Crisis to Opportunity: A Prosperous Mindset on the Debt Ceiling – Episode 517 

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[00:01] Welcome to the Prosperity Podcast. Prosperity thinkers, on this episode, we’re gonna be talking about the debt ceiling crisis. And no, we’re not going to be like everyone else. This is a Prosperity Podcast. We’re approaching it different, correct, Kim? That is correct, although I do want everybody to know my reaction was, do we have to? Well, this is, for me, it was a shock and awe, because very much like almost all politics, which is kind of tied to politics, it is to either scare or it’s to confuse most people. And we don’t play that. So more or less, we can look at this and say, well, okay, whatever, news blurb, you’re gonna be here and you’re gonna be gone. I wanna look at this because there may be debt ceiling crises

[00:55] within families’ lives. And I want to have this be a moment where people can look, they can reflect, and they can shut out the noise and see what the real issues are. We have that ability over all the other stuff. And that’s what makes this podcast so unique. We’re not trying to take the latest headline and like give feedback, whereas we’re looking at this and six months from now, six years from now, someone could listen and say, oh, I remember when the world was scared, but this podcast kept me on track. Well said. I am so grateful that that is what we offer because it is a lens through which to see so many aspects of our lives. And debt is prevalent in areas way more than money. Let’s tackle some money things,

[01:49] but let’s acknowledge that there is relationship debt. And I always look at the word debt as opportunity because debt is obligation. Obligation can create opportunity. So just real quickly on the relationship thing, what deposits are you making into your most important relationships today so that those relationships don’t hit a debt ceiling? Because to me, the definition of debt ceiling is we’ve gone too far down a potentially problematic road. And Spencer, you and I have had conversations about the value of debt. And especially right now with where interest rates are and the opportunities that are available in businesses, debt can be an incredibly valuable thing. And yet when it is used irresponsibly,

[02:40] it can become problematic. And it’s interesting because some people, and let’s acknowledge that debt for some people is a $10,000 credit card bill. For others, it’s a million dollar debt on a building or something like that. So it has zeros that are in the small frame all the way to the big frame. Nevertheless, I have believed forever that if we go into a focus of I wanna get out of debt, get out of debt. I’m gonna do everything that I can to get out of debt. All we will get is more debt. It’s like the kid at the pool that is told, don’t run. All they hear is the word run. And I have been forever grateful for our bookkeeper, Carrie Putman, who we’ve worked with for almost 30 years who handles all of our finances.

[03:34] So that in periods of our lives where we have been heavily indebted, which who isn’t? I mean, that is pretty much gonna happen to everybody at some phase in some way because of business or real estate debt or whatever it is. She has handled the focus so that my focus is on the opportunity side of whatever the subject matter is, not on the obligation side of whatever the subject is. And so if you’re listening to debt ceiling conversations where you’re looking at your own situation and feeling like you’re in your own debt ceiling, I really encourage you to put the situation on auto pay the best that you can so that you can focus on bringing your unique ability to the world, your capability of serving to bear on the people

[04:33] that benefit from the service that you provide or the product that you work with so that all of the good is in forward fashion. All of the effort is in forward motion because I believe that debt is something that is backwards and you love the saying pilots don’t use rear view mirrors and there’s a reason for that. Let’s not use rear view mirrors as it relates to our country’s debt or our personal debt or our business debt. Let’s instead find that way forward, put what we can behind us on automation so that we don’t have to spend time focusing on it and seek out the forward momentum that we know we can create. Absolutely, it’s very, I would say odd, but it’s been repeated in the past of these quote unquote crisis that we’re facing.

[05:34] But what is very common is to base it off of the principles that will lead us to where we want to go. And so you very clearly mentioned the debt, depending on the household, has more zeros on it. That’s okay, that’s fine. But what you’ve mentioned is for us to focus on the things that we can control, for us to understand what’s really going on and we’ve all been in dire moments when we feel like what we’re going through is the only thing or it’s the most intense thing and yet we get a month away from it and we’re like, oh yeah, that thing, huh? Whoops, I don’t know why that happened. It’s quite odd, isn’t it? It is amazing what just a little bit of time can do and we can create that time mentally.

[06:32] I saw the other day somebody split the word up to tie me, time, tie me. And they were thinking of time as a limiter. It tied them to something, right? And time is, and this might be a little bit of a stretch, but time is a mental construct. We give it the power that we give it because we give it power. And so that shift that occurred in the example that you just shared that took a month, that’s a mental shift. That can actually happen immediately. Absolutely. You know, I wanna pull in one piece that we didn’t talk about in here that may be relevant. So, you know, getting into the US debt and all of that, like honestly, like I haven’t even read a single article about this stuff because it’s not important

[07:30] because I look at it more or less like theater and I see it as banter that old men would have as they’re out golfing. And I choose not to participate in that, but I do choose to participate in a different thinking. And so I look at this and I go, okay, well, what are some of the pieces or principles that I can extract from this? And I look at life insurance companies as an example, like that is a group. And again, these are whole life insurance, mutual backed, you know, proper companies that have been based off of principles. So they’ve gone decades in cases more than century that have shown time and time again that they can be prosperous, that they can be responsible and that they can weather a storm.

[08:29] Whereas what’s going on right now, if it gets resolved, I imagine it will come back up in a number of months or years and the theater will be on round, whatever we call that, two, 10, 50, 100. But what we talk about and what you teach is principle based, meaning it weathers the storm. So how can we round out this episode talking about the things that actually matter and weathering the storm? Well, I love that you brought up the mutual life insurance company because it is amazing how many people don’t know or forget that the mutual life insurance industry, as you indicated, some of them well over a century old, have paid dividends every single year and dividends are a sign of profits. And of course they use debt also.

[09:23] The difference and the thing that we can adopt in our thinking is the longevity perspective. A life insurance company literally looks at a hundred year increments and they look at 10, of course, as well, but it is normal for them to think in that long time of span. And our world, pretty much every news item has literally shrunk to even less than 24 hours because we have 24 hour news and things can come and go, come and go so quickly. It really can be dangerous if we feel like that’s what life is about. But if you get out into nature, I’m looking right outside my window. We have oak trees that I’m certain are over a hundred years old. If you look at some of the businesses that we’ve spoken about

[10:17] like the mutual life insurance company over a hundred years old, if you look at a relationship, it used to be super cool. You see somebody married 50, 60 years, you’re starting to see 75 year anniversaries now. That’s so cool. And you’re seeing people live a hundred, 110, 120. I think the oldest is like 122 or something like that that’s documentable. That’s gonna become more normal. So pulling back and really getting that long-term perspective is such a game changer for people. And I believe that it is what helps them make the really good and permanent and principle-based decisions is that getting their chin up out of the muck and seeing that long-term perspective and then thinking and acting accordingly.

[11:14] Love it. That right there, that will be the soundbite that we use. That is so good. So I am going to make an assumption that whatever date this debt ceiling thing is, Ken Butler won’t wake up in the morning and worry about that. Well said. And I’ll make it even further assumption. At night of whenever that was supposed to pass, you may be told by someone else, meaning you won’t actually see, but someone else be like, oh, this happened. And you’ll say, oh, yeah, well. And then the next, because it doesn’t really matter. That’s the longevity, the perspective. Yep, let’s go pet Emma dog. That will be my response. Yes, that’s so good. So for all of you listeners that are potentially concerned with that,

[12:09] relate back to the principles of prosperity. And regardless, if it is a financial impact or it’s maybe something in your family, you can apply those principles over and over again. And so just go to prosperitythinkers.com on the main website. You can download it if you don’t have it. I found it one that I often share with my kids. So like maybe one day it’ll be, hey, let’s talk about how flow works. And we’ll talk about control or multiply or whatever that may be. And we can apply it to any piece in there. So Kim, great episode for all of you listeners that are scared. Don’t be, you’ve come to the right show. We’ll be sharing this stuff for years and years to come. Thank you for listening to the Prosperity Podcast.

[13:02] To take control of your money and have it work for you, visit prosperitythinkers.com.