August 18, 2025 • 19 mins
It is important to have a WHY that is big enough to get us to act. We might want to start something, we might want to change something, we might want to end something, but having the right WHY is key before we get to the how or the what. Let's talk about it....Start with Why!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Paul, Welcome to Catholic moneytalk, where we talk about all
things money and finance, and wetry to do it through a lens of
being Catholic, where ourultimate goal is to one day be
in Heaven with the Lord. I amyour host. Paul Scarfone, thank
you for being here today.
Welcome back to Catholic moneytalk.
(00:23):
The title of today's episode isstart with why, and I'm
going to tell you why that'simportant. But before we do
that, let's say a prayer in thename of the Father and of the
Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen,Heavenly Father. We thank you
for this day. We thank you forall the ways that you love and
bless us, Lord.
Lord, we know that you have agreat plan for us, that your
(00:44):
ultimate plan is for us to be inheaven with you one day.
Lord, just bless us.
Give us wisdom for whateversituation we might find
ourselves in. Give us strengthto overcome the challenges and
obstacles that are in front ofus. But more importantly, Lord,
to speak to our hearts, send usYour Holy Spirit so that we can
(01:04):
embrace the will that you havefor us to do. Each and every day
we ask this all in Jesus name,amen, in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the HolySpirit, Amen.
So start with why.
Years ago, when I was at thebank, I was at a leadership
development day, and one of thethings we did we watched a TED
(01:27):
Talk by Simon Sinek, and he hasthis book Start With Why, and he
gave us, I think the TED talksabout 10 minutes long. Maybe
it's a little bit longer thanthat, but it's really, really
important, and it talks a lotabout the importance of having a
why you have to start with why?
What is the reasonfor you to fill in the blank,
(01:48):
right? What is the reason mycoaching practice, financial
coaching practice, I kind oftagged the title of it dollar
wise. And wise is W, h, y, s,and my little tagline is helping
people find reasons to changetheir money habits, right? So
the starting with why is so soimportant? I've got a class, a
(02:13):
couples workshop, that we'regoing to be doing this week, as
the first time I'm doing it,most of my coaching has been one
on one individual, with couplesworking together, but this,
we're, we've got a few couples,and it's the first time we're
doing it's not a big class, butwe're going to pull it in, and
we're going to, we're going totalk about, how do we start?
Right? And a big part ofstarting is answering the
(02:35):
question, why?
Thursday, when we have ourclass, our workshop, we're going
to talk about, why is itimportant to work together on
finances, and I'mgoing to start with a story. And
I thought, as I was prepping formy class, I thought this is a
great podcast episode to justput out there to the audience
here, right? Catholic moneytalk.
(02:59):
We're trying to find the wayright, the correct perspective
our faith lens on viewing ourfinances.
You know, we were made to knowlove and serve God in this life
so we can be happy with himforever in the next how do we
deal with our finances? We mightface so many of the same
financial decisions that peoplethat are not Catholic face,
(03:19):
right? Not even Christian face,and we might end up making the
same decisionas those folks. But the way we
come to our answer, the way wediscern the challenge, the
question, the decision, itshould look differently, right?
As Catholics, it should lookdifferent because our priorities
are different. Our ultimatepriority is to get to heaven. So
when we look at things in ourlife, we need to start with why
(03:44):
and what I'm going to do in theclass. And it was done with me
at a couple years ago at afacilitation workshop how to
facilitate a room. And one ofthe things they said is, what is
your bricklayer story? Okay,what is your bricklayer story?
So here's, here's the bricklayerstory. I'll give you this.
(04:08):
So a man's walking down theroad, and he comes upon three
brick layers working side byside. And he asks each one the
same question, why are youlaying bricks? The first man
replies, because it's my job, Ineed to earn money to eat and
survive.
Sounds very reasonable. He goesto the second bricklayer and
(04:30):
says, Why are you laying bricks?
The man looks at him and says,My father was a bricklayer. My
grandfather before him was abricklayer. For generations, my
family has built with greatskill and craftsmanship. I'm
proud to carry on that legacy.
Wow, that sounds like a greatanswer, too, right? Maybe even
better than the first he goes upto the third man and the third
(04:52):
brick layer and asks him, whyare you laying bricks? Third Man
looks at him and smiles andsays, I'm building a school
where.
Boys and girls will gain wisdomand knowledge to serve and lead
and shape the world forgenerations to come.
Wow,right? He asked each of these
three men, why are you layingbricks? And they all had had a
(05:14):
reason for doing it, but youcould see the depth of the
reason, right? The first guy, ifyou offered him a job in
carpentry, and you would pay him$1 more than he's making now,
he'd probably do it right,because he's trying to earn
money to eat and survive, right?
That, that last man, I don'tknow that you'd be able to get
(05:35):
him off of his task, because hisreason for doing it is so deep,
right?
So let's think about that now,and I'm going to ask the couples
on Thursday at our workshop, whydo you want to work together
with your spouse on finances?
Why do you want to work togetheron finances?
(05:57):
And imagineI asked that to, you know, maybe
the people listening to thispodcast, if I, if I just
randomly grab three people,maybe the first couple says, we
work on our finances togetherbecause we have to, bills need
to be paid. Managing money ispart of being adults. We need to
eat, live and survive. Maybe Iasked the same question to a
second couple, and that couplesays something like, Well, you
(06:19):
know, our parents work togetheron money, and their parents
worked on money together. Andyou know, for as long as we know
fam, our people in our family,the adults in our family, have
been responsible and prettydisciplined with finances. So
we're we're trying to carry onthat tradition.
And the third couple, maybe theylook at me and say,
(06:39):
Paul, we work on financestogether. Why do we do that?
Because we're building a future.
We want our children, even ourgrandchildren, to have
opportunities, wisdom, resourcesto serve lead and shape the
world for generations to come.
Right? And I might even answerthat as if I was, if I was asked
this question, Paul, why do youand Taryn work together on your
(07:02):
finances? I would say we havefound such great fruit from
working together on things,particularly hard and
challenging things, financesbeing one of them. And when we
do it well, and we work on itwell and we we stop and we
listen to each other's concerns,hopes, dreams, we know each
(07:23):
other better. We're able toserve each other better. We grow
closer together in unity, andthat unity spills into other
parts of our life, our raisingchildren, our discussions of
faith, tackling other decisions,car buying, home purchases,
buying a home, home projects.
There's so many things where ourkids go to school
(07:47):
right right now we're in themidst of tackling some car
insurance stuff. Maybe I'll havean episode on that in the
future. But these are importantthings that we've experienced
when we work together. Well, inour finances, it spills over.
That's why we do it.
So what is your WHYright for anything in your life?
You just think about it. If youwant to develop a better prayer
(08:07):
life, if you want tolose weight, if you want to get
in better shape, if you want topursue a career change, if you
want to pursue a promotion, ifyou want to
fill in the blank, start withwhy, and we'll talk a little bit
moreabout that. So the I'll give you
(08:28):
just a quick, probably twominute overview of
start with why, right? So SimonSinek, start with why. It's
great book. And again, you canwatch the if you're like me,
watch the TED Talk. It'squicker, but it's really good.
He kind of explains it verywell, but it's built on the idea
(08:49):
that people and organizationsare most inspired and effective
when they operate from a clearsense of purpose. Their why
before, right? So kind ofdesignate that before focusing
on the how and the what.
So my workshop we're going to bedoing this Thursday. It's going
to focus on the why and begin totouch a little bit then on the
(09:12):
how and the what. But reallyit's going to be the starting
point this why.
So in the three stories we had,or the two stories we had with
the three brick layers. And thenI'll say that the the the
marriage, the married couples.
Little example I gave that levelone right, those characters,
those people, they operate atthe level of
(09:36):
what right? It's a task. It's asurvival, it's an obligation.
The level two characters, theygo beyond the what, and they
look at the how, right, what?
How do they do it? Well, it'straditions to craft. It's the
method they do it. And then thethat third character in those
stories, they're anchored in thewhy, right, what's their
purpose, their mission, andtheir impact on others. This all
(09:56):
shows the emotional.
And motivational differencebetween just doing a task and
doing it well and doing it for adeeply meaningful reason, and
that's the key doing it for adeep reason. So here's a 32nd
summary of start with why. WithSimon Sinek, so start with why.
(10:18):
It teaches that leaders andorganizations who inspire others
always start by communicatingwhy they do what they do, their
core purpose or belief, beforeexplaining how they do it or
what they offer. And Simon Sinekuses his golden circles what he
calls it. It's his model of why,how and what to show the
(10:41):
starting with purpose, thatstarting with purpose builds
trust. It builds loyalty,lasting influence, because
people are drawn to sharedbeliefs, not just products or
actions,right? So relay that into these
stories that I just told, butstart to think of your own and
for you're listening to afinancial and faith based
(11:02):
podcast. So let's look at it inthe financial life, which I just
kind of described to you,with the three couples. Or you
could look at it in a faith,a faith lens to actually, as I'm
thinking about this, this isreally interesting.
What if?
(11:23):
What if someone saidto you, why do you go to Mass on
Sunday?
I'd be a great question. Why doyou go to Mass on Sunday? Let's
say we just randomly pickedthree people out of a Sunday
congregation, right? Like alittle exit interview, and we
say, Hey, thanks for comingtoday. Why? Why do you go to
(11:44):
Mass on Sunday? And let'simagine the first person says to
us, because I have to, it's anobligation. God commands it, and
I want to stay in good standingwith him and the church. Okay,
you know that those are alltrue.
Maybe the second person says,you know, we asked them, Why do
you go to Mass on Sunday? Andthey tell us,
(12:07):
my parents went every Sunday,and their parents did, and for
generations, my family's beenCatholic and have always been
faithful to going to church andhonoring the Lord's Day. So I'm
proud to carry on thattradition.
Okay, that's a reason.
And then let's say we get thethird person. We say, Hey,
(12:27):
thanks for coming. Right? Why doyou go to Mass on Sunday? And
let's imagine they tell us,I go because at Mass I meet
Jesus. I believe he's trulypresent in the Eucharist. I'm
here to worship God, to benourished by his word and his
body, so that I can then go backinto the world to love, serve
and help bring his kingdom tolife for generations to come, to
(12:48):
build his Church on earth.
Okay, that's a great reason forcoming to Mass on on Sunday,
right? And so this practice ofasking why and starting with why
will help us determine what'sour driving force. And I'll
actually be very telling. Bevery telling. I was just
(13:12):
recently talking to a friend whowas looking at different jobs
and not sure of different careermoves or whatever he'd be
interested in doing, andI I, I told him, this, what I'm
saying now. And I said, Whydon't you think about, why do
you want the job?
I forget what book I wasreading, and they basically
said, You've got to ask yourselfand why. You got to ask
(13:33):
yourself, why? Like, seven timesto really break it down and get
to the the core reason ofsomething, right? Imagine if
you've had little kids ortoddlers, they're great at
asking why it's time to go tobed. Why? Because it's eight
o'clock, that's your bedtime.
Why? Well, because if you don'tgo to bed by eight o'clock,
you're not going to get a fullnight's sleep. Why? Because when
(13:54):
you don't get a full night'ssleep, you get really cranky in
the morning, and then it startsto irritate me, and I start to
have a bad day because I'mtrying to deal with a cranky
eight year old, right? You fillthe whole thing in, right? So,
but imagine that little kid.
Why? Why? Why? Why do that toyourself? I'm
(14:16):
sitting down to do my budgetlike, why am I doing this right
now? Well, because it's notgoing to do itself. Okay, that's
one. So why isn't it not goingto do itself? Well, because I'm
the one who made thetransactions, and I have to keep
track of it. Why? Because I wantto make sure I'm not spending
more than I have coming in. Why?
Well, because there's otherthings I want to be able to do.
(14:37):
Why? Because I've got hopes anddreams of things that I want to
be able to be able toaccomplish, experiences be able
to be generous. Why? Because Ifeel like those are things that
could put on my heart. Some ofthem are things that the Lord
wants me to do. Why? Because Godhas a plan for my life, and if I
don't have good order in mylife, I'm not going to be able
to hear him respond to Him andserve.
(15:00):
Him. Well, whoa. So why are yousitting down to budget? Because
I want to have good order in mylife, so that when the Lord put
something on my heart to do oraccomplish or pursue,
I can quickly assess my abilityto do it and how I can go after
it, right? So asking yourself,why is so important? What
(15:22):
happens is, when we're lookingto implement a change, a new
habit, or whatever it might bein our life, and we fail to
answer that, why? Right? We failto start with why, or an
appropriate why, right, one ofgood depth,
we'll quickly abandon whatevernew thing we were trying to do,
because it just wasn't importantto us, it just wasn't important
(15:43):
to us, or we didn't make itimportant enough to us, we
didn't get to that level withit.
So, so that's what I have for ustoday.
Start with Why?
What is your bricklayer storyfor whatever topic or situation
(16:05):
you might be in.
Why? What are those things infront of you? Maybe it's
pursuing your faith better, youknow, creating a plan for your
spiritual growth.
Maybe there's professionalgrowth. Maybe there's your
physical life, your mental life,your medical life, whatever your
(16:25):
relationships, your job, yourfamily, your marriage, like,
if you're going to work on anyof those things, start with,
why? Why are you going to dothis? And ask yourself, why?
Seven times until you getyourself to a good answer,
right? Till you become thatthird bricklayer,
(16:45):
right? So, what is yourbricklayer story?
Start with Why?
Hopefully this was helpful.
Again, as I was prepping for myworkshop this Thursday, which
I'd still be open to anothercouple or two joining if they
wanted to. It's this Thursday,August 21 at 730 if you look in
(17:08):
the previous episode, there is alink to the registration. If you
you want to join. Yeah, you canfeel free to. But as I was kind
of looking through my slide deckand going over my notes in the
workbookI was thinking about, you know,
what's a good way to get thisconversation going this, why are
you here? Why do you want towork on your finances together
(17:31):
with your spouse? And I want tobe able to relay that to these
folks like and they're going totake a minute to answer those
questions separately, first asindividuals, and then, you know,
not in front of everyone. We'llhave they can mute their mics,
and they can talk to theirspouse. They're going to talk to
their spouse for a coupleminutes, relaying their answers
and maybe crafting one is them,for them as a couple, why
(17:54):
they're attending this class.
But use this. You don't need towait for a workshop or some
formal, you know, some somefacilitator or, you know,
session leader to say, hey,develop this. Right? The first
time I kind of was faced withthis, I was at a leadership
training event. But it'ssomething that I do use
(18:16):
throughout that my days andmonths and years, right
throughout my life, since then,of really trying to figure out
what is my purpose,when I work with couples on
finances, I'm constantly askingthem, like,
why do you want to work with me?
Like, what could you hope toaccomplish? Like, why do you
want what and, and, and we, wetry to spend time on what is
(18:38):
that? Why?
So start with, why? What is yourthird bricklayer story? What
does your bricklayer story looklike? Challenge yourself in
whatever area you're trying towork on. Start with, why? I hope
this has been helpful. Thank youfor joining me today. God bless
(18:59):
you.
Thank you for listening toCatholic money talk. I hope you
join us again next time, pleaseclick Subscribe in your podcast
app to get notified of newepisodes. God bless you and have
a great day. You.
(19:20):
I think.
Paul, Welcome to Catholic moneytalk, where we talk about all
things money and finance, and wetry to do it through a lens of
being Catholic, where ourultimate goal is to one day be
in Heaven with the Lord. I amyour host. Paul Scarfone, thank
you for being here today.
Welcome back to Catholic moneytalk.
(00:23):
The title of today's episode isstart with why, and I'm
going to tell you why that'simportant. But before we do
that, let's say a prayer in thename of the Father and of the
Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen,Heavenly Father. We thank you
for this day. We thank you forall the ways that you love and
bless us, Lord.
Lord, we know that you have agreat plan for us, that your
(00:44):
ultimate plan is for us to be inheaven with you one day.
Lord, just bless us.
Give us wisdom for whateversituation we might find
ourselves in. Give us strengthto overcome the challenges and
obstacles that are in front ofus. But more importantly, Lord,
to speak to our hearts, send usYour Holy Spirit so that we can
(01:04):
embrace the will that you havefor us to do. Each and every day
we ask this all in Jesus name,amen, in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the HolySpirit, Amen.
So start with why.
Years ago, when I was at thebank, I was at a leadership
development day, and one of thethings we did we watched a TED
(01:27):
Talk by Simon Sinek, and he hasthis book Start With Why, and he
gave us, I think the TED talksabout 10 minutes long. Maybe
it's a little bit longer thanthat, but it's really, really
important, and it talks a lotabout the importance of having a
why you have to start with why?
What is the reasonfor you to fill in the blank,
(01:48):
right? What is the reason mycoaching practice, financial
coaching practice, I kind oftagged the title of it dollar
wise. And wise is W, h, y, s,and my little tagline is helping
people find reasons to changetheir money habits, right? So
the starting with why is so soimportant? I've got a class, a
(02:13):
couples workshop, that we'regoing to be doing this week, as
the first time I'm doing it,most of my coaching has been one
on one individual, with couplesworking together, but this,
we're, we've got a few couples,and it's the first time we're
doing it's not a big class, butwe're going to pull it in, and
we're going to, we're going totalk about, how do we start?
Right? And a big part ofstarting is answering the
(02:35):
question, why?
Thursday, when we have ourclass, our workshop, we're going
to talk about, why is itimportant to work together on
finances, and I'mgoing to start with a story. And
I thought, as I was prepping formy class, I thought this is a
great podcast episode to justput out there to the audience
here, right? Catholic moneytalk.
(02:59):
We're trying to find the wayright, the correct perspective
our faith lens on viewing ourfinances.
You know, we were made to knowlove and serve God in this life
so we can be happy with himforever in the next how do we
deal with our finances? We mightface so many of the same
financial decisions that peoplethat are not Catholic face,
(03:19):
right? Not even Christian face,and we might end up making the
same decisionas those folks. But the way we
come to our answer, the way wediscern the challenge, the
question, the decision, itshould look differently, right?
As Catholics, it should lookdifferent because our priorities
are different. Our ultimatepriority is to get to heaven. So
when we look at things in ourlife, we need to start with why
(03:44):
and what I'm going to do in theclass. And it was done with me
at a couple years ago at afacilitation workshop how to
facilitate a room. And one ofthe things they said is, what is
your bricklayer story? Okay,what is your bricklayer story?
So here's, here's the bricklayerstory. I'll give you this.
(04:08):
So a man's walking down theroad, and he comes upon three
brick layers working side byside. And he asks each one the
same question, why are youlaying bricks? The first man
replies, because it's my job, Ineed to earn money to eat and
survive.
Sounds very reasonable. He goesto the second bricklayer and
(04:30):
says, Why are you laying bricks?
The man looks at him and says,My father was a bricklayer. My
grandfather before him was abricklayer. For generations, my
family has built with greatskill and craftsmanship. I'm
proud to carry on that legacy.
Wow, that sounds like a greatanswer, too, right? Maybe even
better than the first he goes upto the third man and the third
(04:52):
brick layer and asks him, whyare you laying bricks? Third Man
looks at him and smiles andsays, I'm building a school
where.
Boys and girls will gain wisdomand knowledge to serve and lead
and shape the world forgenerations to come.
Wow,right? He asked each of these
three men, why are you layingbricks? And they all had had a
(05:14):
reason for doing it, but youcould see the depth of the
reason, right? The first guy, ifyou offered him a job in
carpentry, and you would pay him$1 more than he's making now,
he'd probably do it right,because he's trying to earn
money to eat and survive, right?
That, that last man, I don'tknow that you'd be able to get
(05:35):
him off of his task, because hisreason for doing it is so deep,
right?
So let's think about that now,and I'm going to ask the couples
on Thursday at our workshop, whydo you want to work together
with your spouse on finances?
Why do you want to work togetheron finances?
(05:57):
And imagineI asked that to, you know, maybe
the people listening to thispodcast, if I, if I just
randomly grab three people,maybe the first couple says, we
work on our finances togetherbecause we have to, bills need
to be paid. Managing money ispart of being adults. We need to
eat, live and survive. Maybe Iasked the same question to a
second couple, and that couplesays something like, Well, you
(06:19):
know, our parents work togetheron money, and their parents
worked on money together. Andyou know, for as long as we know
fam, our people in our family,the adults in our family, have
been responsible and prettydisciplined with finances. So
we're we're trying to carry onthat tradition.
And the third couple, maybe theylook at me and say,
(06:39):
Paul, we work on financestogether. Why do we do that?
Because we're building a future.
We want our children, even ourgrandchildren, to have
opportunities, wisdom, resourcesto serve lead and shape the
world for generations to come.
Right? And I might even answerthat as if I was, if I was asked
this question, Paul, why do youand Taryn work together on your
(07:02):
finances? I would say we havefound such great fruit from
working together on things,particularly hard and
challenging things, financesbeing one of them. And when we
do it well, and we work on itwell and we we stop and we
listen to each other's concerns,hopes, dreams, we know each
(07:23):
other better. We're able toserve each other better. We grow
closer together in unity, andthat unity spills into other
parts of our life, our raisingchildren, our discussions of
faith, tackling other decisions,car buying, home purchases,
buying a home, home projects.
There's so many things where ourkids go to school
(07:47):
right right now we're in themidst of tackling some car
insurance stuff. Maybe I'll havean episode on that in the
future. But these are importantthings that we've experienced
when we work together. Well, inour finances, it spills over.
That's why we do it.
So what is your WHYright for anything in your life?
You just think about it. If youwant to develop a better prayer
(08:07):
life, if you want tolose weight, if you want to get
in better shape, if you want topursue a career change, if you
want to pursue a promotion, ifyou want to
fill in the blank, start withwhy, and we'll talk a little bit
moreabout that. So the I'll give you
(08:28):
just a quick, probably twominute overview of
start with why, right? So SimonSinek, start with why. It's
great book. And again, you canwatch the if you're like me,
watch the TED Talk. It'squicker, but it's really good.
He kind of explains it verywell, but it's built on the idea
(08:49):
that people and organizationsare most inspired and effective
when they operate from a clearsense of purpose. Their why
before, right? So kind ofdesignate that before focusing
on the how and the what.
So my workshop we're going to bedoing this Thursday. It's going
to focus on the why and begin totouch a little bit then on the
(09:12):
how and the what. But reallyit's going to be the starting
point this why.
So in the three stories we had,or the two stories we had with
the three brick layers. And thenI'll say that the the the
marriage, the married couples.
Little example I gave that levelone right, those characters,
those people, they operate atthe level of
(09:36):
what right? It's a task. It's asurvival, it's an obligation.
The level two characters, theygo beyond the what, and they
look at the how, right, what?
How do they do it? Well, it'straditions to craft. It's the
method they do it. And then thethat third character in those
stories, they're anchored in thewhy, right, what's their
purpose, their mission, andtheir impact on others. This all
(09:56):
shows the emotional.
And motivational differencebetween just doing a task and
doing it well and doing it for adeeply meaningful reason, and
that's the key doing it for adeep reason. So here's a 32nd
summary of start with why. WithSimon Sinek, so start with why.
(10:18):
It teaches that leaders andorganizations who inspire others
always start by communicatingwhy they do what they do, their
core purpose or belief, beforeexplaining how they do it or
what they offer. And Simon Sinekuses his golden circles what he
calls it. It's his model of why,how and what to show the
(10:41):
starting with purpose, thatstarting with purpose builds
trust. It builds loyalty,lasting influence, because
people are drawn to sharedbeliefs, not just products or
actions,right? So relay that into these
stories that I just told, butstart to think of your own and
for you're listening to afinancial and faith based
(11:02):
podcast. So let's look at it inthe financial life, which I just
kind of described to you,with the three couples. Or you
could look at it in a faith,a faith lens to actually, as I'm
thinking about this, this isreally interesting.
What if?
(11:23):
What if someone saidto you, why do you go to Mass on
Sunday?
I'd be a great question. Why doyou go to Mass on Sunday? Let's
say we just randomly pickedthree people out of a Sunday
congregation, right? Like alittle exit interview, and we
say, Hey, thanks for comingtoday. Why? Why do you go to
(11:44):
Mass on Sunday? And let'simagine the first person says to
us, because I have to, it's anobligation. God commands it, and
I want to stay in good standingwith him and the church. Okay,
you know that those are alltrue.
Maybe the second person says,you know, we asked them, Why do
you go to Mass on Sunday? Andthey tell us,
(12:07):
my parents went every Sunday,and their parents did, and for
generations, my family's beenCatholic and have always been
faithful to going to church andhonoring the Lord's Day. So I'm
proud to carry on thattradition.
Okay, that's a reason.
And then let's say we get thethird person. We say, Hey,
(12:27):
thanks for coming. Right? Why doyou go to Mass on Sunday? And
let's imagine they tell us,I go because at Mass I meet
Jesus. I believe he's trulypresent in the Eucharist. I'm
here to worship God, to benourished by his word and his
body, so that I can then go backinto the world to love, serve
and help bring his kingdom tolife for generations to come, to
(12:48):
build his Church on earth.
Okay, that's a great reason forcoming to Mass on on Sunday,
right? And so this practice ofasking why and starting with why
will help us determine what'sour driving force. And I'll
actually be very telling. Bevery telling. I was just
(13:12):
recently talking to a friend whowas looking at different jobs
and not sure of different careermoves or whatever he'd be
interested in doing, andI I, I told him, this, what I'm
saying now. And I said, Whydon't you think about, why do
you want the job?
I forget what book I wasreading, and they basically
said, You've got to ask yourselfand why. You got to ask
(13:33):
yourself, why? Like, seven timesto really break it down and get
to the the core reason ofsomething, right? Imagine if
you've had little kids ortoddlers, they're great at
asking why it's time to go tobed. Why? Because it's eight
o'clock, that's your bedtime.
Why? Well, because if you don'tgo to bed by eight o'clock,
you're not going to get a fullnight's sleep. Why? Because when
(13:54):
you don't get a full night'ssleep, you get really cranky in
the morning, and then it startsto irritate me, and I start to
have a bad day because I'mtrying to deal with a cranky
eight year old, right? You fillthe whole thing in, right? So,
but imagine that little kid.
Why? Why? Why? Why do that toyourself? I'm
(14:16):
sitting down to do my budgetlike, why am I doing this right
now? Well, because it's notgoing to do itself. Okay, that's
one. So why isn't it not goingto do itself? Well, because I'm
the one who made thetransactions, and I have to keep
track of it. Why? Because I wantto make sure I'm not spending
more than I have coming in. Why?
Well, because there's otherthings I want to be able to do.
(14:37):
Why? Because I've got hopes anddreams of things that I want to
be able to be able toaccomplish, experiences be able
to be generous. Why? Because Ifeel like those are things that
could put on my heart. Some ofthem are things that the Lord
wants me to do. Why? Because Godhas a plan for my life, and if I
don't have good order in mylife, I'm not going to be able
to hear him respond to Him andserve.
(15:00):
Him. Well, whoa. So why are yousitting down to budget? Because
I want to have good order in mylife, so that when the Lord put
something on my heart to do oraccomplish or pursue,
I can quickly assess my abilityto do it and how I can go after
it, right? So asking yourself,why is so important? What
(15:22):
happens is, when we're lookingto implement a change, a new
habit, or whatever it might bein our life, and we fail to
answer that, why? Right? We failto start with why, or an
appropriate why, right, one ofgood depth,
we'll quickly abandon whatevernew thing we were trying to do,
because it just wasn't importantto us, it just wasn't important
(15:43):
to us, or we didn't make itimportant enough to us, we
didn't get to that level withit.
So, so that's what I have for ustoday.
Start with Why?
What is your bricklayer storyfor whatever topic or situation
(16:05):
you might be in.
Why? What are those things infront of you? Maybe it's
pursuing your faith better, youknow, creating a plan for your
spiritual growth.
Maybe there's professionalgrowth. Maybe there's your
physical life, your mental life,your medical life, whatever your
(16:25):
relationships, your job, yourfamily, your marriage, like,
if you're going to work on anyof those things, start with,
why? Why are you going to dothis? And ask yourself, why?
Seven times until you getyourself to a good answer,
right? Till you become thatthird bricklayer,
(16:45):
right? So, what is yourbricklayer story?
Start with Why?
Hopefully this was helpful.
Again, as I was prepping for myworkshop this Thursday, which
I'd still be open to anothercouple or two joining if they
wanted to. It's this Thursday,August 21 at 730 if you look in
(17:08):
the previous episode, there is alink to the registration. If you
you want to join. Yeah, you canfeel free to. But as I was kind
of looking through my slide deckand going over my notes in the
workbookI was thinking about, you know,
what's a good way to get thisconversation going this, why are
you here? Why do you want towork on your finances together
(17:31):
with your spouse? And I want tobe able to relay that to these
folks like and they're going totake a minute to answer those
questions separately, first asindividuals, and then, you know,
not in front of everyone. We'llhave they can mute their mics,
and they can talk to theirspouse. They're going to talk to
their spouse for a coupleminutes, relaying their answers
and maybe crafting one is them,for them as a couple, why
(17:54):
they're attending this class.
But use this. You don't need towait for a workshop or some
formal, you know, some somefacilitator or, you know,
session leader to say, hey,develop this. Right? The first
time I kind of was faced withthis, I was at a leadership
training event. But it'ssomething that I do use
(18:16):
throughout that my days andmonths and years, right
throughout my life, since then,of really trying to figure out
what is my purpose,when I work with couples on
finances, I'm constantly askingthem, like,
why do you want to work with me?
Like, what could you hope toaccomplish? Like, why do you
want what and, and, and we, wetry to spend time on what is
(18:38):
that? Why?
So start with, why? What is yourthird bricklayer story? What
does your bricklayer story looklike? Challenge yourself in
whatever area you're trying towork on. Start with, why? I hope
this has been helpful. Thank youfor joining me today. God bless
(18:59):
you.
Thank you for listening toCatholic money talk. I hope you
join us again next time, pleaseclick Subscribe in your podcast
app to get notified of newepisodes. God bless you and have
a great day. You.
(19:20):
I think.
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