The Impact of Social Media

Justin 0:00

Three years ago , I completely got off of social media .

Rhett 0:03

What kind of rock have you been hiding under ? How in the world do you even do that ? I have not made that commitment . I have not done that . I've lived within that world . It's like you can't live in this world without being in a part of it .

Justin 0:15

That is what the culture is telling us this social experiment , the health of my mind . I could feel the shift in it , the possibility of you can do something that's in your heart , the power of controlling what's getting into your head . What I wasn't getting was all this negative stuff 36 days out of the year .

Rhett 0:35

the average person is spending over a month on social media with their time . That's one twelfth of your year . Are the decisions you're making on social media ? Are the decisions you're making with your time ? Are they intentional to who you want to become ?

Justin 0:50

I want to steward my unique story for His glory and for building up others that God has placed in my sphere and my domain of influence .

Rhett 1:11

What's up everybody , welcome back to another episode of Armchair Authentic , a podcast with your friends Rhett and Justin . Today , we have a conversation around the negative impact social media can have on your intentionality of becoming all that God has called you to be . Can't wait to jump into the conversation , but before we do that , I want to remind you if you haven't already followed us on Instagram or Facebook , you can do so at Armchair Authentic , or you can follow us on X at Armchair Auth Pod . That's Armchair Auth Pod and , as always , thank you so much to every single one of you who have taken the time to rate and review the podcast . It really is the best way we can serve those who aren't on this journey yet . Now , if you're here for the first time , welcome to the family . We're glad that you are taking some time today to join us on what we believe is a really important conversation when it comes to stewarding your story in a way that maximizes every moment in your life . You guys ready , here we go .

Justin 2:15

So at the end of last episode , we were talking about the power of social media and what really led us to that topic was we were talking about unhealthy comparison and , as we've done in previous episodes , we might hit a final topic and we realize , ooh , this needs to be devoted to its own subject right here , and social media can definitely stand in that position , because I did an experiment three years ago and what it was . I had been so , just just as anybody can relate . I had been so locked into socials and trying to keep up with the right posting time and it's funny when you really think about it . But it has become just our society of we post , we have this for dinner . It was fantastic or maybe even sharing a scripture . None of this is wrong , it's just we get these habits that are formed and I had realized that I need to take a break from that , and so three years ago , I completely got off of social media . Really two and a half years off of it . The only reason I got back on it was January 2024 . Probably a catalyst is I knew we were going to be launching a podcast and there has to be some way of communicating and getting the word out . So I understand the good power of social media . It's a medium to get things out and that's where people are listening , because I myself have learned about things only because of social media . So-and-so has a baby . So-and-so got married . It's a weird thing to say , but I found out because of social media . So there are parts of it . I'm thankful that I'm informed , but I gave it up and in those two and a half years it really is amazing .

Justin 3:53

First of all , perspective of a man who gave social media up for two and a half years , I'll first say when I came back in January , the whole mindset of social media has changed . When I got off of it , it was more about keeping up with your friends and hearing what's going on , the updates , the birthdays that I was talking about . But when I've come back , I might have people that I'm following . Man , I don't ever see their post . What's going on ? Now it's become and I know I'm talking to an audience who's like , okay , let him get this out , we already know what he's saying , because you do , I had no clue . But it's become so driven into what your interests are based on what you've scrolled and what you've researched , even on your google searches , it tells you what you need to be watching . It might say we know you follow these friends , but you don't really want to watch them . You're scrolling life and your Google looking up would show you want to see this and we talked about that last week . I mean , I might see right now a bunch of stuff on hey , have you ever thought about doing this with your podcast ? I mean , it's everything that we do , or whatever my interests are , check out these guitars or look at this . Here's the right approach on coaching , whatever it might be .

Justin 5:10

And so these two and a half years of this almost a silent season of if I were to take this assessment and look back , man , I got some stuff done . I accomplished so much . I accomplished so much . There were a lot of things that went from not just ideation , but there was this time to create , to ideate and to actually get to the point of if it was worthy of hitting that moment of implementation that it ended up getting implemented . And so I go back and forth since January when I'm looking at it and realizing was this a good thing to come back or was it not ?

Justin 5:47

And this episode isn't trying to convince people one way or the other . It's just our real conversation of . These are some of the thought patterns I'm having right now , because I would say , as of late , I basically jump on just to give an update about the newest episode release , maybe some other things , but it's very brief and then I'm I'm pretty much off of it , other than checking in to see is anybody reaching out ? Do we need to respond to a request ? Because we've made that commitment to respond to people . But I've had to kind of get back in that groove of now . I'm on it but I feel like I'm getting back off of it at the same time .

Rhett 6:25

I have a love hate relationship with social media . First of all , if you're listening to this and you've just joined us and you're hearing what Justin said , you're probably thinking what kind of rock have you been hiding under ? Like how in the world do you even do that ? Me knowing you , I understand the context of just your discipline , and you do things like you've not drinking what soda or caffeinated beverages and how long this month ?

Justin 6:48

23 years no carbonation .

Rhett 6:56

So 23 years no carbonation . Some people are thinking , what in the heck ? But I think the discipline life that you live , sometimes you just go about it going . You know what ? I have some things I want to accomplish this month . It's's not that as bad , but it is something that could be a distraction . So I'm going to you know , make this commitment or this goal and do like a social experiment , if you will , in your own life and you stick to it , and which , which is kudos to you for that .

Rhett 7:16

Um , here I am on the other end , your friend going dude . I have not made that commitment , I've not done that . I've lived within that world because it is the culture we live in today . Honestly , you know , and but it can suck you into the point to where it is stealing your joy because of the comparison thing we talked about last week . So we , you know , it is what it is . We live in a world of social media . It's like you can't live in this world right Without being in a part of it , or at least that is what the culture is telling us .

Justin 7:48

Social experiment . I'll let you know if that's true .

Rhett 7:51

I mean , I do think it is all depending on the world you live in . Does it get the word out ? Yes , um , and you're right . You know the world that you stepped out of that two and a half years ago . The algorithms and everything are completely different now to where social media existed , to really for what you were interested in . You know you had it there . You could find that based off who you followed .

Rhett 8:12

But now algorithms think they're smarter than we , we are . They were like no , we know what you really like . You know we know what you engage in . You know you think you want this , but you really want this , and so , as we talked about , it just inundates us right now with all the stuff that we want , we don't have , we think we need , or either just the things we're researching . It's so interesting . Have you ever had a conversation with somebody and you're talking and it's like I don't know , I'm just going to make something up candles , okay , not that I would ever sit around and talk about candles , but it's like we think our phones are listening to us and and so we're talking about candles and the next thing , you know you go onto your social you go into whatever , and now you've got advertisement for candles , it's true , right , and so it's constantly kind of that AI , that algorithm stuff .

Rhett 9:04

It's listening in , it's taking this data and it's really just trying to get to feed us what we want when we want it . And so that can be very dangerous , obviously , and it can steal your joy , and it can not only take your joy , but it can suck your life away from you . In fact , I don't have the studies in front of me , but I'm sure there are statistics that show , based off the normal average time that somebody is on their phone , if that's added up over time , over years , how much you know , how much of your life you're giving away just sitting in front of a screen . Yeah , you know , I , I don't , like I said , I don't know what those numbers are .

Justin 9:41

So much time that we're giving away One of my best friends , a guy named John Ross

Time Management in the Digital Age

Justin 9:47

. He has been off of socials I mean probably 10 years , so we kind of have this running joke with each other because he literally doesn't know what's going on in that social part of the world , and I would say for me , probably 2017 . So seven years ago I really began to back off of socials because I started seeing more of the pattern of this is sucking you in more than it's actually adding a value . And maybe that's me , I don't know . I try not to make such big statements and sound preachy to you , but this is a personal thing I'll talk from and you can decide how you take it . But seven years ago I probably backed off significantly to the point that when I really , before I unplugged the past you know three years , because it's 24 now , back in 2020 , when we were even in the COVID season probably , what was the predecessor to me making that step was , I mean , news was cutting edge , it was all breaking because crazy stuff's happening with the coronavirus .

Justin 10:47

And I remember setting up this discipline of I had a running pattern . I'd wake up early every morning because I wanted to write , I wanted to get in my word , because I wanted to make sure I'm getting the right truth to start my day , because it was such a dynamic situation to start my day because it was such a dynamic situation and I needed to make sure I had power over my mind , of where my mind could go if I fed it the wrong stuff . And so I set this goal back in 2020 and it lasted until I ended up taking a complete fast from it . But the first half of that year I didn't touch socials . I just had this rule . I didn't do it until 2 pm Because there still was an interest . We can all remember as a country . You had Dr Fauci coming on at a certain time every day .

Justin 11:30

You had the president at that time , president Trump giving some kind of update . So it's like I wanted to kind of tune in to hear what's going on with our world , because it was very interesting and it affected all of us . But I wouldn't do it until 2 pm . So by the time 2 pm hit I'd watch it and I've already gotten the entire day update . I didn't fill my mind with it all day long and it was like , okay , good , I've got kind of my actions , I know what's going on for the day . I would put it up and then move on with my day and all I know is when you do this social experiment like I'm talking about the health of my mind I could feel the shift in it , the possibility of you can do something that's in your heart . I don't mean pie in the sky , but I mean when you have something that's in your heart that you feel it actually is something you're supposed to work towards .

Justin 12:20

I still had good people in my life that I was sharing things with , and you were one of them , and I'm getting the encouragement and the advice we talked about on the MAPS process a few episodes back right Motivation , advice , peace steps . I was getting advice , but what I wasn't getting was all this negative stuff coming in on . Let me tell you why that can't happen . Do you know ? One in 180,000 will actually get to do yada , yada , yada , and so the power of controlling what's getting into your head . All you're doing is simplifying this mindset . So , and I've enjoyed the process and I guess I say that because I can actually see the difference from this January until really about maybe three weeks ago , when I've backed off significantly and I can already feel it just subsiding . So there's something to be said for the way my brain's working . I'm impacted by social media

Average Person Spends 36 Days A Year on Socials

Justin 13:18

.

Rhett 13:18

So when you were talking , I was pulling up online . This is as of April 2024, . The average person spends 143 minutes a day on social media . That's the average person . Most people are doing more than that , and so , if you're just the average person , 143 minutes a day , that's 2.38 hours . And so , if I do the math right , 2.38 hours times 365 days okay , .38 hours times 365 days , divided by 24 hours , gives you 36 days out of the year .

Justin 13:53

Yeah , that's so great man .

Rhett 13:54

That's how much time if you think about that that's just the average person is spending over a month on social media with their time . That's one twelfth of your year , brett .

Justin 14:06

That's the average person . That's mind boggling when you break it down like that because it lets you know what could I have done with all that time .

Rhett 14:16

Exactly .

Rhett 14:17

How could I have stewarded the time I was given , and so when you were mentioning the idea of this fact that you know , when you went on this sabbatical if you will , or this break , or however you want to label it away from social media two and a half years , you actually had a goal in mind . You were thinking I'm not stepping away from , I'm stepping towards something . I'm stepping towards who I want to become or a goal I want to accomplish . Because you're thinking through the filter of how can I better , you know , how can I use my time , maximize my efforts , maximize my time in a way that will deliver a vision that I have right , or whatever that might be . And so I think that it comes back to the core of everything .

Rhett 14:56

We're not saying social media is bad . We're just saying that , hey , sometimes , at least for ourselves , we need to think about what we're doing with our time . Are we really being intentional with our time in a way that produces fruit towards who we want to become ? And I think it's interesting that you were talking about this man , because I just started this a couple days ago , so I literally was laying out for the past couple of months , because of this social media thing , I've just found myself mind scrolling . I don't know what they call it death scrolling or something where you're just kind of like you know next thing , I know 30 , 40 minutes in . I'm like what , hold on ? What am I ?

Rhett 15:33

I'm like I just kind of went in the vortex of nothing and I'm just flipping through all this stuff , right , and just flipping through real to real , to real , to real , to real to real to real . Dopamine , hit after dopamine , hit of just whatever , right , and next thing I know I come out of it . I'm thinking , wait , I just wasted 45 minutes on nothing . Nothing productive came out of it . I'm not saying that there shouldn't be moments where you just kind of break away and you know kind of veg , if you will , from reality . But this wasn't just a one off .

Rhett 16:03

I have found myself like going to bed at night , before we go to sleep , like just kind of mind scrolling , you know , death scrolling and looking at that , and to spend 25 minutes before I go to bed death scrolling . When I wake up in the morning , instead of the first things out of my mouth God , thank you for this day . It was like I just did all of a sudden the phones there , I pick it up , I'm looking at emails , I'm looking at texts , I'm on Instagram or Facebook , just checking different things , looking at it and I was like , wait a minute , this , this is getting out of hand . And it's not that I'm in an unhealthy place , but I'm like there are better uses of my time and better uses with my mind , right With where I'm going in my life , and so I just started this about three days ago , and if you look in my kitchen , over there next to the knives is my phone charger , right over there in the far corner , and so before I go to bed at night , you know where my phone is .

Justin 16:54

Set it up over there .

Rhett 16:55

It's not next to my bed like it used to be . It's over in the far corner of the kitchen . Now some of you are like well , how are you going to wake up in the morning with your alarm ? Guess what I up in the morning with your alarm .

Rhett 17:04

Guess what I got this thing called an Apple watch which is kind of fun , right , and some of you are like , well , you could get distracted on social with that . I guess you can . I don't know how , but I just set my alarm on that . Or if this didn't work , I was just going to go and buy me an old school alarm clock and just set it up next to my bed , and so I've charged my phone . Now I'm started doing this .

Rhett 17:21

I don't know how long it's going to last , but over there in the kitchen I put it up , I go to bed , and now when I'm going to bed I'm not distracted , I'm able to really think through the day . I'm able to reflect on what happened . I'm able to reflect on Lord . You know , lord willing , there is a tomorrow that I'll wake up , the things that I'm you know , you're calling me to do tomorrow , and so I'm getting better in the past two or three days . I'm getting better rest , because I'm not looking at a blue light . I'm able to sleep well . I'm waking up refreshed , and the first thing that I do in the morning in fact , you ready for this I'm actually waking up before the alarm actually goes off .

Rhett 17:55

On my watch , let's say , I set my alarm for 645 in the morning I'm waking up at 630 . It's interesting how my body is just doing that , but I do have the alarm . But when I wake up I'm like I'm able to just sit there and think and kind of process . All right , you know , I'm not getting out of bed immediately , because I'm not that guy . It takes me 25 minutes before I roll out of bed .

Rhett 18:15

So if I'm waking up at 630 , typically I'm up at seven , you know , out of the bed because I just I don't know , that's just how I operate . But but yeah , it's just a different sense of feeling , like I'm taking back my life . And somebody might be saying , well , you're not really utilizing that time in a healthy way . I mean , you could be scrolling on social , but , like I don't know man , there's more peace in my life . Even in the past two days I'm able to just go . You know what I'm going to just take this time , take this margin and utilize it for dreaming and creativity and being grateful and in not being bombarded with what the algorithm is trying to force down my throat . Yeah , but me actually be in charge of like where my thought life is .

Justin 18:59

Yes , take agency over your creativity .

Rhett 19:02

Yeah .

Justin 19:02

Don't let the algorithm teach you how to occupy the spaces of the process . It's telling you you have to come up under and become like . It's telling you to become , yeah , based on all the people who are purchasing the ads to put it out there . It's basically telling you we're going to help shape you into this and you lose every creative morsel about who you are . And so what I love about what you're saying is when you're scrolling , you know , once you stop scrolling , you're just now starting a process of unwinding , yeah , and so it's not just 45 minutes . It could be the next 45 minutes of thoughts that you have based on what you just looked at and the sense of deep dissatisfaction with what your life is or the people in your life , because it can't live up to the epicness of what you saw on the social feeds . And so what I would encourage is plant a tree , and here's what I mean by this . When you plant a tree , literally in real life , you're digging the ground , you're getting it ready , you cultivate the ground , but you don't get the tree for a long time . And even when you do , it just sprouts up , but you continue to nurture it and it grows into a tree , but you won't see it that way for many , many years . So when I say grow a tree , I'm saying what is it right now that you could become intentional with that ? You know it's in your heart , you know it's a gift that you could become intentional with that . You know it's in your heart , you know it's a gift that you have , maybe a passion . And what if you started doing that and replacing this other time and you replaced your year where 1 , 12th of your year was going to this pursuit or this design ? Because what you'll notice when you do it , you're allowing the process to begin , and so that process will go through many phases .

Justin 20:47

When I planted that tree , I went through the phases of it begins to grow and you think , oh , this is what I'm aspiring to do , only to actually work through it and realize it wasn't that so with me . When we're even talking about that time in 2020 , when I actually gave some time in processing , I got really excited for some things , and I'll actually share what some of that was as we get a little further down the road , because it wasn't , in fact , what I feel I'm going to be stepping into , but it was one of the aspects that the tree is growing and I think it is this , but then it gives you time to now prune and work and cultivate and it takes a different shape . But that's not wasted time . All you're doing is you're growing yourself and you're developing and it's beginning to take shape . But you might not see it for another few years , and so when we talk earlier , an example I would

The Power of Intentional Writing

Justin 21:45

give . Since I've been a kid , I love writing . I remember writing comic books . I had Firefly Comics .

Rhett 21:51

And I remember it's funny that we had a name of our comic book company , and I called it BB Comics and because , Rhett's always been in my life .

Justin 21:58

it stood for Bradshaw and Barden Comics and I would write BB Comics .

Rhett 22:03

You would actually sell these at school . You would actually make enough . You didn't have a copy machine , so you would handwrite a bunch of these .

Justin 22:10

You know I did so I would write the Firefly comics and in my class and those who are listening .

Rhett 22:15

If you remember this , you can attest to it .

Justin 22:16

It's so fun . I only had one copy , but what I would do is I would charge 50 cents to read it , and so in study hall every Friday , a new Firefly comic was released and they would actually come and give me the 50 cents and they would get to read it , and so then I would create the next . So there's been this writer in me that I have created as far back as I can remember . You and I've talked about writing songs . There's just been something about writing . I know it's a passion point and you get so busy in life . It's like there is writing that happens with me , but there's the seasons of it's not going on , because you still have to be intentional with the time you've been given , and I remember November 2018 , whatever that moment was .

Justin 23:02

I decided to get intentional with journaling . If you're like me , I have journals that go back as far as I can remember and they're so , if I can use the word precious , it's like it really is . That fits the word . It's very precious to me because I can read these things that I wrote and it's just so innocent and it's inspiring . I get to see the young dreamer , justin , writing . But what's cool is I can see things that have transpired , that the young Justin had zero clue what was waiting . But what I regret is there's only like maybe five to 10 entries a year . What I would have given to have seen the whole shifting of what it looked like more reoccurring .

Justin 23:39

And so , in November of 18 , my whole goal was I need to journal more . That I'm doing now . Well , that was easy 2018 . This is just to give you fun numbers for you , for you who like to see how you can track along with something real quick . But when I became intentional 2018 , I had three journal entries started in November . Three makes sense , right . I had three journal entries started in November . Three makes sense , right . So my goal for 2019 was beat three .

Rhett 24:03

So that's easy , exactly Right .

Justin 24:04

So I already gave myself a winnable goal and I'm playing the long game . I'm planting a tree . I don't need the tree to be fully grown yet . This is a lifelong passion of mine and I'm being intentional with it in a fresh way . At that time , which would have been age 40 , maybe , yeah , age 40 , 2019 , I had 15 entries . Well , that was awesome . It's not where you'd want to be , but it was better than 2018 , 2020 . And it was directed to taking time off the internet . I had my mornings more freed up . I wasn't scrolling like I used to would have been . In 2020 , I had 60 entries . Well , that was amazing . In 2021 , I had 76 entries . So my whole goal was just have more than the next . So there is a bit of a game of comparison . That's healthy comparison . I compared to my previous year and I'm going to beat that year , because my whole goal was to establish a habit . And so in 2022 , I had 116 entries . 2023 . So the end of last year , I had 362 entries .

Rhett 25:12

Oh , three away . I was three , you just gave yourself a goal to crush 24 .

Justin 25:17

And at the end of 23 , I decided I don't want this to be such a thing where now I'm going for 365 . And I gave myself this year of completely backing off . Now my goal is to still fill up this journal , which will probably go back between 60 and 80 entries , I believe , because I wanted to now back down and not get legalistic with it . But I go back and forth because part of the intentionality that I developed was it's good to rest my mind a little bit . But now I've realized it's July , I got to get to writing and the whole reason I tell you that is the scrolling life will completely remove you from some of these aspirations that you really might have , and I would even say that God , the creator , has created you to accomplish . He has a unique story for you and you're called to steward the story . You want to put people in your life to help you navigate through those things , but you want to steward your story .

Justin 26:18

So when I look back at all these years , I don't have a regret on any moment that I wrote something in the journal because I'll tell you , a lot of people will never read that , but it's pretty vulnerable .

Justin 26:29

But what's really refreshing to me also is I can go . I created something on my phone where I have a record of every day that I put up those 60 days in 2020 . I have a checkmark on the day of the year that it happened so I can go back and say , this day in 2020 , oh , I did have an entry and I can read what was going on . And that's really refreshing when you can look back and realize , wow , I remembered when I was going through this or going through that , and all of that would have been robbed if I would have lived with this unintentional mindset . And , most importantly , what's grown out of all these years is the writing habits . I fully intend on writing for the rest of my life . I'm currently working on my first writing project that I'll talk about as we move forward , and all that is attributed to this intentional mindset versus an unintentional mindset .

Rhett 27:28

You just said it right there the unintentional mindset . Everything that we're trying to do is to steward our story in a way that helps you and your story and you and your God assignments and you taking next steps . We're not saying social media is bad . We are simply saying that it's important to be intentional with your mind , with your thoughts . It's important to be intentional with the goals that are in front of you . And if you're not careful and you're not intentional , or you don't know who you want to become , or you don't have goals to achieve and you've not written this down , and you don't have vision for your life , vision for your family , vision for your finances , vision for your creativity , vision for the things you want to accomplish in the next six months , 12 months , the two , three years , what will happen is the things in this life will begin to . They will tell you . I think it's funny . People are like you know , if you don't tell your money where to go , the world's going to tell you where your money's going to go . If you don't think that's true , look at all the credit card companies out there . What's in your wallet ? Right , they're after what's in your wallet with your finances . And if you're not being intentional with your finances . Everybody else has something to do with your finances . Everybody else has something to do with your finances . They want to take your money , tell you where to spend it , where you need to invest it , where you need to blow it all of that . Same thing is true with who you're becoming stewarding your story , being intentional with your thought life . And if you're not careful , not only social media , tv , video game , whatever it might be , there's all these things that are vying for your attention to pull you away from who you are called to be , and those things can supplement and help . Like I'm sitting here thinking through the lens of what if somebody's got this incredible business idea and they need to be able to steward social media in a way as a platform to get this important product in the people's hands , so that way they can not only make money and sell product , but they can take that uh , you know money and that profit to invest in the kingdom minded things .

Rhett 29:30

So you know you might be thinking , well , I've got , I like I have to live in this world . Well , the truth is , did you know that most successful businessmen and women that are leading organizations that have , you know , social media platforms . They're not on it , it's true , but you're like ? No , but they are . I see that they're on it , yeah , but they're not the ones running it , they're not the ones doing it , they're not the ones implementing it . They're not like , because just the social media alone that we do , which is nothing but like one , maybe two posts a week .

Rhett 30:02

It's amazing the time that goes into having to create all of that . So there might be a season where you need to be in it , but if you're in it and not working on it , it's a different concept . In other words , you can't be so much in the weeds of looking at everything and everybody and what they're all doing , and because , if you are , then you're not able to take the time that you have to invest in what you need to do to get that product out there , to get those thoughts out there . So there's this really weird balancing act , if you will . If you've got to be in the social media world , you've got to be in that culture to get your product out or your influence out media world . You've got to be in that culture to get your product out or your influence out .

Rhett 30:40

It's like most of the ones who are doing it well , they're not constantly living on their phone . In their phone , they've created systems and processes of intentionality to take their creativity and to create all the stuff that you're seeing , all the stuff that you're viewing , and they have platforms that time all this stuff out . So that way , the stuff that you're viewing , and they have platforms that time all this stuff out . So that way , the stuff that you're actually seeing now was filmed , created two months ago , three months ago , and it's been , you know , calendared and posted to where they're living their life , their best life , with their thoughts , with their creativity in inventing whatever it is for their business , for their idea , and they're taking the time to put that in a package that gets delivered later is what I'm trying to say , rather than them living on the phone and every oh , I got to capture this , I got to capture this , I got to capture this , I got to capture this , I got to capture this , I got to have this . Oh , look , I'm here , I'm there , I'm everywhere . You know , like that's not reality , like you can't live like that , you're not designed to live , like that , it will suck the life right out of you .

Rhett 31:39

I love the grow a tree Playing the long game here . You mentioned that and I began to think of the Lorax . Have you ever seen that movie , dude the Lorax ? Oh yeah , like what's that ? The end scene , how bad . Can I be helping the economy ? Right , but near the end of that , you know , the whole idea is this guy's trying to manipulate and control the city to think a certain way , right , and that whole idea is we don't need trees , right ? I mean , I'm creating oxygen for you to breathe , yeah , but oxygen's free when you have trees , right . And so I don't think it's a political movie as much as it is just kind of like this , this just beautiful way of saying like , hey , you know , plant a tree and I love it . At the end of the movie , what , what does it say ?

Rhett 32:22

there's that little moment where he's like I say let it die , let it die , let it die , let it shrivel up and die . We say let it grow in Needville right .

Justin 32:37

In .

Rhett 32:38

Sneedville , sneedville , whatever you know , but like we , like your creativity , your thought life , your mind , your health , your marriage , your finances , like we want that to grow in your life , and God does too . And it's just being aware that , like just being aware of the little things that can pull you away from that , and I think , uh , yeah , I think we can all get better at being intentional with our time and our mind and yeah , I agree and I like how you made that known because some people might not realize that .

Justin 33:07

but when you're seeing the best of the people out there , all of our socials , they're really not the ones doing it .

Justin 33:13

They're not people who they've employed to do that , but what you do have the agency to do is plant the tree . Begin to do something now that you're investing in what's going to come from it Not now , but years from now but the satisfaction you'll get doing a good work Now . It says in the word of God do not be weary in doing good , but at the proper time you'll reap a harvest if you do not give up . And that's the mindset . Just keep working at your craft every day . Keep being consistent .

Justin 33:46

When this year happened and me and Rhett decided to launch this podcast , we had our agreement on . We knew where in the priority chain this is , so we knew the amount of time that is appropriate for this hobby that we're going to do . Now we consider it a priority in our life , but it has its appropriate place . We've had people who've come up to us in this industry saying what you guys are doing , I can help you get up here . You know whatever that up here is and you know what . If that happens one day , great . But that's not on our priority right now to go try to force and make that happen . We're content right now with what we're accomplishing because it is on that priority list , but we also have things that we give our attention

Stewarding Your Story for Purpose

Justin 34:29

to .

Justin 34:29

I want to make sure that I am prioritizing what we already have and that we're accomplishing , and so my priority is my family Number one they're going to get the best of me .

Justin 34:40

I also have a part of my story is being over pastoral care for Church of the Highlands . I feel the weight of that process to help make sure our staff is trained . I also have the privilege to help pour into these students at Highlands College this 18 to 24 . Students at Highlands College this 18 to 24 , these are pivotal years that we can help them , as they're beginning to go , steward their story . The churches that I get to talk to around the country I love doing that . There's priority . And then with the podcast , I'm so thankful , rhett , that we get to talk about the things that we do , which is really a continuation of the conversations that we've had for 30 years and we're inviting people on to this journey . So , priority when we stepped into this , it's essential that we are naming the time that goes where and we are stewarding and not just taking up things that don't matter Just because you can doesn't mean you should .

Rhett 35:39

There has to be a filter in place for every decision that you make , but the filter always comes back to who . I keep coming back to this man , but it's like who do I want to become ? What do I want to accomplish ? Who am I Like where ? What are my goals in my life ? I think it starts with yourself , with your family , obviously , first , and then everything outside of that , and so the fact that you were talking about yes , we have a desire to do this podcast , and to do it well . We knew where that laid within the priority list . We're like we can't do this if it's going to get in the way of certain things , so we're only going to do things that we can sustain that do not get in the way of our family and all the other priorities that we have in our life .

Rhett 36:18

I hope that you hear when you walk away from this is that we're not saying social media is bad . What we are saying , though , is there is something in your life that God has called you and created you individually , for You're created in the likeness of God . That's his creativity . In other words , he's created you on purpose , for a purpose , and there are so many distractions in this world that are vying to keep you away from fulfilling that purpose in your life . What is your purpose ? Why are you here ? Two great days in your life ? Right the day you were born , aren't we grateful ? Second day is the day you discover why you were born . And when you discover your why and you come back to that , it's like everything else flows from that . It does . Everything comes out of that trueness of who I am .

Rhett 37:06

So , for me , I no longer want to mindlessly scroll at night . I want to take my thoughts , in a way , and be productive . I want to sleep well . I want to just make sure that I'm contemplating and reflecting well and that I'm setting my next day up for success . So what am I doing ? Because I know that's what I want to accomplish , I've set my phone away from the bed . I'm going to bed without social media and I'm waking up without social media and it's setting me up for who I want to become and what I want to accomplish in a way that helps me . And so all we're saying is filter , filter , filter . Are the decisions you're making on social media , are the decisions you're making with your time ? Are they helping maximize and are they intentional to who you want to become in the story that God is writing in your life ?

Justin 37:53

I think about the cartoon that I grew up watching . It was called Duck Tales . Do you remember Duck Tales ?

Rhett 37:58

You can't even say it without doing it .

Justin 38:00

A duck tales .

Rhett 38:02

And it was like Scrooge .

Justin 38:03

McDuck would go swim in all the money Wow that looks fun yeah .

Rhett 38:08

Think of that in reality , though . I mean , he takes a nosedive in the middle into metal and he makes it look like he's swimming down in it and through it and around it , and he makes it look like he's swimming down in it , and through it and around it Like it's impossible .

Justin 38:18

He made it possible .

Rhett 38:19

But as a kid , you don't even , you're not even thinking .

Justin 38:22

There was an episode one time where he had this phrase , and I mean I had to have been eight years , nine years old when I saw it and it stuck with me my whole life .

Rhett 38:31

Oh wow , I'm intrigued .

Justin 38:32

You've heard this phrase work smarter , not harder . I heard him say that , and it's so true , because all we're trying to do is just because you're working hard doesn't mean you're doing something good .

Justin 38:43

It's so true , but it's utilizing and stewarding the time and working smarter , not harder . And it's cool that we're talking about this because , as we've talked about it , we're not always planning what we're talking about . We have a little creative meeting before , but we try to keep it just real conversations . That's on our heart . But today , this morning , I'm reading out of Ephesians five and I pulled up this verse . It's one of my favorites . It says be very careful , then , how you live , not as unwise , but as wise , making the most of every opportunity , because the days are evil , and I love that . It says , therefore , do not be foolish , but understand what the Lord's will is . And that's when it begins to talk about don't get drunk on wine , which leads to debauchery . Instead , be filled with the Spirit , but drunk on wine . That is a perfect example of what that saying is Don't be overindulgent in something , and that's really a great descriptor of this podcast today .

Justin 39:36

I've been so overindulgent in something and that's really a great descriptor of this podcast today .

Justin 39:39

I've been so overindulgent many years in this world of social media , or I've majored on a bunch of minors where I'm , in essence , being drunk on wine when we're death scrolling , as you were saying , rhett , you're being drunk on wine , you're being overindulged and getting intoxicated in something that is opposite from the Holy Spirit and what he wants to breathe in you to accomplish , not in a harder work , harder way , but in a work smarter , and to recognize that these days are numbered , 36 days that you said that we are wasting each year , probably more if we add up other areas of our life . God , if I'm standing before you , can I really say that I stewarded my life well and that's something that when I go to sleep at night , that's what's on my mind . I want to please God and steward the part that is Justin . Please God and steward the part that is Justin . I want to steward my unique story for his glory and for building up the others that God has placed in my sphere and my domain of influence .

Rhett 40:48

I love how that verse says make the most of every opportunity . In other words , it's dependent on you making the choice . God's not going to do it for you , like we have to lean into this . It's our decision Make the most of every opportunity .

Rhett 41:07

So here's my question as we close today is how are you , how am I making the most of every opportunity I have with my relationship with God ? How am I making the most of every opportunity I have with my relationship with God ? How am I making the most of every opportunity with my family , with my relationships , with my finances , with my time ? How am I making the most of every opportunity I have with a person at the grocery store , across the counter , with my waiter or waitress counter , with my waiter or waitress ? How am I making the most of every opportunity I have with the very breath that I breathe in my life right now ? How am I making the most of every opportunity with my mental health , with my physical health ? How am I making the most of every opportunity ? In other words , how am I stewarding my story that God has given

Reach Out To Us: Info@ArmchairAuthentic.com

Rhett 41:57

me ? Am I stewarding my story ?

Justin 41:58

that God has given me . Thank you for listening to Armchair Authentic with Rhett and Justin . We hope you enjoyed the episode today . We're going to continue diving in next week , but first we'd love to hear from you as we continue our conversation . You can reach out to us at info at armchairauthenticcom , and please rate and review this podcast . We want to make sure that we get this out to those who've not yet heard and when you rate and review , you really help us out on that . Well , until next episode , have a fantastic week . We'll see you soon .