394 Scott Maderer

Jeffrey Feldberg: [00:00:00] In 2011, Scott Mader and his wife Carrie founded Inspire Stewardship to help individuals and couples who are striving to live a meaningful and purpose driven life. They specialize in aligning how you use your time, talent, and resources so that you can live authentically, pursue your passions, serve others, and provide for your family.

As certified human behavior senior consultants and members of the John Maxwell team, they focus on helping you better understand yourself, connect with others, and build a life of significance. In 2017, they transitioned the business full time, offering support through one on one coaching, speaking, and workshops.

Scott's newest book is Inspired Living. Assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures. 

And before we start this episode, a quick word from our sponsor, Deep Wealth and the 90 Day Deep Wealth Mastery Program. Here's Jane, a graduate who says, and I quote, the Deep Wealth Mastery Program prevented me from making what would have been one of the biggest mistakes of my career. I almost signed on the dotted [00:01:00] line with an unsolicited offer that I now realized would have shortchanged my hard work and my future had I accepted that offer. Deep Wealth Mastery has tilted the playing field to my advantage.

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Welcome to Deep Wealth Podcast. Well, Deep Wealth Nation, I have a question for you. Are you inspired with your life? Are you happy despite the business wins and even the setbacks? How are you doing on your mental attitude? Is it a winning attitude? Is it a horribly winning or losing attitude? Where are you in all those things?

Would you like to live an authentic life? Would you like to have joy and fulfillment? Because as I like to say, success without fulfillment is failure. So with all that in mind, you heard it in the official introduction. We have a very special guest today. Scott, welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast. There is always a story behind the story.

So Scott, what's your story? What got you from where you were to where you are today?

Scott Maderer: Well, I think like most of us, when you look back and try to connect all the dots of the different things that you've done and different things that have happened in your life, you know, it's easy to connect dots when you look backwards, but if I had sat down at 20 years old, 15 years old, [00:05:00] 19 years old, and you'd said, hey, you know, what's the path for your life?

I would not have drawn the map that I've been on, right? It. would never have looked like that. I think that's important to say at the start, because like you said, everyone has a story and I think a lot of times we're in the middle of the story and we don't realize that we're still in the middle of the story, we take it like we're at the end.

So for me, I've always been a kind of an entrepreneurial kid. my dad ran a small business. He'd done, worked in the corporate world before that. And so I kind of grew up seeing. Small business owner, started my first business when I was 12 years old, started another one when I was 14, worked for my dad too at his store and did a lot of those sorts of things, went to college, and my thought when I went to school is, hey, I'm going to become a medical researcher.

Because I really want to help people. I want to make a big difference in the world. I want to change the way the world looks. I want to do that. So I went Texas A& M University. I got a couple of different hard science degrees. I got a biochemistry degree, a genetics degree, doing all of that stuff. And about, You know, most of the way through school, [00:06:00] I started actually doing research.

I went to work in a lab and started doing all the research work. And I went, you know what? About 90 percent of what they do is chase grant money. And about 10 percent of what they do is actually work that matters and makes a difference. And I don't really want to chase grant money the rest of my life.

So I pivoted and I went into the family business and that my mother was a school teacher. So I became a school teacher. I knew how to do that. I was always the kid growing up that everyone always asked for help. I tutored other kids through college. That was one of the jobs I had. I did all of those sorts of things.

So I was always oh, well, I could do this. This is something I know. So school teacher for 16 years, loved it. Loved pouring into the kids, loved interacting with the students, loved seeing the lights go off, loves changing their lives. That was always what gave me energy. But school teaching is also emotionally draining and not always financially rewarding.

And I began to kind of burn out on it and just run out of steam. So, I left teaching, I went into the corporate world. Gonna do all of [00:07:00] that. In the meantime, I'd actually been married, I married my high school sweetheart, then we got divorced, I met my current wife, we got re married, all of that happened, I went to work for the corporate world, and all of a sudden, in the corporate environment, I found Again, I was attracted to this idea of developing and leading pouring into others.

And so pretty quickly, I was promoted kind of up the corporate ladder into a senior position. I worked doing that for 11 years. it was one of those jobs where I was on a plane. All the time, I jokingly tell people, I know what a lot of airports and hotel rooms and conference rooms look like all across the world.

I don't actually know what those cities look like because you fly in, you drive to the hotel, you do the thing, you fly out. That's kind of what my life was. Again, I love the developing of the leaders. I love the work I was doing, but at the same time, it really wasn't what I really wanted to do in terms of all the travel.

By then, my wife and I had a young son. I wasn't missing seeing him grow up. [00:08:00] So that itch came back of, let me do my own thing. In the meantime, my wife and I had actually gone through a financial journey where we had worked really hard to get out of debt. We actually had a significant amount of debt, almost got divorced over that.

I was suicidal because of it. We had all of that going on. So I'd started a business on the side really just to make some extra money, but quickly people started noticing what we were doing around the, financial side and started asking for help. They started saying, yo, if y'all are doing this crazy thing, can you show me how to do this crazy thing?

And it's well, yeah, why not? So we actually started coaching and started a coaching business and started helping other business owners, other entrepreneurs, other folks in our circle. And that kind of began to expand. And as that coaching business began to grow, I kind of reversed my climb up the corporate ladder.

I literally trained my own replacement. I gave him a year's notice. I say, you know, I'm leaving a year from now. They literally called me the day before I left and said, are you really leaving? It's I gave you a year's notice. Come [00:09:00] on. It's going to happen. So I left and I went to work for myself back full time in 2017.

Now I've been coaching. call myself a stewardship coach. I've worked with clients in 20 countries, all over the world. My commute's a lot better. It's about 30 seconds, that kind of thing. gives me the lifestyle I want. It gives me. The ability to help others that I want, it feeds all of those different components of my life.

Plus it gives me time. I get to, I like to jokingly say my lunch partner's a lot better because it's my wife instead of, the stranger in the break room and that kind of thing. So that's what I've been doing now for the last seven, eight years full time.

Jeffrey Feldberg: What a terrific journey. There's so much to unpack there. Before we do that, though, Deep Wealth Nation, please go to the show notes. And in the show notes, there's going to be a click or a link. Click on the link and you'll get Scott's book, Inspired Living, Assembling the Puzzle of Your Calling by Mastering Your Time, Your Talent, and Your Treasures.

And that's also going to be a part of what we're going to be talking about [00:10:00] today. But let's go back to some of the things that you said, and really to start things off, in what you're sharing in your origin story. Scott, I'm wondering, what was it? Was it a specific event, or was it just looking back and having a number of thoughts that inspired you to create Inspired Stewardship?

Scott Maderer: I think it was a combination of two things, there was, The internal drive that feeling of, I want to be able to engage with people, I want to be able to help people, I want to be able to help other people, so basically, I knew I had struggled, I knew how hard it was for me, and I wanted to make that path easier for others.

So that was a big part of it. That's kind of that internal drive of feeling connected, feeling like that was something I was called to do. That was something I was put on this earth to do. There was also kind of that external drive of, I also got echoes back from people. As I began to go out and talk about it and say things about what I was doing, and share ideas, and say, , this is kind of what I'm [00:11:00] struggling with right now, all of a sudden people started coming to me for help.

So, it was like, the internal drive, but then, I actually had to put it out into the world, and get reflected back to me, hey, you know what, that's actually valuable, that's something I need help with, that's something that I would like to, have your help with that. And I think it's important to recognize both sides, because a lot of times you get the advice, you see the advice out there, follow your passion, find the thing that you're passionate.

You'll never work a day in your life. And there's truth to that. But at the same time, a lot of times we didn't just end up living in our own head and it's You never actually go out and do anything. You never get any validation. You never get any echoes back from the world, any feedback of, that's the right path or that's not the right path.

And I'm a firm believer that our calling comes from both inside as well as outside, and getting that validation from outside. That's one of the things I try to cover in the book as well.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, there's so much there. And again, at Deep Wealth Nation, you can check out not only the book, in the show notes, I have a fellow podcaster in the Deep Wealth house, because [00:12:00] Scott has his own podcast. And again, all those links are going to be there. You can get your regular dose of some insights and some wisdom that's really going to make the difference for you.

And so, Scott, I'm curious, because in the book in particular, and even offline, when we're talking about some You talk a lot about the importance of living intentionally. So two words, but those two words can mean different things depending on who you're speaking with. So how would you define intentional living?

And the follow up to that, once that's defined, how could someone in the Deep Wealth Nation coming out of this episode begin to practice that today?

Scott Maderer: Sure. So intentional living, to me that simply means, and I'm going to say simple as in It's a simple concept. It's hard to actually implement. So it's simple, but it's not easy. concept is just living your life on purpose, being proactive instead of reactive. Planning for what you want to do, and then getting feedback, and then revising that, and that again.

[00:13:00] Trying, and repeating, and testing, and doing all of those sorts of things, getting feedback, and then, Implementing. It's that action piece that makes it intentional. It's the idea that you're doing it and you're doing it on purpose. think a lot of times for a lot of us, it's really easy to kind of get into the default mode.

You've got the same thing on your calendar every week. You drive the same route to work. You do everything's just kind of a habit and habits are fine as long as they're working for you. But all too often the habits that we have aren't actually helping us. They're holding us back.

And so intentional is about sit down, examine those habits, identify the ones that are working for you. Great, double down, keep those, make sure those stay in your life, but also spend the time and the energy, the internal drive, the internal look, and being honest with yourself and saying, these are things that aren't serving me anymore.

These are things that aren't helping me. Maybe in the finance area, maybe in the productivity or time area, maybe in your [00:14:00] health, maybe in your relationships, maybe in your spiritual journey, it doesn't matter what component of life you look at, I guarantee you have habits. And until you sit down and examine those habits and begin to think about what do I want to leave in, what do I want to get rid of, then you can't really live an intentional life.

So that's where I would start, is with that reflection and examination habits, and then depending on what you identify, now there's about a million different techniques that you can use to actually start working on fixing the habits, but it depends on the specific habits.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, I love what I'm hearing as you describe that, and Scott, you can tell me if I'm on base or off base. Habits, or sometimes I'll call them rituals. For me, a habit or a ritual, that's what creates my days. My days create my weeks create my months, my quarters, my years, my decades, on and on it goes.

But it all goes back to a single habit, or a number of habits. And again, no judgment. A habit isn't necessarily bad or necessarily good. It's different strokes for different folks, as [00:15:00] they say. But it's, to your point, having the right habits that work for me. That's either the beginning or the end, depending on where they take me and what they do.

I really like that. And it's a great segue in part one of the book, The Picture, How to Live Out Your Calling. I really enjoyed how chapter one was invest in yourself, and then chapter two, invest in others, and why I want to call that out. To me, there's a myth out there. Sometimes conventional wisdom isn't so wise, and oftentimes it's wrong.

And so often, we are socially programmed. Put yourself last, look after everyone first. And then if you have the time or the energy or the resource, look after yourself and it really should be the other way around. So I would love for you to share with the Deep Wealth Nation. Why he did it in that order and the importance of investing in yourself first, and then once you've taken care of yourself, off to everyone else.

And it's not being selfish in, and it's selfish, but not in a negative way.

Scott Maderer: Well, and I actually call I call this out. I actually say self care is not [00:16:00] self ish.

I don't think self care is selfish. Now being self focused all the time, that can be selfish, so self care at the expense or sacrificing other people for it. Now, maybe you've got a selfishness issue, but if it's really just self care, then it's not selfish.

So the one thing I would add, and this actually connects to your question, if you go back to what you were just saying about habits, the one thing that I would put in there is that the beliefs, the thoughts that we have, and the beliefs that we have also are the kind of the beginning of the chain to habits.

Because a lot of times we, the reason we aren't being intentional and not examining the habits is because we kind of have this belief structure of, well, it's just the way it is. I mean, think about it. People will say that, it's just the way it is. And that's why I start with invest in yourself is because until you do that self examination, until you put room in your life, For the things that [00:17:00] you need, for the things that keep you thriving, keep you alive, give you energy, give you focus, give you those things.

You honestly can't really help other people as much as you want to, because at some point, you burn out. You, that's the expression we use, right? You burn out. Oh, he's burning the candle at both ends, and pretty soon. You burn out. That idea that comes about because you're not spending that time and energy on really developing yourself and figuring out what is it that I need, what am I put on the planet to do, what gives me energy, what gives me fulfillment what feeds me so that now out of that abundance I can feed other people.

You can help more people that way than you ever will if all you do is focus on other people.

Jeffrey Feldberg: It's so interesting with that. And by the way, Deep Wealth Nation, when you go to the show notes and whether you're taking a look at Scott's podcast or his company or his book, let me put [00:18:00] something out there because Scott has his foundation based in Christianity. And I know for some people, as soon as they hear that, oh my goodness, you I'm going to avoid that the plague and I can't trust that father and I can throw my garbage and all those other kinds of things that go out there.

Deep Wealth Nation, I want to ask you, please be open. And there's a difference between religion and spirituality and basic beliefs and the strategies that go along with that. And if we're open about it in the Bible, there are so many incredible Business takeaways and strategies from both the Old Testament and the New Testament with the characters in those stories and the lessons that they teach us, but please be open and if the word God has you feel uncomfortable, maybe it's the universe for you, whatever it is, the creator, whatever it is for you that works for you, terrific, but please stay with us because this is all about you, the Deep Wealth Nation, and having you prosper and succeed with principles, with strategies, a way of living that has been around really since the beginning of time.

And it's been like that because it works. I really encourage you [00:19:00] to stay with that Deep Wealth Nation and work with us on that. And it's really a good segue for my next question, because whether you're a founder, business owner, entrepreneur, or just an everyday person, finances at one point or another always comes into the equation.

Now, what was interesting, Scott, in going through your materials, your work in preparing for this interview today, you really emphasize the connection between faith and business. and finances. And going back to what I just said a moment back, for someone in the Deep Wealth Nation who's listening, and perhaps they don't really follow any kind of spirituality, and they're just doing their own thing, or perhaps whatever it is, whether it's in a church, or a synagogue, or a mosque, or wherever it's going to be, They have their God and they're following that.

That said, how do you help people who really feel conflicted about balancing their spiritual values with their financial goals? 

Scott Maderer: It's the love of money is the root of all evil in the actual second Timothy quote. So, yeah. So, I think a lot of times [00:20:00] for us, we do have this conflict. And by the way, I've actually seen it on both ends. I've seen people who look at somebody that has money and go, okay, That person must not be a person of faith, they must not have a spiritual mindset, that the only way you can be holy and spiritual and have a connection to the universe, to God, whatever name you want to put on it, is to be in poverty.

That poverty equal holy, have money equal evil. Money is the root of all evil versus the love of money, and the love of money is an important distinction. By the way, I've actually seen people who flip that and go, oh, okay, poverty is a sign that this person isn't being blessed.

things aren't being poured out for them. That must mean that they don't really have a faithful relationship. With God, they don't really have a good spiritual walk. This person over here has a lot of resources. See, they're being blessed, so they must be the spiritual person. So the truth is that you can spin that story any way you want to.

You can say any of these [00:21:00] things are or are not evidence of a good spiritual walk. But the truth is, money's just a tool. It's just an object. It's just like a brick. Think about it. If you pick up a brick off the ground, can you use that brick to break a window and steal a TV? Well, yeah. But could you also use that build a hospital?

Or a fire station? Or an elementary school? Well, yeah. Why? Because the brick doesn't have value. It's not good. It's not evil. It's just a brick. It's just a tool. Money's the same way. It's not about money. It's about our relationship with money. Are we putting money on a pedestal? Is money the object?

It's the thing we're after? It's our security? It's our measuring stick? It's our sign of success? It's all of those things? Or is money something that actually Money comes about as a result of things that you're doing, as a result of things that you're putting forward and putting out and serving others.

And, [00:22:00] money is simply what is it that Daniel Rabbi Lappin actually calls money a certificate of appreciation. Somebody has appreciated what you've done for them and they have given you dollar bills to show that appreciation. Jeffrey, you've done something good for me. I would like to give you some money.

That's really all it is. It's an exchange. And if you're truly providing value, you're When I don't really care that you're getting money or not getting money, it's the value exchange that becomes important. So that's where we have to focus on what is our relationship with money? How are we putting money into our life?

Is money the primary thing? Is it the servant? That serves me, or is it the master to which I've served. And what's funny is when you change your attitude, I have seen time and time again, when you start looking at it a different way, money shows up, it's like you get blessed. It happens every single time because all of a sudden people aren't, think [00:23:00] about it.

You've walked in. The listener right now, you have walked in and had an experience with a salesperson where you thought to yourself and you felt and the energy came to you that, this person really doesn't care about me, they don't care about my needs, they just want to get paid, and we call those used car salesmen, right?

We all have that picture in our head. If you think about it, though, you've also probably had an experience with a salesperson where you were so blessed by that interaction, and they served you well, and they really made the experience pleasant and easy, and they they cared for you, listened to what you needed, and they provided value for you, and made your life easier, and you're like, man, that's a great salesperson.

Actually, usually, we don't even think about them being a great salesperson, we just go. That's a great person.

And we had a wonderful relationship because it's not, sales. It's the attitude behind it that changes things.

Jeffrey Feldberg: yeah, so true with that. And in the book, I love how you called out time, talent, and treasures. Some people may call [00:24:00] treasures resources, but they really are treasures when you think about that. And so I was curious, because if you spoke to the Deep Wealth Nation, what would you So many people would share, hey, you know what, I am really struggling with those three areas, my time, my talent, my treasures.

So for someone in the Deep Wealth Nation, they're like, okay, I'm trying to juggle all these things and it's not really working. I feel stressed out. I'm at home, I'm thinking about the business, I'm at the business, I'm thinking about the family. I just don't feel fulfilled. The love that I had when I started this business, the joy that I experienced, that's no longer there.

Now, I don't believe in balance. I often say if you want balance, go to Hollywood, watch a movie or read a fiction book. It's more in blending or even in holistics, kind of a big picture kind of thing. So Scott, with that in mind, how would you recommend someone have holistic decisions when it comes to time, talent, and treasures that it really gels together?

It really does work.

Scott Maderer: One thing to realize is [00:25:00] that, I lie to people in a way. Now, don't panic. It's in a good way. We tell people we're gonna work on time, talent, and treasures, and most of the time people come to me and they're like, I got a time problem, or I got a money problem, right? That's the problem.

Truth is, it's always talent. Because at the end of the day, how you handle your time, how you handle your money, is actually about how you handle Yourself. It's all about that belief system. It's about that mindset. It's about your relationships. It's about your choices. So the bad news is when you look in the mirror, if you've got a time problem, you're looking at the problem.

When you've got a money problem and you look in the mirror, you're looking at the problem. The good news is you're also looking at the solution. Because you can do something about it. You can change the way you look at time. You can change the way you look at money. So example, how many of us have said, my family is a priority to me.

My family is important to me. Spending time with my family is a value. Great. That's [00:26:00] a great value. That's a wonderful value to have. I challenge you to look in your checkbook and look in your calendar and see whether or not there's appointments on either of those things. It's either showing up in your checkbook, in your money, or it's showing up on your calendar, in your time.

You've actually got an appointment to go to that kid's soccer game and it's blocked off. And you know what that client calls? Even that really important client that you're desperate to get that job. I'm sorry, my kid's soccer game is Friday at that time, I can't do it. You put it in that sort of a ranking where you, if that's your value, you actually live that out.

Because the conflict comes about when we say out loud, hey, this is my value, but then we don't live it. We don't actually put it into practice. That's that thing you're talking about where now you're at the kid's soccer game and you're thinking, oh, there's that client and I need to do that thing on Saturday.

And then, Monday, I've got this. And you're doing all of that processing because you haven't lived it. Really lived out the practice of what you said out loud was your priority. [00:27:00] Or conversely, you skip the kid's soccer game. You go to that client thing, because you know what? I'm a good provider.

And don't get me wrong, being a good provider is a great value, too. But you almost have to start thinking through the hierarchy, because I keep using the word priority, not priorities, plural. There's a reason for that. The word technically Shouldn't be plural because the word means the one thing that becomes before other things.

It's kind of hard to have more than one, one thing, by definition. So I almost think of it instead as a hierarchy of things, right? So when you, when people say, well, my family's a priority, but so is my business. Okay. Yeah. But if you had to sacrifice one for the other, which comes first?

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, it's a great question. And often, if we're open and honest about it, easier said than done. Are we going to call out the lies that we're telling yourself? As an example, some people say, yes, I'm doing this for the family. I'm working these crazy hours. I'm away from the family. I'm missing the kids.

School events. I'm [00:28:00] not with them at nights on the weekends because it's all about creating a life for them. But really when you dig down, is it really, or is it just you enjoy doing that and that's what gives you pleasure? Or going back to what we spoke about earlier, when we talked about the rituals or the habits, well, how really are you spending your time?

Are you taking these leisurely breaks or associating with the wrong people and now you have to catch up on the work and that's why you're missing from the family time, whatever the case may be, to really be open and honest with ourselves. And it's really a great segue for my next question because it's all about mindset.

We could talk about mindset when it comes to financial success. We could talk about mindset in terms of, are you in the present moment? Are you feeling happy or sad or like a failure or joy or fulfillment? So when it comes to mindset and overall joy, fulfillment, happiness, which to me would come first, because then that would lead the way to financial success and career success and not the other way around.

Where are you on that, Scott? What would you suggest to the Deep Wealth Nation of how they should look at [00:29:00] their mindset and get in the right mindset?

Scott Maderer: So I think mindset is one of those things that it's incredibly important and it's also something that we tend to not pay any attention to, Mm hmm. 

We just ignore it and I don't chase happiness. That's not a mindset or an emotion that, that I'm after. I do chase contentment. Enjoy, and things like that.

And here's the difference. Happiness to me is a momentary emotion. It's about that. You open the surprise on your birthday and you got that thing that you really wanted and you're happy. It doesn't necessarily stick around very long. A lot of times we chase happiness and that leads to that kind of bully in the schoolyard problem of, that line just keeps getting drawn and further away.

I'll be happy when I make a hundred thousand dollars a year. No, you won't. You won't. Not if you're not happy making 50, 000, because that 100, 000 isn't the thing that created happiness. So a lot of it is really, again, getting back in touch. And, for [00:30:00] me, this is a spiritual exercise too.

This is about our faith, again, not religion. I don't care if you go to church, that's not the point. The idea is, do you have a faithful place where you can sit down and go, whether I have a lot, whether I have a little, I'm still going to be content. And a lot of times people hear that and they go, oh, but somebody who's content isn't passionate.

They're not driven. They're not going after that. No. Contentment and driven are not opposites. The opposite of driven is complacent.

Complacency and contentment are not the same emotion. Complacency is the victim, the ER mindset. You know, Well, it's just going to be like this way forever. You know, There's nothing I can do about it.

You might as well kick me again. That kind of, and we all know that person. And if you're honest, sometimes you've probably been that person, because we all are at some point. And it's about getting in touch with, wait a minute, no, contentment is, you know what? The true things that I value.

I have those. I woke up this morning in a bed with a roof that didn't [00:31:00] leak.

I'm blessed. I can be grateful for that. I can be grateful for the fact that I can walk from my bedroom to my office, and I can actually walk from my bedroom to my office, I can find those little things. And so for me, a lot of the beginning of mindset is to train yourself and do things like a gratitude journal is a simple one where you literally at the end of every day, you write down Three things that happened today that I'm grateful for. And if you really want to challenge yourself, do that and don't repeat anything for at least a month. I've actually done that for a full year, where I wasn't able to repeat anything. That got really hard, but guess what? You work and you find the things, because sometimes it's a little thing and sometimes it's a big thing.

The idea isn't, it's not about the size, it's about refocusing your mind to find the blessings and the things that you can be grateful for and program your mindset so that you just begin to look for gratitude. And then guess what? [00:32:00] Happiness, joy, contentment, those other emotions come along for the ride.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, so well said. And so let's tackle the big question. And we spoke about that a little bit earlier. And again, Deep Wealth Nation, this is not about religion. This is about spirituality, your beliefs, your faith. And so Scott, very directly for yourself as a Christian and being a man of faith, how has that really played a role in your journey in terms of helping you in both the challenging times, to get to the top of the next mountain, perhaps when you thought you couldn't, and even in the really good times when you have been successful, to keep you grounded, and comparing that to, we'll just call it, quote unquote, modern society, there really isn't that spirituality or that faith, and it's really every person for him or herself, and, It's dog eat dog and all those other kinds of things that go along with that.

So what does that mean for you in your journey, as well as the people that you've coached and helped and worked with, of how that faith, having that faith in that creator and God really [00:33:00] made a difference?

Scott Maderer: So sure first off, one of the best compliments I ever got from a client he happened to be, him and his wife were Muslim. They actually lived in Dubai and I worked with them for about a year. And after about six, eight months of us working together, he looked at me and he said, you know what, Scott, I want to tell you something.

He says, I mean, this is a compliment. I'm not sure if you're going to take it as a compliment.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Okay.

Scott Maderer: said, all right, knock me out. Tell me what you got to tell me. And he goes, I know you're Christian, but you're not annoying about it. And I went, you know what, I'll take that as a compliment. I understand what you mean, you know, because the idea for me isn't to be that annoying person.

It's not about knocking on doors and telling you, you have to believe the way I believe, because honestly, Part of my faith tenet is the fact that you don't actually have to believe the way that I believe. So I had an interesting experience that I was raised in the church. I actually considered going to seminary.

I was thinking about becoming a pastor, doing all of that. And then I had some experiences in the church with some church people and I [00:34:00] left the church. And I left religion and I said, I'm no longer a believer. I literally labeled myself an atheist. I technically wasn't, I was more agnostic than atheist.

There's a subtle difference, but in my mind, I was an atheist. I'm, I left the church. I'm never setting foot in the church. I don't believe in God. And I spent 25 years like that. And I lived in the world and I had that relationship and that idea. And what happened is over time, as I began to. Kind of study spirituality, but more as an academic exercise than a faith exercise.

I began to read books and do all of that. And kind of like you were saying at the beginning where it was like, I went, huh, you know what, there's a lot of wisdom in some of this stuff, maybe I can learn something from it, even though I don't believe it, that was kind of what I, and so I began to do that.

And as I did that, and as my heart softened, first off, I realized that. If I'm going to look for a church full of perfect people, I'm not going to find it. And even if I did, they wouldn't let me [00:35:00] in, you know, it's like, I would not be able to be a member there because I'm not perfect and I've never been perfect and I'm never gonna be perfect.

And so I started again to change the way I looked at things and I was able to reflect and look back on those earlier experiences, which, don't get me wrong, they were bad, but I came to a different place where I could forgive the people that had done things, and I could open that door again, and have conversations with folks that had hurt me, and say, you know what, I'm not going to validate what you did, but I am going to forgive you, and it's not about you, it's about me, I need to do this, I need to be forgiving of you, I need to let this baggage go, and as I did that, I then returned to the church, and kind of began Again, to go deeper into a spirituality and have a relationship, and I would say it's helped me in that as that mindset shifted, we're back to that mindset and that belief system, my action shifted along with it.

I began to look at other people a different way. I [00:36:00] began to, value not just what I get, not just what I believe, not just what I think, but be open to the fact that, Jeffrey might believe something a little different from me. Great, let's sit down and talk about that. What can I learn from you, Jeffrey?

To go into a situation in a mission field area, where you're going into someplace and maybe there's poverty there, or there's something else, and instead of going in and saying, I'm the hero! Let me show up and help you! I will save you! To go up and go What do y'all need? How can I best serve you?

How can I help you? What can I do that helps you? And it changed my mindset, my belief, and then that spills over into things like the relationship I have with my wife. I mentioned I was suicidal. I mentioned I almost got divorced. It let us come back together. It let us find our way out from a faith or finance problem where we turned around the way we live with money.

It turned around and because of that, now I'm able to do that in a way that is [00:37:00] authentic, that's real, and then that person that is Again, very different religion background, Muslim, didn't go to the same church I didn't have the same beliefs, can look at me and go, I know you're a Christian and I value that.

I value your wisdom because you're not annoying about it, you know, you're showing up authentically. it was okay that we didn't believe exactly the same things. It was okay that we could still talk about those things.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So interesting. And circling back to one of the things that you said, where you had forgiveness for other people. I'm going to make an assumption. You can tell me, Geoffrey, on base or off base, you're forgiving other people. I would think you're probably also forgiving yourself as well. And in so many ways, forgiveness, that's really One of the things that you talk about is having stewardship into your own daily life.

And for so many people out there, again, we're going to dispel a myth. So many people think, well, if I forgive, then number one, I'm weak because I'm caving in, I'm giving in. And then number two, I'm really saying that what that person did was wrong. It's [00:38:00] okay, and I agree with that, even though it could have been something horrible, they crossed a line, or they stole, or lied, or whatever the case may be with that.

So when it comes to forgiveness and the stewardship over your own daily life, how has that made a difference for you, and what would you share with the Deep Wealth Nation of how they can approach that?

Scott Maderer: Yeah. Forgiveness is a lot like gratitude in terms of it's an emotion that we exercise for us, but not in a selfish way. We're kind of back to what we were talking about earlier in that, like you said, we have to do it for ourselves, not for the other person. Now sometimes that actually helps the other person as well but the intent behind it is for us to be able to let something down, to put it down, to let it go.

We don't continue to have that anchor weighing on us because what happens is that drags us down. It's like carrying around a bag of rocks and then trying to run a marathon. Well, it's harder. Why don't you just put down the rocks? But forgiveness is the act of [00:39:00] putting down the rocks. And like you said, it's important to recognize that doesn't mean That you could, let's, I've got to go an extreme, let's assume it was a parent for a minute.

Your mother, your father, they've done something, it was bad. You get to a point where you want to forgive. Oh, that means I now have to go hang out with mom and dad, even though I'm upset with them and have those. No, that's not what that means. You could still have boundaries. You could still make choices.

you still may not. Go over for Thanksgiving even, that's, forgiveness doesn't require the act of forgetting and letting everything go and saying, yes, that was okay. Forgiveness is the act of saying, I know it happened, I know it hurt, I know it was painful, but I'm still worthy of love. I'm still worthy of being loved.

Cared about, I still have worth in the world. And that worth is enough that I can say I forgive. And again, like you said, that may be self forgiveness. That may be something you've done or [00:40:00] not done or done to yourself or done to somebody else, whatever it is. And it may be something that somebody else has done to you.

It's our reaction to it, our response to it, that is the value piece, because as long as you have it forgiven, you carry that around like a bag of rocks, and it's actually hurting you more than anyone else. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: It's so true. And when forgiveness isn't on the scene, and again, you can share Jeffrey, on base, off base, we're making judgments against people when we're not forgiving. Oh, that person is fill in the blank, blankety blank, and they're not good words that we're putting in there. And so many times, and I've seen this for myself, when we're judging, particularly other people, which is why gossip is such a negative thing, when we're judging other people, we're really taking the power away from ourselves.

Because the power of our words, the power of our thoughts, and that negativity towards someone else, it's really robbing us from our true identity, our North Star of who we are, and the ability to forgive and lose that [00:41:00] judgment and move forward, doesn't mean, to your point, that you're forgetting. It doesn't mean that you're saying it's condoning and it's right, but it's really, if nothing else, we're getting rid of the venom.

Literally, that's inside of us so that we can live a hopefully a happy, joyous, fulfilled life.

Scott Maderer: and I think you're on base. I would also say beyond that a little bit or to add to that a little bit that, that act of forgiveness, that act of getting rid of the venom allows you to move forward in a way that changes now your own heart in terms of how you look at other people. In any action, and here's what I mean by that, generally when we do something, we judge ourselves based on our intentions. I offend you, Jeffrey, I say something rude to you, it hurts your feelings, and you say to me, Scott, that really hurt my feelings. What's the normal response? Well, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I didn't mean for that to be rude. I didn't, a lot of times we'll go even further. I didn't mean for you to take that way.

Now that's blaming you for [00:42:00] actually, feeling hurt by my emotion. That's even worse, right? By the way, say that to your wife and see how that gets you, you know, enjoy sleeping on the couch tonight. Won't work. You, we can't do that. Instead, it's recognizing that, yeah, we judge ourselves from our own intentions because we know our intentions.

But I don't judge Jeffrey based on his intentions. I base Jeffrey based on his actions. So if Jeffrey does something, I'm going to read into that an intention that may or may not actually be present. Oh, Jeffrey must have said that because he wanted to be mean. No, maybe Jeffrey just said that because he thought it was funny and he didn't mean for it to be mean.

Now, again, does that mean Jeffrey can just do and say and act whatever way he wants? No, there's still consequences, and if Jeffrey is behaving in a way that isn't good, Jeffrey's gonna get consequences, Scott's gonna get consequences, that's gonna happen. But the truth is, If I look at Jeffrey and go, Jeffrey probably did not mean that in the way that I took that.

Let me get curious instead of getting judgmental. [00:43:00] Let me ask questions. Let me authentically try to get to know Jeffrey a little bit better and know where he's coming from and maybe what he meant about this and all of that. A lot of times that then opens doors to a conversation and at the end of it, You find out, oh, you know what?

Turns out Jeffrey's not actually a mean person that says mean things. It's something different. There's more to this or there's something else going on. And now, there's not even forgiveness needed anymore. Because it's really more of an understanding and a connection and a relationship that opens up that way.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So wise in terms of what you're saying and Deep Wealth Nation, I hope you're listening to that and really not just having it pass by but Thinking about that, internalizing that, how you can apply that to your life. And I don't know, Scott, maybe it's just me, we may have lost all the listeners in this episode because we've been off in so many different directions.

And maybe the one listener that's left after this conversation, they're still in there now. They're saying, okay, we're What does this have to do with business? Why are we even [00:44:00] talking about this? After all, this is a Deep Wealth Podcast. I'm here to grow my profits, increase my enterprise value, retire rich and happy.

And for that one listener who's out there, the short answer, maybe the longer answer is we're talking about this because if we can get it right, or when we get it right on the personal side, Everything else flows out on the business side, and it's not the other way around. You can have the best business idea, even the best world class team and leadership team, but if it's not right with you as the founder, the entrepreneur, the CEO, the president, whatever the case may be, if you don't have it right internally, It's going to spill out in not the best ways in every other area of your life.

So when we get it right internally, we have the right mindset. We have, in this case, the faith, Scott, that you have, or I have, whatever other people want to call that's really our North Star that's leading the way. We'll find a way when there seems no way. We'll have that confidence to get through that challenging situation.

We'll know we have that inner resilience to make it through. And with all that said, Scott, I have wanted to go in so many different directions. I've [00:45:00] been holding myself back here because we're bumping up again sometime. Before we go into wrap up mode, is there a question that I didn't ask or a topic that we didn't cover, even a message that you'd like to get out to the Deep Wealth Nation?

Scott Maderer: I'll repeat something that we touched on earlier, just 'cause I think it's so important. So if you've held onto it, you've listened through to, you've gotten to this point, you're still listening. I think it's important, which is that idea of stepping back and recognizing you're going to live your life.

You're going to have your business, you're going to do the things that you're going to do. The key is to step back and do those things intentionally. Rather than react, be proactive. Rather than just do or just exist, to act with intention, because that idea of taking action with intention, again, just like you said, you do that in your personal life, you do that in your business, you do that in your relationships, you do that in your spiritual walk, you do that in your finances, you do that, all of the components of your life, if you're not leading them with intention, they're still going to happen.

But they're not going to happen [00:46:00] the way that really connects with you and gives you joy and connection and value. And that's the most important thing. I think that anyone can take away from this.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow, what a nugget of wisdom that you just shared with us, Deep Wealth Nation. I really hope you took that in. And actually, it's a great segue for our wrap up, because Scott, on the Deep Wealth Podcast, it's a tradition where every guest, I have the privilege and pleasure of asking the same question.

It's a really fun question. I'm going to set this up for you. When you think of the movie Back to the Future, You have that magical DeLorean car that can take you to any point in time. So, Scott, it's tomorrow morning, this is the fun part, you look outside your window and you see that magical DeLorean car, it's curbside, the door is open, it's waiting for you to hop on in, and you do.

You're now going to go back to any point in your life. Scott, as a young child, a teenager, whatever point in time it would be, what would you tell your younger self in terms of life wisdom or life lessons, or, hey, Scott, do this but don't do that. What would that sound like?

Scott Maderer: Other do this, not do that. I don't think I'd change anything in terms of path that I've [00:47:00] led, even though it's meandered and it's been crazy and there's been bad stuff and there's been good stuff. The truth is it's got me to the point where I'm at and I love where I'm at. So I wouldn't change any of that.

Cause that might screw that up. But as far as life lessons. I think what I would to be telling myself is. If you could take from others, not in a take from others like steal kind of way, or that kind of way, but if you could take from others the wisdom of the relationship, connection, I would do that For me, I've spent a lot of time in my life.

I'm an introvert at heart. I'm a stay, put me in my room, leave me alone. I'm fine, kind of person and recognizing and building to a point where Despite my introversion, or even because of my introversion, I value others and the relationships I have with them and connect to people in a much more deep and authentic way.

I think if I could do that sooner [00:48:00] in my life, I would be where I'm at, but I would be even further than I'm at today because there's so much value in connecting to others that I missed out on.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow, so it'd be telling your younger self, hey, take the time out, invest in other people, really connect with them, get to know them. Is that what you'd be telling your younger self?

Scott Maderer: yeah, authentically connect with others, not just on a surface level but at a deeper level.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, that's terrific, authentically connect with others and really today where everyone feels so time pressure, oh, I got to go on to the next thing and let's go do this and do that and well, yeah, they're not that important, it's really, hey, let's stop, let me really honor the person that I'm speaking to right now or who is next to me in this conversation.

Terrific advice. And before we wrap this up, Scott, if someone has a question, they want to even work with you or you can coach them or speak to their team, where's the best place online that someone can find you?

Scott Maderer: So I actually put together a page just for your listeners. So if you go to inspiredstewardship. com forward slash deep wealth, just all one word, no space, but. Forward slash deep [00:49:00] wealth. What you can find there is all of those resources that you mentioned. There's actually some free tools that folks that just want to read a little bit more in some of these areas and maybe have some exercises to do.

There's a way you can get that. There's information about my book, my podcast, those sorts of things. And then of course, there's a link there. If you want to jump on a quick call and just have a conversation about some of the things we've talked about today, I'd always welcome that door and there's a connection for that as well.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Deep Wealth Nation doesn't get any better. That's all in the show notes. It's a point and click, and off you go with that. And whether it's the book, again, the show notes has all of that inspired living, assembling the puzzle of your calling by mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures, or the other resources.

Also check out the podcast. I mean, my goodness, you're almost up to 1, 500 episodes at the time of this recording. Wow. That is absolutely phenomenal. And Deep Wealth Nation, it's all there for you. It's point and click. Well, Scott, it's official. Congratulations. This is a wrap. And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to [00:50:00] thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe.

Thank you so much.

Scott Maderer: Thank you. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: So there you have it, Deep Wealth Nation. What did you think? 

So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. 

Did you find this episode helpful? 

Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game changer for your journey? 

And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? 

The dramatic pause. I'll just wait a moment. Drumroll, please. Subscribe. Please subscribe to the Deep Wealth podcast on your favorite podcast channel. When you subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast, you're saving yourself time. Every episode automatically comes to you, and I want you to know that we meticulously craft Every one of our episodes to have impactful strategies, stories, expert insights that are designed to help you grow your profits, increase the value of your business, and yes, even optimize your post exit life and your life right now, whatever you want that to look like.[00:51:00]

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So all that said. Thank you so much for listening. And remember your wealth isn't just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And [00:52:00] from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. 

Thank you so much. 

God bless.