going to do to continue to offer as best a ministry as we can, while at the same time being cognizant of the challenges that we’re facing.Eric Garza — We said this to our staff and to our church many times, is we don’t look at obstacles as negatives. We look at obstacles as opportunities. Okay.Rich Birch — That’s so true.Eric Garza — If this is what we have, how can we be as excellent as possible with what we have? If that means going to a third service, well, then we’re going to give it a shot because what we don’t want to do is allow facility constraints to translate into diminished capacity or into a diminishing congregation and I’m talking about numerically. Because the diminishing congregation numerically also means a diminishing budget and revenue financially because you have less givers in the seats. And that’s those are some of the challenges that you got navigate so we don’t see it as obstacles. We don’t see obstacles necessarily as a challenge we see that’s an opportunity of okay how can we navigate around this mountain if you will to continue to provide as excellent a ministry as we can.Rich Birch — Yeah, I love that. I love your example of the kids age size rooms. Because I think you’ve you’re articulating a tension that whenever we’re, particularly for launching we talked a lot about this, like renovating other spaces and new campuses and all that, where I think really is germane to our job as executive pastor to to manage this tension of we want it feel, you know, the language you used was Cross standard. It’s absolutely has got to be Cross standard, but there will be areas where we’re going to have to compromise. Like that is just true. And a part of what we have to do, we have to use our leadership and our discernment and, you know, get the right players in the room and have the conversation. And, you know, somebody using your example, somebody kids’ ministry to be like, no, we can’t combine them together. That’ll be terrible. And it’s like, we’re going to be fine. Like, we’ll figure it out, you know. Eric Garza — Yeah [inaudible].Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s going to be okay. We’ll we’ll help that navigate. And that’s one example, but there’s a ton of those that can come up in these, you know, in these renovations for sure.Eric Garza — Yeah, absolutely.Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Garza — and And people are always going to have opinions. Rich Birch — Right.Eric Garza — But I’ll say this from experience. And I mean, no ill intent towards anybody in your congregation or your ministry.Rich Birch — No.Eric Garza — Most of the people that are criticizing are the people that aren’t giving anyway. And so I’m not saying ignore them by any means. They’re part of your part of your ecosystem. They’re part of your church, they’re part of your flock.Rich Birch — Yep. That’s very true.Eric Garza — But it’s always with a grain of salt because the people that are really bought into your ministry are going to walk through those opportunities alongside you, ah hopefully with the best attitude that they possibly can muster up because this too shall pass.Rich Birch — Yes.Eric Garza — Right.Rich Birch — Yes.Eric Garza — If you’ve gone out in faith to plant or to grow or to expand your congregation, this is a temporary season. It’s not a permanent season. You won’t always be at three or four services, right? Or multiple services.Eric Garza — At some point, if God is in this and you really believe He is, and I believe He is for many organizations and ministries, the timing will be right when you have a facility that can house what you need, or that can provide the amenities and space that you need. And so for parents, for givers, for guests, it is just letting them know as best you can, even subtly through announcements or even messages and say, hey, we’re in a season of growth and expansion. Growth doesn’t always look you know perfect. And so we have seasons where we’re going to navigate some some challenges and opportunities as best we can to get us to an end goal.Eric Garza — This is a means to an end. What we’re going through is a means to get us to where we want to go as a ministry. And as long as you keep it at the forefront, tying it into the vision of the house, you’re going to see that in a large sense, you’re going to have people rally behind that idea and unfocused, if you will, from the constraints of their of the facility to the broader appeal of what God is doing in the ministry.Rich Birch — Yeah, that is so good. Friends, you should go back and re-listen to what Eric just said there. That is some wise advice. And obviously from somebody that’s been in the trenches a lot, that’s been my experience as well. The people, the complainers, I’m reading through the book of Job right now. And I’m like, man, his friends are just like, this guy needs better friends.Eric Garza — Yeah.Rich Birch — And that that reminded me of the people you’re talking about. Like…Eric Garza — Yeah.Rich Birch — You know, there’s these people who are just, you know, sniping from the cheap seats and they’re not really engaged in the mission where, man, those people that are right on in the middle of it, they’re like, let’s go, let’s lean in.Rich Birch — And man, that’s the kind of person, I’m hoping as I transition into older age that I’m that person, you know, because we have a number of those people at our church that I look at that are like, these are incredible saints who have seen so much change. And who I’m sure lots of things annoy them, but they’re fired up for the mission. They’re excited in our case to reach unchurched people, to see people who far from Jesus connected.Eric Garza — If you’re not changing, you’re not making progress, right? Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. And the fact you the fact that your ministry is facing opportunities or obstacles rather disguised as opportunities is proof positive you’re going somewhere. Rich Birch — Yeah.Eric Garza — You’re not a stagnant ministry. You’re not a you’re not a lazy ministry, right? You’re not apathetic. You’re really out in the field of vision that God has given you or to your senior leadership. And so it’s proof positive, right? And so take that as an badge of honor in some way to say, we must be doing something right.Rich Birch — So good. Well, Eric, just as we’re coming to kind of land, this has been a great conversation, hopefully been helpful for you, friends, as you’ve have been listening in. But as we kind of come to land today’s conversation, what’s a question or two that that you’re kicking around for this year at at Cross as you’re thinking about 2026? Where’s your head at? What are the things you’re wondering? It doesn’t have to be about this, could be anything.Eric Garza — Yeah, well, ah thanks for letting me speak into that, Rich. I think for me as an executive and looking at our ministry, you know, looking at the previous 30 years and looking at the next decade, if you will, of where God is going to take our ministry, being one of America’s fastest growing churches, being the largest bilingual Hispanic-led ministry in the country. We’ve, you know, like I’ve said in a previous episode with you, we haven’t had any precedent for us in our context. And so we’ve navigated a lot of uncharted waters and learned from both wins and losses and different opportunities and struggles to get us to where we’re at now. Eric Garza — I think one of the biggest questions facing the church at large in 2026 is how the church is going to respond to the ever increasingly fast-paced changes that we’re seeing on the political front, on the cultural front. I’m not saying that the church has to be a political response. The church has to be, has to provide a biblical response to what we’re seeing.Rich Birch — Yep. Eric Garza — And with the fast paced nature of culture and society and trends, I don’t believe it’s the church’s responsibility to respond to every trend or to everything, but certainly the overarching elements of our current culture and political dynamic where there is a biblical either mandate or precedent for it, that the church would speak it into that and provide biblical perspective… Rich Birch — That’s good. Eric Garza — …and and and wisdom for how people should think about certain topics that have a biblical or moral prerogative. And so navigating that as an organization, because as a growing church and being such a large ministry, if you can imagine the opinions. We have people in our church who are conservative and who some who are not. We have people who belong to one political party over another. We’re in multiple communities. And so different communities have different demographics, different cultural contexts, different policy initiatives. There’s a lot going on.Eric Garza — And as a church ministry, especially as that we’re multisite, one of the biggest questions I’m asking myself and our team is how do we, number one, stay biblically founded, right? And unwavering in what the biblical standard is.Eric Garza — Number two is how do we address the different things and different occurrences in different communities that we’re in? If we were just one site and one community, well, then we would just be I guess you could say in our own little space and our own little focus. But we have multisites, so we have multi-focus, if you will, at how we continue to provide as excellent a ministry as possible… Rich Birch — That’s good. Eric Garza — …keeping Jesus at the forefront, above the fray, and at the same time, giving a biblical perspective so that people have the right biblical worldview for how to walk out their journey of faith their relationship with Christ, but at the same time, how to respond to what’s happening in our world. I think for many times, for for many years, really for decades, the church has abdicated its biblical responsibility, if you will, to speak into things, not from a political perspective, but from a biblical perspective.Eric Garza — And because that abdication of responsibility we’ve seen a lot of things that have happened. Thankfully, in recent seasons, in recent years, we’ve seen a a shift where faith is now at the forefront. And so though I have that question, my biggest, I guess you could say prerogative is to leverage that people are focused more on faith, that people are open to faith now more so in our country, that people are focused more on this person of Jesus and is to leverage that as an opportunity to really hone in and speak into people’s hearts and minds and into the different communities that we’re in so that they have the right biblical perspective, the biblical worldview to carry out what God has enabled them or called them to do.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. I love I love what you’re saying there. And you know I know had a friend say, you know if you’re, you know, we we all are serving in a context. We serve in a particular time, in a particular cultural context, and God’s called us to lead in that context. And if you’re not feeling the pull from, you know, multiple sides, multiple polarities, you’re like, well, everybody here agrees with me then it means you’re not actually reaching your community, you know. And the fact that you’re feeling that tension means, okay, like there’s there’s people from a wide variety of, and it can be all different political is one, but there’s lots of different ways to think of that.Eric Garza — Yeah.Rich Birch — And yeah, that’s that’s so true. I really appreciate this. Well, Eric, you’re you’re a blessing to us. I thank you so much for for giving us time today and helping us think about these things as we kick off into 2026. If where do we want to send people if they want to track with you or with the church?Rich Birch — How do we how do we want to get people connected to Cross?Eric Garza — Yeah, well, Rich, thanks for the opportunity. And it’s what a blessing for us and for me personally to be able to just share some thoughts. And if it helps anybody, well, praise God for that. I think if you want to follow the church, we’re crosschurchonline.com or crosschurchrgv on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, all of, you know, most of the social media platforms.Eric Garza — If you want to connect with me, I’d be happy to connect with you at Eric, E-R-I-C-P Garza on any of social media platforms. It’d be a h privilege for me to help you guys and to share some thoughts and even answer questions. I’d be more than happy to do that. If I can serve your ministries in any way, by all means, feel free to reach out to me on any of the social media platforms.Rich Birch — Nice. Thanks so much, Eric. Really appreciate being here today, sir. Thank you. Eric Garza — Thank you, man. God bless. Appreciate it.

As agency owners settle into 2026, it’s easy to operate on autopilot—chasing the next tactic without reconnecting with what made the business work in the first place. In this episode, Chip and Gini make the case for looking backward before charging forward. Chip admits his first agency started because “consultant” sounded better than “unemployed.” But the real question isn’t just why you started—it’s why you decided to keep building. That motivation should be informing your strategy today. Gini shares how she once believed she wanted a large agency with hundreds of employees and global clients. When she hit 30+ people, she realized she’d built something she didn’t enjoy leading. She was buried in HR issues instead of doing the work that energized her. The Great Recession forced a reset, and she restructured the business around her strengths. Her advice: figure out what brings you joy in the business, and protect time to do more of it. Otherwise, you risk drifting into micromanagement or burnout. The episode also digs into practical growth tactics from the early days that still work. Gini recalls how she built her pipeline by developing relationships with business development leads at large agencies. When prospects came in below their fee threshold, they’d refer the work her way—a principle that remains just as relevant today. Both hosts encourage owners to revisit their “things I’d never do” list from when they started. It’s worth checking whether you’ve quietly drifted into those same patterns over time. Key takeaways Chip Griffin: “Agency owners often ask me, what should I do next? And the answer is very different depending on what you’re trying to accomplish with the business.” Gini Dietrich: “We say this to clients all the time, go back to the basics. It works. And it works for your agency, too.” Chip Griffin: “You need to do what’s right for you. And so, I think that the key to that is really going back to your roots, understanding what motivated you to get started, what drove that success in the early days.” Gini Dietrich: “You want to focus on the things that you are great at, and the things that make you the happiest, and the things that are most motivating to you, because that’s how your business will grow.” Turn Ideas Into Action Write down why you started your agency and what drove your early success. Block 30 minutes to identify patterns from those early days that you could leverage again for growth or business development today. Identify one thing that energizes you most about the work—then carve out time to do more of it. Even if it’s behind the scenes (like strategic brainstorming or quarterly client reviews), injecting that spark back into your role helps prevent burnout. Make a quick list of “things I swore I’d never do” when you started. Check whether you’ve drifted into any of those patterns on inertia—and decide if it’s a learned lesson or a habit worth breaking. Related Do you remember why you started your agency? Why one-size-fits-all advice doesn't work for agencies View Transcript The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy. Chip Griffin: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: And I am Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And Gini, I’m thinking way, way back, way back decades now to why I started my agency. Gini Dietrich: Oooh. Decades, huh? Chip Griffin: And I can’t remember ’cause I’m too old now, so. No, Gini Dietrich: you can too remember. Chip Griffin: Well, I mean, the honest answer is that I started my first agency was because I was unemployed. And it was better to describe myself as a consultant than unemployed. Yeah. Sure. And then than accidentally started accumulating business. Yeah. But I, but I do think it, it is a helpful exercise for us to go back and, and think about why we started the businesses or, or maybe not, in some cases, like mine, because I was unemployed, is not the greatest explanation. So you know more why did I decide to, to, to build it into an actual business. Gini Dietrich: Why? To keep going. Yeah. I think that’s good, especially as we’re, we’re thinking about starting out the new year and remind ourselves, you know, of the reasons that we started this. Some of us do it because we’re, we’re unemployed. Some of us did it because we found a better, we, we think we had a better way of doing things. Some of us did it because we have a problem with authority. Some of us did it ’cause we’d make terrible employees. I mean, there are lots of different reasons, but I think reaching back into our archives in our brains and thinking about why we did it or why we, I think that you’re right, why we continue to do it is a, is a really good exercise. Chip Griffin: Yeah, I mean, I, and, and I’ve said over and over again over the years that, that I think too many agencies operate on inertia, as opposed to any kind of a, a fundamental strategy. And so, you know, it’s very easy to say as, as I’m sure many people ask you as they do me, well, what’s the, what’s my next step? Here’s where my agency is now, what, what should I do next? And the answer is very different depending on what you’re trying to accomplish with the business. So trying to think back to those early days and what motivated you to start the business. Evaluate it because it, that may have changed, right? You, you may have started it because it served a particular need in the moment, and maybe it’s different today, but thinking about that and thinking about what you really want from the business is usually a better way to come up with strategic decisions than it is to say, well, what do other agencies like mine do when they get to this stage of growth or to this challenge? It’s, you really need to to match it up because otherwise, what’s the point of taking on all of that risk and stress of being a business owner? Gini Dietrich: Yeah. I mean, a really good example of that is I really thought I wanted to build a great big agency with hundreds of employees and, and clients around the globe and all of the, all of the things. And as I started to grow and we got to about 30 ish, 33, 32 people, I realized that’s not what I wanna do. Right. It was not enjoyable. I had built a company that I was not thriving in, that I didn’t enjoy leading. You know, I was dealing mostly with HR issues and not doing the work. And so the, the Great Recession did afford me the opportunity, unfortunately and fortunately to kind of take a step back and, and think about what kind of business do I want to have? And what kind of business do I want to lead? And while we’re back up to that same size, it’s a different structured business that allows me to focus in on the things that I do best and do the things that I enjoy versus HR ’cause that is not something I enjoy at all. Chip Griffin: I, I think I’ve yet to meet an owner who likes, enjoys doing HR or accounting or those sorts of things. Not fun. There are some who do it well. But don’t enjoy it. But I, I don’t think I’ve found any that actually enjoy doing it. So, but, but I think that, you know, as you think back to those early days and you think about what motivated you, it can often help you to figure out, you know, what is, what is that spark that you need in the business for you to either continue enjoying it for a longer period of time or bring back some of that, that joy that you had in those early days. Because I know a lot of agency owners these days are, are frustrated and, you know, trying to figure out how to change things for the better. And I think part of the way you inform yourself of that is by thinking back to those early motivations and figuring out how you can inject more of that into your business today. Gini Dietrich: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think it’s, I think it’s really important to do that. And I think there, you know, for me personally, I get really passionate and enjoy my job when I’m learning and doing new things. So artificial intelligence, of course, has been a great big thing for me because I’ve really enjoyed learning it and understanding it and implementing it into my business and then taking it to clients. You know, last month we launched the PESO operating system, AI edition, where the AI prompts you instead of you prompting it. So it will say, what are your business objectives? What are you trying to achieve? What are your audiences? What are your messaging? And then it builds a PESO program for you that’s fully integrated versus you saying I need you to act like a marketing director who can, who understands PESO and can build this and this. It’s that. So I like, those are the kinds of things that really get me excited. And building those kinds of things gets me excited and motivated. So it’s, it’s easy because I understand that about myself. It drives my team crazy ’cause they’re like, oh, she’s got something new. Or my, their favorite thing is, I had an idea. And they’re like, oh no, no, not again. But that’s what keeps me, yeah, that’s what keeps me motivated. So finding a way to understand what brings you joy in the business, I think is incredibly important. So that without exhausting your team, of course, but doing it in a way that keeps you motivated and, and not burned out. Chip Griffin: Yeah. One of the things that always used to, to drive my teams nuts was I would say, you know, over the weekend I was playing with this new thing. And, and you could just see the looks on their faces and they’re like, oh, this is a lot more work for me now. Gini Dietrich: This is gonna be fun. Yep. Chip Griffin: This is, yep. Yep. They, they never seemed to appreciate it the way that I had hoped they would when I came to them. Correct. With these, these brilliant brainstorms of mine. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Chip Griffin: I, and I think as, as you know, founders of agencies, most of us come in with some sort of that. Idea that, that we want to be creative or strategic or those kinds of things. And as we end up in more of a management role, we have less and less opportunities to do it. So I, I think that, that rather than giving up on that dream, we need to figure out how we can sprinkle enough of that in there to keep ourselves motivated. We can’t give up the, the management piece. We can’t give up the business development piece. Many of us would like to. But the, the reality is that, unless you’ve built a fairly large agency, you just don’t have the ability to pull yourself out of that, as a solo owner. But it doesn’t mean that you have to give up on those things entirely. You can carve out a piece of time to work on that, and if you are structuring your role in such a way that you’re enjoying what you’re doing, it also means that you’re frankly less likely to be doing the, the, the bad things that founders of businesses can do, which is micromanagement and tinkering with things that you don’t really belong in because you, because you’re not occupying yourself with the things that really motivate you. And instead, you’re continuing to try to do every aspect of the business. And that’s where you start to, to run into team morale problems quite often. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. You know, I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the years is that, yes, I can do the work, and yes, I can probably do it pretty well, but is it really something that I should be focused on? And if not, is it something that I can pay an expert to do because in the long run, it’ll cost me less money, less time, less resources, all of the things. And I know as small agency owners, it’s really hard to say, gosh, I’m gonna have to spend $2000 or $3,000 a month on an expert. When in fact it might save you, you know, 15 or 20 grand on the backend. So I think you have to think about these things as investments in your business and investments in your time so that you can focus on the things that, that you are great at and the things that make you the happiest and the things that are most motivating to you, because that’s how your business will grow. Chip Griffin: Absolutely. And if, if that happens to be being creative and strategic, then, then you can, you shouldn’t be doing it day to day in all likelihood for clients. Sure. But you should find ways to do it either as part of, you know, quarterly or annual client reviews. Or internal brainstorming sessions that you’re engaging in. There’s a lot of things you can do behind the scenes to be useful and, and to, to exercise those muscles in a way that that gives you satisfaction. But doesn’t put you on the front lines so that you’re, you know, now the, the one that the, the client decides they’re gonna call every time they’ve got an issue. Because that, that ends up eating up a lot of your time in a way that probably you’re not going to enjoy. So sometimes it’s doing things behind the scenes that gets you the, the most value, or doing annual in person with the client. But they understand it’s special that you’re here, this is not. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. This is not something they can or should expect every week. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. You know, I, I know I’ve talked about this before on the podcast, but we do quarterly planning with our clients. We do a quarterly look back, and then we, you know, say, okay, based on metrics and data and all that and your priorities, here’s what we’re suggesting for quarter two or in the next quarter. And that has afforded many opportunities. A, for me to, to work in my where I’m, where I’m strong, but it also almost always gets us more money. So when you’re, when agency owners are like, oh, should I do a cost of living raise every year? Should I increase by 10 or 15% every year? That kind of goes away because you are getting new projects every quarter based on the the plan and the strategic strategy and creativity that you’re providing to the clients every quarter, because they’re like, oh gosh, yeah, we should actually do that. And some, and sometimes they’ll say, we don’t have extra budget. Can we move some things around? Which is okay, but most of the time they’ll say, you know, we, we have a little extra budget. Let’s focus on doing that. We have to launch a new website. Here’s some extra budget for that. We have to do a series of webinars to maintain our CEUs. Let’s here’s a little extra budget for that. So there are things and opportunities for you to, for lack of a better term, term upsell when you’re doing these quarterly meetings versus waiting for the annual. Chip Griffin: Yeah. And, and so, you know, finding a way to, to inject yourself in those things is a valuable exercise. Absolutely. From that, look back to the early days. But the other thing that that can be helpful in looking back to your early days of your agency is, you know, what helps drive your early success? Because a lot of times when we’re trying to find solutions to our current growth issues, we can find clues in some of those early days and mm-hmm. A lot of that, you know, in the early days of, of most agencies, it may be that low hanging fruit from personal networks and things like that. But there are usually other patterns that you might be able to see there that might help you to understand what are, what are the basics that you need to go back to? How do you, how do you employ some of those rather than, than focusing on, you know, all of the fancy new things that you see, you know, some, you know, genius podcast hosts talking about as far as how to grow an agency and instead say, Hey, this is what worked for me. Yep. Because you may find something that works again today. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we say this to clients all the time, but going back to the basics. It works. And it works for you too, so absolutely you should think about those kinds of things. Chip Griffin: Yeah. I mean, you didn’t get here by accident. Well, maybe you got, maybe it’s a little bit of an accident sometimes that happens. Maybe, yeah. Some of it. But, if you’ve had any longevity at all, even a few years of longevity as an agency owner, there are patterns that you can find usually that started in those early days. That you can lean into for understanding and rather than trying to do something wild and different, focus on the things that you know, you’ve proved can work for your business. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. One of the things, if I were to dig back into the archives, one of the things that worked extremely well for us is I had developed relationships with people who did business development at the large agencies, and what I found is that if they had an RFP or a current client or a prospect come in and say, we only have a quarter of a million dollars to spend. They’re not even gonna look at that. And so they started just referring that business to us, which is how I grew the business. Mm-hmm. So if I think about that now, how could we replicate that kind of, you know, pipeline development? It was extremely effective. And I, I gift that to all the listeners too. Like there are larger agencies in all of your cities that they have a certain threshold, and if any something comes in below that, they are happy to refer business. So there is, there is one way for you to start thinking about how am I going to, you know, keep myself motivated? How am I gonna keep my pipeline full? How am I gonna keep cash coming in? That’s one of the things that you can think about. Chip Griffin: Yeah, and thinking those things through. I mean, sometimes it’s not a one for one where you did exactly the same way you did it originally, but you take that nugget of an idea. And you know, things like, finding other people who can refer you business that’s not quite a fit for, for them, but might be for you. It’s a good reminder to be out there and having conversations with your peers. With people even that you might perceive sometimes as competitors, because there are often opportunities. In the work that I do with agencies, it’s not uncommon for some of the other consultants in the space to refer clients to me that are a better fit for my background and the kinds of agencies that I work with and vice versa. Because you know, we all have our specialties. And as an agency you have your specialties, so it is very common for many agencies to have grown this way. So certainly something to be looking at today, particularly if you’re struggling to find that new business in 2026. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, I think I really love the advice of thinking back to how you got to where you are and some of the things that you did, and going back to basics a little bit, because those are the things that are going to continue to work. And to your point, maybe tweak a little bit to make a more, be more effective in ’26. Chip Griffin: I mean, it also puts you in the right mindset, I think, because if you’re thinking back to those early stages, that tends to be when many agencies have the most growth, when things are most exciting. And so if you can try to bring back even a sprinkling of that, that can be really helpful. Particularly when times are tougher, or you’re looking for the inspiration to take things to the next level or whatever challenge you may be facing today, those lessons can be extremely valuable and also motivating at the same time. Gini Dietrich: Absolutely. Yeah. I used to, I used to get mad at companies that would hire big PR firms for like brand awareness and, you know, sending news releases and they didn’t get any coverage. They didn’t get any results. And I would get, I would get angry and I would call the company and be like, you’re so stupid. I would never do that today. But I had such a, I was just so naive and passionate about what we were doing, that it didn’t bother me to call and be like, we can do this significantly better for you. And in some cases they laughed and hung up on me. And in some cases, like we became agency of record. Like we took AOR away from Fleischman Hillard one year from a big, big company with a big, big company. And it was because I made a phone call where I was like, I can’t believe that you’re spending this kind of money and getting these kinds, these lackluster results. They were like, all right, let’s listen. I don’t think I would do that today, but it worked. Chip Griffin: Right. But, thinking back to those things can help you do two things. One is to think some of the positive things that you can do or the affirmative steps, right. That you can take. But the, but sometimes looking back to, to how you got started can also be reminders not to do certain things. Gini Dietrich: Sure, sure. Chip Griffin: So, particularly if you’ve started an agency and maybe you worked at an agency previously when you started, you probably had this laundry list of things. I would never do these things as an agency. And I, I think back to my first agency and some of the agencies that I had worked with previously, you know, did a lot of what I felt was nickel and diming of you in terms of back in the day charging you for faxes and photocopies. Sure. Yes. And all sorts of little expenses. And so, you know, I was committed back then to making sure that my invoices were always clean and simple and fixed, and I just worked in the cost of all of these things. Into my total cost of doing business so that I never had to aggravate a client. Fast forward to today. If I found myself doing that, I, by looking back, I would say, wait a minute. Let me think about that. Am I, am I being true to what my vision was of the business? And if not, is that because I’ve actually learned something and it does make sense to do what I thought was wrong back then. Because I mean, you can learn and grow. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sure. Or have you just fallen into the trap because you walked around and you saw other people doing it. So you said, well, I’m gonna start charging for faxes too. And if you’re charging for faxes in 2026, by the way, Gini Dietrich: we have a problem, but Chip Griffin: we have a huge problem because, what the heck are you using that fax machine for? Let alone that you’re charging for it. And by the way, where did you find a fax machine? Because I haven’t seen a fax machine in person in a really long time, except maybe like at the back of a doctor’s office. The, you know, Gini Dietrich: the bank and the doctor’s office. Yeah, I think that’s it. Chip Griffin: Well, I haven’t, I don’t, I kind, I haven’t been inside a bank in a long time, but Gini Dietrich: yeah, Chip Griffin: everything’s, everything’s electronic now. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. There’s no need for that. Chip Griffin: But yeah, think, think back to those, those motivations that you may have had that rather than I want to do this, it was, I never want to be the kind of agency that does this. Because it, it is really so easy to fall down those rabbit holes over time without even realizing that you’re just, you’re doing the same things that, that you didn’t ever want to see when you started your business. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. And I think it’s so easy to sit on social media, and you’ll get served ads from experts who say this is the way that you should do things. And in some cases it might work. And in some cases you might be like, there’s no way. And I think it’s really easy to listen to somebody and say, yeah, but we went from $3 million in debt to making $3 million a day, like, you know, these wild claims. And then you kind of get sucked into that. I think if you’re really true to who you are and what kind of agency you want to build, that’s going to enable you to say, this just doesn’t feel right to me. I’m not, I’m just gonna… great if he’s really making $3 million a day, I need to just bypass this one. Chip Griffin: Because you need to do what’s right for you. And so, I think that the key to that is, is really going back to your roots, understanding what motivated you to get started, what drove that success in the early days. And by understanding the, the early months or years of your agency, the more that you can inform some of the decisions that you’re making going forward one way or the other. Gini Dietrich: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Think about it. It’s a good way to start ’26. Chip Griffin: Nice positive way. We, we managed to get through an episode here without beating up on our listeners. We didn’t start the year on a negative note, did we? We started positive. We did. Think about, we think about what has worked for you previously. Yes. And do more of that. Do more. So we will do more of this on a future episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. But in the meantime, I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And it depends.

Something New!  For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP235 In episode 235, the first part of a two-part conversation, Coffey talks with Jacob Morgan about building a future-ready organization by redesigning employee experience as a leadership system rather than a collection of perks. They discuss the role of futurists and foresight frameworks in business strategy; decoding human signals to anticipate workforce change; why employee experience must balance empathy, competence, and merit; failures of perk-driven engagement models; employee agency and co-creation of the workplace experience; structural work design versus superficial engagement tactics; leadership accountability in shaping culture; using technology and AI to amplify human capability rather than replace it; aligning expectations between employees and organizations in a post-pandemic workforce. Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.  If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.  About our Guest: Jacob Morgan is an international best-selling author, professionally trained futurist, and keynote speaker. He also runs "Future of Work Leaders," an exclusive network of the world's top CHROs shaping the future of work and employee experience. His passion and mission is to create future-ready leaders, employees, and organizations. Jacob's work has been endorsed by the CEOs of Mastercard, Best Buy, Unilever, The Ritz Carlton, Nestle, Cisco, Audi, and many others. He has a popular podcast called Future-Ready Leadership With Jacob Morgan and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two kids, and two Yorkie rescue dogs. Jacob Morgan can be reached at  https://thefutureorganization.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobmorgan8/  https://x.com/jacobm https://www.youtube.com/@JacobMorgan https://www.instagram.com/jacobmorgan8/ https://www.facebook.com/JacobMorgan8/ https://greatleadership.substack.com/  About Mike Coffey: Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business' small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.  Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for customers, shareholders, and community. Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year.  Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas' 31 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. Mike and his very patient wife of 28 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.  Learning Objectives: Understand how foresight tools and human signals help leaders prepare for future workforce shifts Evaluate employee experience using the framework of empathetic excellence instead of perks or engagement scores Apply the eight laws of employee experience to build resilient, future-ready organizations  

"My goal in life, my purpose in life, is to spark conversations. And in 2026, my goal is to spark 10,000 financial conversations." -Erika Wasserman Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, welcome back financial therapist Erika Wasserman to discuss her groundbreaking new book Conversations with Your Financial Therapist. Invited by Wiley Publishing to write about the emotional side of money, Erika created a practical guide wrapped in storytelling, featuring seven composite characters navigating real financial conversations throughout their lives. The heart of the book is the Money Mindset Method. It's a five-step framework using the word MONEY itself: Make the conversation comfortable (setting matters!), One question at a time (resist throwing in the kitchen sink), Nurture shared goals (understanding the "why" behind decisions), Evaluate practical solutions (brainstorm separately, then share), and Yes to compassion (for yourself and others). This repeatable approach gives people tools to practice at home once they've built the confidence. Erika emphasizes that talking about money is a skill most of us never learned. With 81% of people taught not to discuss finances (without even knowing why), we're left without the vocabulary or framework for these crucial conversations. Our money mindsets come from our backgrounds, religion, culture, and personal experiences, yet we merge finances with partners who have completely different histories without ever discussing them. The book includes incredibly practical nuggets such as actual conversation scripts for specific scenarios, visual diagrams showing different ways couples can structure their finances, and the wisdom that what works at 23 won't necessarily work at 40. When we normalize talking about money, we create ripple effects, modeling healthier relationships with finances for the next generation watching us! Key Topics The Money Mindset Method Framework (07:33) Make the Conversation Comfortable (13:34) Using "Passwords" to Take Breaks During Hard Talks (21:36) Practical Scripts for Real Conversations (24:43) Visual Diagrams: Different Ways to Merge Money (27:35) Where Money Mindsets Come From (30:34) Kevin's and Stephanie's Wrap Up (38:49)   Resources: YourFinancialTherapist.com   If you like what you've been hearing, we invite you to subscribe on your favorite platform and leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode! Or better yet, tell us what you want to hear more of in the future. stephanie@sofiafinancial.com   You can find the transcript and more information about this episode at www.takebackretirement.com.   Follow Stephanie on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.  Follow Kevin on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Jaclyn reviews Matthew 15 and the hearts of the Pharisees as they strive to follow their own man-made laws rather than God's laws. Do you try to honor God with your lips or with your heart?Today's challenge:Evaluate your heart. Do you honor God?https://www.inseparableministries.org/ https://www.inseparableministries.org/event-calendar

SHOW1-14-251671 Guests: Elizabeth Peek and John Batchelor. Batchelor and Peek discuss inflation holding firm at 2.7% in December. They evaluate falling gasoline prices and strong holiday retail performance as indicators of improving consumer sentiment. Peek also critiques a DOJ investigation into Jerome Powell, labeling it an "unforced error" that might inadvertently extend Powell's tenure. Guest: Elizabeth Peek. This segment addresses political dissent in Minnesota following a tragedy involving an ICE agent. Peek argues that liberal activists are nationalizing the incident to demonize law enforcement. She views this as partisan positioning for the midterms, intended as a weapon to be used against President Trump. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. Dempsey explains that the EU lacks a cohesive strategy for Irandespite a consensus on increasing sanctions. Regarding Ukraine, she highlights staggering divisions among European states as the U.S. withdraws military help. Dempsey notes a ceasefire remains unlikely because Russiacurrently has no interest in negotiations. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. The discussion focuses on Chancellor Friedrich Merz's efforts to address immigration to counter the populist AfD party. Dempsey explores the nuances of refugee integration into the German workforce. Finally, she reports European "horror" at potential U.S. moves to annex Greenland, which could threaten the survival of NATO. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. China faces a "sluggish zombie economy" characterized by a burst property bubble and anemic consumption. Sternberg warns of "Japanification," where growth remains stagnant for decades. Beijingstruggles with price deflation, further burdening a heavily indebted economy. Meaningful recovery requires political reforms Xi Jinping resists.  Guest: Joseph Sternberg. President Trump is reportedly using an investigation into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as a pretext to influence interest rate decisions. Sternberg notes that while central banks like the Bank of England strive for independence, they are increasingly politicized. Additionally, Western media outlets like the BBC initially faced criticism for slow coverage of Iranian massacre 7Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Intense protests in Iran, sparked by decades of mismanagement, have led to a violent crackdown by the regime. Schanzer highlights that these demonstrations are uniquely supported by President Trump's rhetoric. Reza Pahlavi has emerged as a potential figurehead for a transitional government or constitutional monarchy, as the population remains largely pro-Western.8 Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Syria's new central government remains extremely fragile, with authority barely extending beyond Damascus as factions clash in Aleppo. Schanzer describes a "Sunni jihadist regime" facing retribution from sectarian minorities. Meanwhile, regional tensions escalate as Israel and Iran reportedly narrowly avoided direct conflict, prompting Russia to evacuate its embassy. Guest: Dr. Brenda Shaffer. Iran is a multi-ethnic state where Persians constitute less than 40% of the population. Shaffer explains that while current protests are Persian-led, the regime's survival often depends on the participation of ethnic minorities like Azerbaijanis, Kurds, and Baluch. These groups frequently engage in direct retribution against security forces. Guest: General Blaine Holt (retired). Holt discusses potential U.S. intervention to support Iranian protesters, emphasizing strikes on command nodes rather than ground troops. While the U.S. maintains air superiority, putting special operators on the ground carries high risk. The Iranian people face a critical window of days to succeed before facing stunning reprisals. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Iranian protesters face a brutal regime that may utilize a "Samson Option," firing all missiles at Israel if the government falls. Weichert notes that while the Israelis and CIA have covert assets on the ground, the protest movement lacks a cohesive leader. Proposals for restoring the Pahlavi dynasty are criticized as an impractical solution. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Turmoil in Iran threatens China's energy security, as Beijing receives roughly 70-80% of Iranian oil. Weichert suggests Russia and China are using the crisis to test anti-Starlink technologies. Furthermore, the regime might import foreign terrorists to suppress domestic dissent, while the U.S. provides behind-the-scenes support to the movement. Guest: Gregory Copley. Iran's collapse could dismantle the "International North-South Transport Corridor," a vital trade route for Russia and India. Copley argues that the Iranian public is increasingly secular, with the youth rejecting clerical authority. While the regime may fire remaining missiles in desperation, a post-clerical Irancould ignite Central Asian economic potential. Guest: Gregory Copley. Although the U.S. promises help, Copley warns that a ground invasion is physically difficult and historically unsuccessful. There are signs that Iranian police and some Revolutionary Guard units are refusing to fire on protesters. Ultimately, the Iranian people must take ownership of the revolution to ensure the legitimacy of any successor government. Guest: Gregory Copley. Following the arrest of Maduro, Venezuela is controlled by four competing "crime families." Copley notes the absence of a clear U.S. plan for citizens facing food and medical insecurity. The U.S.seeks to enforce an oil embargo against Cuba, which is currently suffering from infrastructure collapse and electric grid failures. Guest: Gregory Copley. Reza Pahlavi proposes a constitutional monarchy where the crown serves as a symbolic figurehead, similar to the British system. Copley highlights Pahlavi's unique name recognition and legitimacy as the former crown prince. However, air power alone cannot decisively change the situation on the ground, requiring covert support after the clerics collapse.

SHOW SCHEDULE1-13-251868 PUBLISHER'S ROW NYC Guests: Elizabeth Peek and John Batchelor. Batchelor and Peek discuss inflation holding firm at 2.7% in December. They evaluate falling gasoline prices and strong holiday retail performance as indicators of improving consumer sentiment. Peek also critiques a DOJ investigation into Jerome Powell, labeling it an "unforced error" that might inadvertently extend Powell's tenure. Guest: Elizabeth Peek. This segment addresses political dissent in Minnesota following a tragedy involving an ICE agent. Peek argues that liberal activists are nationalizing the incident to demonize law enforcement. She views this as partisan positioning for the midterms, intended as a weapon to be used against President Trump. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. Dempsey explains that the EU lacks a cohesive strategy for Irandespite a consensus on increasing sanctions. Regarding Ukraine, she highlights staggering divisions among European states as the U.S. withdraws military help. Dempsey notes a ceasefire remains unlikely because Russiacurrently has no interest in negotiations. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. The discussion focuses on Chancellor Friedrich Merz's efforts to address immigration to counter the populist AfD party. Dempsey explores the nuances of refugee integration into the German workforce. Finally, she reports European "horror" at potential U.S. moves to annex Greenland, which could threaten the survival of NATO. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. China faces a "sluggish zombie economy" characterized by a burst property bubble and anemic consumption. Sternberg warns of "Japanification," where growth remains stagnant for decades. Beijingstruggles with price deflation, further burdening a heavily indebted economy. Meaningful recovery requires political reforms Xi Jinping resists. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. President Trump is reportedly using an investigation into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as a pretext to influence interest rate decisions. Sternberg notes that while central banks like the Bank of England strive for independence, they are increasingly politicized. Additionally, Western media outlets like the BBC initially faced criticism for slow coverage of Iranian massacres. Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Intense protests in Iran, sparked by decades of mismanagement, have led to a violent crackdown by the regime. Schanzer highlights that these demonstrations are uniquely supported by President Trump's rhetoric. Reza Pahlavi has emerged as a potential figurehead for a transitional government or constitutional monarchy, as the population remains largely pro-Western. Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Syria's new central government remains extremely fragile, with authority barely extending beyond Damascus as factions clash in Aleppo. Schanzer describes a "Sunni jihadist regime" facing retribution from sectarian minorities. Meanwhile, regional tensions escalate as Israel and Iran reportedly narrowly avoided direct conflict, prompting Russia to evacuate its embassy. Guest: Dr. Brenda Shaffer. Iran is a multi-ethnic state where Persians constitute less than 40% of the population. Shaffer explains that while current protests are Persian-led, the regime's survival often depends on the participation of ethnic minorities like Azerbaijanis, Kurds, and Baluch. These groups frequently engage in direct retribution against security forces. Guest: General Blaine Holt (retired). Holt discusses potential U.S. intervention to support Iranian protesters, emphasizing strikes on command nodes rather than ground troops. While the U.S. maintains air superiority, putting special operators on the ground carries high risk. The Iranian people face a critical window of days to succeed before facing stunning reprisals. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Iranian protesters face a brutal regime that may utilize a "Samson Option," firing all missiles at Israel if the government falls. Weichert notes that while the Israelis and CIA have covert assets on the ground, the protest movement lacks a cohesive leader. Proposals for restoring the Pahlavi dynasty are criticized as an impractical solution. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Turmoil in Iran threatens China's energy security, as Beijing receives roughly 70-80% of Iranian oil. Weichert suggests Russia and China are using the crisis to test anti-Starlink technologies. Furthermore, the regime might import foreign terrorists to suppress domestic dissent, while the U.S. provides behind-the-scenes support to the movement. Guest: Gregory Copley. Iran's collapse could dismantle the "International North-South Transport Corridor," a vital trade route for Russia and India. Copley argues that the Iranian public is increasingly secular, with the youth rejecting clerical authority. While the regime may fire remaining missiles in desperation, a post-clerical Irancould ignite Central Asian economic potential. Guest: Gregory Copley. Although the U.S. promises help, Copley warns that a ground invasion is physically difficult and historically unsuccessful. There are signs that Iranian police and some Revolutionary Guard units are refusing to fire on protesters. Ultimately, the Iranian people must take ownership of the revolution to ensure the legitimacy of any successor government. Guest: Gregory Copley. Following the arrest of Maduro, Venezuela is controlled by four competing "crime families." Copley notes the absence of a clear U.S. plan for citizens facing food and medical insecurity. The U.S.seeks to enforce an oil embargo against Cuba, which is currently suffering from infrastructure collapse and electric grid failures. Guest: Gregory Copley. Reza Pahlavi proposes a constitutional monarchy where the crown serves as a symbolic figurehead, similar to the British system. Copley highlights Pahlavi's unique name recognition and legitimacy as the former crown prince. However, air power alone cannot decisively change the situation on the ground, requiring covert support after the clerics collapse.

Today, we'll lay out a framework to help you identify and kill bad ideas. It's hard to objectively evaluate your idea early on - this framework helps you rise above your idea to do it effectively. A side-effect is that the framework will help you find and pursue the good ideas.We talk through 1) Finding and Evaluating the Real Risk, 2) Predicting Organic Growth Potential, and 3) Predicting the Likelihood of Converting Early Customers, using a startup idea from a listener as an example. TackleboxKunal Shah Delta 4Dig out of a Hole Idea to Startup Episode - The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas00:25 - Killing Bad Startup Ideas02:00 - The Three Pillars of the Will Your Idea Fail Framework02:45 - The Startup Idea - AI Messaging for Plumbers and Electricians03:15 - Dig out of a Hole Markets link to episode05:56 - Smooth Jazz06:24 - Part 1 - How to Find and Evaluate the Real Risk07:35 - Flipping your biggest risk to your biggest strength11:00 - Decisions aren't made in a bubble13:45 - Part 2 - Predicting the Organic Growth Potential14:00 - Kunal Shah Delta 4 Scale17:41 - Part 3 - Predicting whether you'll actually be able to get first customers to convert18:49 Managed by Q

Students are often told to avoid using artificial intelligence to complete their coursework. But, some distinguished colleges and universities are now using AI to help evaluate and identify prospective students. KCSB's Jose Vidaurri has the story.

Guests: Elizabeth Peek and John Batchelor. Batchelor and Peek discuss inflation holding firm at 2.7% in December. They evaluate falling gasoline prices and strong holiday retail performance as indicators of improving consumer sentiment. Peek also critiques a DOJ investigation into Jerome Powell, labeling it an "unforced error" that might inadvertently extend Powell's tenure.FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD 1917

Yosef Lee is a full-time litigation attorney based in New York who pivoted into multifamily real estate investing to gain greater control over his time and legacy. Driven by his desire to be more present for his two daughters, Yosef began his investing journey in 2019, joining mastermind communities and building a network from scratch. Since then, he has become a general partner in 17 syndications, participated in 5+ joint ventures, and successfully exited multiple deals—including a 3X equity multiple from his first investment. He now shares his journey to help others take purposeful action, emphasizing relationships, self-education, and long-term vision.     Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.     Key Takeaways Join the right masterminds and network consistently to accelerate your learning and deal flow. Learn the language of multifamily investing before pitching yourself or underwriting deals. Focus on people first, trustworthy partnerships are more important than proximity in out-of-state investing. Multifamily value-add deals are often won through rent increases, not just renovations. Being honest about where you are in your journey builds authentic trust with your network.     Topics From Legal to Legacy Yosef shares how his role as a litigation attorney conflicted with his values as a father. Realized that financial success wasn't enough without freedom of time, place, and occurrence ("TPO"). Accidental Discovery of Multifamily Found BiggerPockets in 2019 and stumbled into multifamily after exploring other investment options. Chose multifamily for its scalability and team-based structure. First Deal Breakdown: 44 Units in Kansas Partnered with others through a mastermind group to buy off-market. Pushed rents by $150–$200 and executed a cash-out refinance before ultimately selling for 3X returns. The Power of Masterminds and Community Did 200+ Zoom calls in 2020 to build relationships. Contrasts 80% of people who said "don't join" masterminds vs. the 20% who helped him scale. Emphasizes that education is free, but access to the right people is worth paying for. Authentic Branding and Thought Leadership Recalls a 2019 comment from John Casmon that gave him the confidence to start showing up online, even before his first deal. Encourages investors to be real about where they are and build in public.    

Show SummaryOn today's episode, we're featuring a conversation with Navy Spouse Patty Sandoval, Founder and CEO of HomeFront Haven, an organization that provides clinically informed community support to military spouses and partners before, during and after a deployment so that no one carries the homefront alone. Provide FeedbackAs a dedicated member of the audience, we would like to hear from you. If you PsychArmor has helped you learn, grow, and support those who've served and those who care for them, we would appreciate hearing your story. Please follow this link to share how PsychArmor has helped you in your service journey Share PsychArmor StoriesAbout Today's GuestPatricia “Patty” Sandoval, is a proud military spouse and public health professional. She built HomeFront Haven™ after experiencing mental health struggles during her husband's deployment in 2023. During that period, Patty found that there was a critical need for evidence backed care focused on supporting positive mental health outcomes among military spouses and partners. During the deployment, Patty kept hearing “You knew what you signed up for” and friends would reassure her that she'd be “ok.” Instead, Patty found herself exhausted, anxious, and feeling incredibly alone.  To ensure that others wouldn't have to experience the same journey, she sought to advance a preventative approach to mental health.HomeFront Haven™'s model prioritizes community-based support as a critical strategy to reduce reliance on crisis care systems. Instead of asking spouses and partners, “Didn't you know what you signed up for?” this program asks, “How can we support you, so you don't have to carry the home front alone?”Links Mentioned During the EpisodeHomeFront Haven Web SitePsychArmor Resource of the WeekThis week's PsychArmor Resource of the Week is The PsychArmor course Accessing Health Care. This course offers service members, Veterans, and their families an overview of the available healthcare options. You can find the resource here: https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/Accessing-Health-Care Episode Partner: Are you an organization that engages with or supports the military affiliated community? Would you like to partner with an engaged and dynamic audience of like-minded professionals? Reach out to Inquire about Partnership Opportunities Contact Us and Join Us on Social Media Email PsychArmorPsychArmor on XPsychArmor on FacebookPsychArmor on YouTubePsychArmor on LinkedInPsychArmor on InstagramTheme MusicOur theme music Don't Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families.  You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com  

With markets, economic policy, and investing headlines moving quickly as 2026 begins, separating signal from noise matters more than ever. In this episode of the Money Matters Podcast, Wes Moss and Connor Miller provide structured context on widely discussed market and policy topics relevant to long-term financial decision-making. • Review early-2026 market and economic headlines, including federal policy activity and legislative developments affecting financial markets. • Examine institutional investor participation in single-family housing markets across the Southeast and related affordability discussions. • Analyze policy proposals that would limit large investors from purchasing single-family homes and the uncertainties surrounding their potential effects. • Explain the proposed design of Trump accounts, a child-focused savings framework often compared to features of IRAs and 529 plans. • Discuss how geopolitical developments involving Venezuela are commonly reflected in energy markets and global pricing narratives. • Describe characteristics frequently associated with later-stage bull markets using historical market cycle examples. • Compare current market conditions with long-term averages for bull-market length and performance for context. • Evaluate recent shifts in market leadership from a narrow concentration of stocks toward broader participation. • Assess how artificial intelligence is moving from conceptual narratives to practical corporate implementation across sectors. • Review discussions surrounding tax refunds, recent tax code changes, and their relationship to economic activity. • Outline recent Federal Reserve interest-rate decisions and how monetary policy is typically evaluated in portfolio discussions. • Summarize historical volatility patterns during midterm election years within the presidential election cycle. Listen to the Money Matters Podcast with Wes Moss and Connor Miller for educational discussions on markets, investing, and financial planning topics shaping today's headlines. Subscribe to stay informed as economic narratives evolve throughout 2026 and beyond.

Episode DescriptionIn this episode of the Lead Ministry Podcast, Josh Denhart and guest Vance Martin kick off a New Year series on productivity and progress in ministry. They introduce Vance's “Progress Spiral,” a simple framework to evaluate, strategize, and execute in your ministry, starting with a deep dive into the probe phase. They explore how to honestly assess your people, processes, and programs across three core cultures – volunteers, parents, and kids – offering practical language and real stories to help ministry leaders diagnose what is actually happening on the ground before they start fixing anything.If you've ever felt stuck in the same problems year after year, or frustrated that your changes never quite solve the real issues, this episode will equip and inspire you with a simple way to evaluate your ministry with clarity and courage.Key Topics CoveredThe Progress Spiral – a three-part framework for ongoing ministry improvement.The Probe Phase – evaluating people, processes, and programs without fear or assumptions.Hearing Hard Truth – why asking volunteers, parents, and kids for feedback builds trust and real change.Key Quote"Prognosis without diagnosis is malpractice."Scripture ReferencesProverbs 27:23 – "Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds."Luke 14:28 – "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost."TakeawayBefore you rewrite your calendar, overhaul your programs, or launch something new, you must slow down and see reality as it is. When you humbly probe your people, processes, and programs – and invite honest feedback from those you serve – you discover where the real problems are and where God may be inviting you to grow. Diagnosis comes before prescription, and good leaders are willing to ask hard questions and listen well.Call to ActionWe hope this episode encourages and equips you. Share it with a friend and stay tuned for more resources each week.Stay Connected for More ResourcesVisit our website: http://leadministry.comFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeadVolunteersFind us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadvolunteers

Evaluate the people around you.

RESOURCE EVALUATION: FROM IRONCLADS TO PANDEMICS Colleague Admiral James Stavridis. Stavridis examines how leaders evaluate resources under pressure. He cites David Farragut at Mobile Bay, who successfully combined Army and Navy assets and adapted to new ironclad technology while ordering "full speed ahead" through mines. In contrast, he defends Commander Lloyd Bucher of the USS Pueblo, who surrendered his spy ship because he had "no resources" to resist and chose to save his crew from suicide. Finally, he praises Captain Brett Crozierfor prioritizing his crew's safety during the COVID-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, accepting the career cost of leaking a plea for help. STAVRIDIS NUMBER 21945 US NAVY HUANGPU RIVER, SHANGHAI

➢ Follow my IG @ Colossusfit and message “recipe guide” and we'll send you 53 high protein recipes for free Summary of episode: In this episode, we break down 8 practical ways to get and stay motivated in 2026.We cover why motivation fades and what actually creates long-term consistency.You'll learn how to set better goals, build discipline, and stay locked in when life gets busy.This episode is about creating real momentum, not relying on hype or willpower.If you want 2026 to be your most focused and consistent year yet, this one's for you.Listed points:1- When goal setting- make it mean something. You should feel fire2- Set reminders. Vision board, sticky notes etc3- Avoid taking shortcuts. Shortcuts often lead to cutting corners in other areas of life.4- Evaluate your circle. If you're with energy drainers all the time, motivation will be gone5- Action leads to motivation. When unmotivated, just try to do something. Do some typing, do a small walk.6- Expect motivation to disappear. Focus on habits and systems to help when it does7- Invest in yourself whatever way possible8- Extravert yourself Thanks for listening! We genuinely appreciate every single one of you listening.➢Follow us on instagram @colossusfit➢Apply to get your Polished Physique: https://colossusfitness.com/

Today Eric introduces the Price Tag Principle, which posits that achieving personal or professional growth requires a specific cost paid in discipline, diligence, and depth. He argues that the universe does not negotiate on these costs and that individuals often fail because they are under-disciplined rather than truly stuck. A significant portion of the discussion focuses on entropy, described as the social and internal resistance that pulls people back toward their comfort zones, often through the well-meaning but limiting influence of family and friends. Eric challenges contractors to stop negotiating their own effort and instead embrace the discomfort necessary to reach a higher level of success. Participants in the call further explore these themes by discussing the "crab pot theory" of negative peer pressure and the importance of surrounding oneself with high-achieving individuals. Ultimately, the episode serves as a motivational call to action for the New Year, urging listeners to stop seeking immediate gratification and start making the necessary investments in their own growth. Key Takeaways: Accept that every "level up" in life has a price tag that must be paid through consistent discipline, diligence, and depth. Be vigilant against entropy, which often appears as subtle whispers of comfort or resistance from loved ones who may fear losing the person you used to be. Understand that the universe does not negotiate the cost of success, so you must stop looking for shortcuts and focus on making the necessary deposits of effort. Cultivate a circle of peers who will exert positive pressure and hold you accountable to your personal and professional goals. Evaluate your current circumstances as an honest receipt of what you have been willing to pay for through your past actions and level of discipline.

2 Samuel 23; 1 Chronicles 11–12 Behind every great leader are a few invaluable individuals serving without recognition, but with purpose toward a common goal. Learn from Pastor Chuck Swindoll the four unwritten rules of true servants by examining the lives of David's mighty men recorded in 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11–12. Evaluate your role, attitude, and pursuits. Who is getting the glory? Lean into Christlike humility and joy today!

2 Samuel 23; 1 Chronicles 11–12 Behind every great leader are a few invaluable individuals serving without recognition, but with purpose toward a common goal. Learn from Pastor Chuck Swindoll the four unwritten rules of true servants by examining the lives of David's mighty men recorded in 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11–12. Evaluate your role, attitude, and pursuits. Who is getting the glory? Lean into Christlike humility and joy today!

Producer note: This podcast was recorded 1/4/26Bryce and Omari welcome back senior writer for The Athletic and friend of the pod James Edwards III. The trio explore the potential rivalry between the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. They also break down where the two franchises rank in the Eastern conference. Follow Omari on X/Twitter: @omarisankofa Read the latest from Omari on freep.com Follow Bryce on X/Twitter: @MotorCityHoops Read the latest from Bryce on substack Pick up "The Pistons Pulse" merch here!

Peripheral artery disease has been called the ‘silent circulatory crisis'—affecting millions, limiting mobility, and quietly raising the risk of heart attack, stroke, and limb loss. For decades, treatment focused on walking programs, aspirin, and sometimes a stent or bypass. But today, the landscape is changing. From PCSK9 inhibitors that drive cholesterol to record lows, to GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide improving walking distance, to novel antithrombotic strategies that balance bleeding and clotting—PAD care is entering a new era. In this episode, we'll explore the breakthroughs, the evidence behind them, and what they mean for patients who just want to keep moving forward." Hosted by the University of Michigan Department of Vascular Surgery: - Robert Beaulieu, Program Director - Frank Davis, Assistant Professor of Surgery - Luciano Delbono, PGY-5 House Officer - Andrew Huang, PGY-4 House Officer - Carolyn Judge, PGY-2 House Officer Learning objectives:  1.  Describe the current evidence-based recommendations for multifactorial medical management of peripheral artery disease (PAD), including lipid, glycemic, and antithrombotic strategies per 2024 SVS/AHA guidelines.  2. Interpret the clinical implications of the FOURIER trial regarding the role of PCSK9 inhibition in reducing cardiovascular events in patients with atherosclerotic disease, including PAD.  3.  Evaluate the emerging role of GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as semaglutide, in improving walking performance and quality of life among patients with diabetic PAD based on findings from the STRIDE trial. Sponsor URL: https://www.goremedical.com/ References:  H. L. Gornik et al., “2024 ACC/AHA/AACVPR/APMA/ABC/SCAI/SVM/SVN/SVS/SIR/VESS Guideline for the Management of Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease,” JACC, vol. 83, no. 24, pp. 2497–2604, June 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2024.02.013. L. Mazzolai et al., “2024 ESC Guidelines for the management of peripheral arterial and aortic diseases: Developed by the task force on the management of peripheral arterial and aortic diseases of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Endorsed by the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), the European Reference Network on Rare Multisystemic Vascular Diseases (VASCERN), and the European Society of Vascular Medicine (ESVM),” Eur Heart J, vol. 45, no. 36, pp. 3538–3700, Sept. 2024, doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehae179. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40169145/ M. S. Sabatine et al., “Evolocumab and Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease,” N Engl J Med, vol. 376, no. 18, pp. 1713–1722, May 2017, doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1615664. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28304224/ M. P. Bonaca et al., “Semaglutide and walking capacity in people with symptomatic peripheral artery disease and type 2 diabetes (STRIDE): a phase 3b, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial,” Lancet, vol. 405, no. 10489, pp. 1580–1593, May 2025, doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00509-4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40169145/ N. E. Hubbard, D. Lim, and K. L. Erickson, “Beef tallow increases the potency of conjugated linoleic acid in the reduction of mouse mammary tumor metastasis,” J Nutr, vol. 136, no. 1, pp. 88–93, Jan. 2006, doi: 10.1093/jn/136.1.88. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16365064/ Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.   If you liked this episode, check out our recent episodes here: https://behindtheknife.org/listen Behind the Knife Premium: General Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/general-surgery-oral-board-review Trauma Surgery Video Atlas: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/trauma-surgery-video-atlas Dominate Surgery: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Clerkship: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-clerkship Dominate Surgery for APPs: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Rotation: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-for-apps-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-rotation Vascular Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/vascular-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Colorectal Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/colorectal-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Surgical Oncology Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/surgical-oncology-oral-board-audio-review Cardiothoracic Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/cardiothoracic-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Download our App: Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/behind-the-knife/id1672420049 Android/Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.btk.app&hl=en_US

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