297 | Priority Isn't Plural: A Roundtable Discussion on Time, Trust & Surrender with Janet Brink

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For 500 years, the word "priority" only ever meant one thing — the first thing. Then somewhere along the way we pluralized it, and convinced ourselves we could have several "first things" at once. In this roundtable episode, Garrett and Cole are joined by their good friend Janet Brink for an honest, unfiltered conversation about what it actually looks like to protect one priority in a business — and a season of life — that constantly pulls in a dozen directions.

This week's episode is a roundtable conversation with Janet Brink, a top-producing Christian real estate agent and leader in the SALT (Servant Agents Leading Together) community, joining Garrett and Cole for a raw, honest conversation about priority (not priorities), time, and what it actually looks like to build a referral-based real estate business without losing your walk with God. Janet opens up about stepping down as CEO of a Keller Williams franchise, the season of her life that forced her to fully surrender control, and why "God, family, business" as a hierarchy was actually part of the problem.

This conversation is built for the Christian real estate agent who is tired of chasing more leads while quietly losing time with the people who matter most. Garrett, Cole, and Janet talk candidly about the pressure every faith-based realtor feels to always be reachable, always be producing, and always be saying yes — and why that pressure often comes from a lack of trust rather than a lack of discipline. They dig into biblical business principles around work, rest, and ambition, including a hard look at Luke 21:34 and what it means to "watch yourself" so your heart isn't weighed down by the cares of this life.

Key Takeaways

• "Priority" was never meant to be plural. For 500 years it meant one thing — the first thing. Treating everything as a priority quietly guarantees that nothing actually is.
• Overworking is usually a trust problem, not a discipline problem. Saying yes to everything often comes from fear that God won't provide if you say no.
• There's a difference between working "for God" and working "from" Him. Building from a place of identity and rest looks different than building to prove something or earn approval.
• "God, family, business" as a stacked priority order can still miss the point. The goal isn't ranking categories — it's letting God be present in all of them at once, not compartmentalized.
• Proximity shapes priorities. Surrounding yourself with people who chase the Lord (not just bigger production numbers) will change what you say yes and no to.
• The moments that matter rarely show up as urgent. A daughter's birthday, a quiet morning, a Sabbath afternoon — these are easy to sacrifice for "just a little more work," but they're the ones you can't get back.
• Praying for your clients — not just about your goals — shifts your posture. It reorients a real estate business away from self-interest and back toward genuinely serving people.

Practical Steps

• Spend time in real stillness this week and ask God directly: what am I saying yes to that I need to say no to?
• Before your next "just a quick question" client text on a weekend, decide in advance what your boundary is — and hold it.
• Identify one relationship in your circle that's pulling you toward hustle over presence, and one that's pulling you toward the Lord — lean into the second.
• Try praying specifically for your current clients (not just about closing them) and notice how it shifts your approach.
• Do the "age 80 on the park bench" exercise: picture what you want to be true then, and ask if today's calendar is actually building toward it.

Connect with Janet:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Janet.Brinck.Realtor
Website - https://www.thesaltyagent.com/

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Transcript

The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next 500 years. Only in the 1900 did we pluralized the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word, we could bend reality somehow. We would now be able to have multiple, quote unquote first things. Faithful agents, what a great conversation you all are gonna love. This week's episode. We had a roundtable discussion with our good friend Janet Brink, talking about priority instead of priorities. How do we manage time? How do we be more prayerful and submissive about our business? It was a great conversation. I think you're going to love it. Yeah, it was a great conversation. It gave me a ton to think about, and I am so excited for you guys to give this one a listen. Well, you guys know that this would not be a good, faithful agent podcast without some Christian dad joke. So Cole, as the youngest person on this show and soon to be dad times for again, that sentence didn't make sense. Will you please give us your Christian dad joke? For sure. You know, somehow a real estate agent gets to heaven and ask Peter, what's the commission split up here? Peter says it's 100. The agent smiles. Awesome. I get 100%. And Peter replied, no, God does. And he got sent back. But that both doesn't make sense. And the theology is terrible and it's not funny. Hey, Janet did not like that one, but you both laughed. You both laughed. So we did. We did. I it was something I kind of looked away like. Yeah. Janet covered her eyes. All right, Janet, what do you have for your Christian dad joke? How long did Cain dislike his brother? How long? As long as he was able. Oh. That's good. That's good. The sad reality is, like in my head, I knew that answer. Did. I've done so many, I was, I was able. Oh my gosh. Crazy. Okay, let's see if this one's funny. A little girl from Alabama went to church for the first time ever when she was visiting her grandparents in Michigan. When the pastor announced it was time for the Lord's Supper, she was excited and hungry. The congregation filed up to the altar rail, and the child watched in confusion as her grandparents received a wafer and small plastic cup of wine. She could hardly wait to get back to the pew to tell her grandma that Jesus wasn't from Alabama. How do you know that, dear? Asked her grandma. Because that's the poorest meal I've ever seen, she said. Mama would have least given everybody some cornbread and sweet tea. Ah, you know what's really funny about that? That's cute. That was nice and long and drawn out. I was waiting for the punchline, but it was better than your last few. Thank you. You know, what's really funny about that is one of my clearest memories as a child is I had a sleepover with a friend who is Catholic, and I've never been to a Catholic church. So I went to church with her and I came home and my mom said, how is church? And I said it was fine, but I'm annoyed that, um, what did I say? I was I'm annoyed that everybody else got snatched at me because they read me. That's amazing. I was like, that's so wrong. That is. That's awesome. Hey, you didn't know. You didn't know. Well, I am so excited to have Janet Brink here with us as well, to do our first roundtable discussion. We're going to try to have Janet on here a lot more often, because she's way smarter than both Cole and I, but we're excited that Janet's here. Today's topic is going to center around priorities and scheduling and managing time. It's something that we all struggle with, right? All three of us on here struggle with uh, as top producers too. Right? There's so many pools on your time. And so we're just going to have a conversation of how do we balance that? How do we manage that? How do we choose priorities. So I'm going to give us I'm going to read this paragraph from the book essentialism, which I love. I'm rereading it right now and it's just going to kick us off. So. Let me read this. Uh, and then I want to get your feedback. Here's the paragraph. The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next 500 years. Only in the 1900s did we pluralized the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word, we could bend reality 

somehow. We would now be able to have multiple, quote unquote, first things people and companies routinely try to do just that. One leader told me of his experience in a company that talked of priority one, priority two, priority three. Priority four, priority five. This gave the impression of many things being the priority, but actually meant nothing was. But when we tried to do it all and have it all, we find ourselves making trade offs at the margins that we would never take on as our intentional strategy. When we don't purposefully and deliberately choose where to focus our energies and time. Other people like our bosses, colleagues, clients, even our families will choose for us. And before long, we've lost sight of everything that is meaningful and important. We can either make our choices deliberately or allow other people's agendas to control our lives. Mm. It's good. Wow. For 500 years, the word priority meant one thing. And all of a sudden, we changed it to mean multiple things. What are your first reactions to that? I mean, wow, it's crazy. Um, that we are talking about this today. Um, because I have spent the last week, um, just completely enthralled and, um, spending so much quiet time and stillness and prayer over, um, what I'm saying no to. And, um, I did a retreat last week, and they were like, what do you want to. It was a, you know, faith and leadership retreat. They're like, what do you want to walk away with saying on Friday? And I was like, I just want like crystal clear, um, like clarity and confidence and conviction about what I'm saying no to in the next, like half of the year. And, um. What's interesting about, uh. I never read that. I haven't read the book, so I just heard that for the first time. And what's interesting about it for me is, is where I was coming to with it was, um, you know, I have a lot to do. I'm busy. Right. And I like, I mean, I do. I have five kids and three businesses and just craziness all the time. Um, and so much of me has let so much go since I've been back from the retreat. Just to spend time in God's presence. Like. Like I don't care. I mean, you know, I probably owe you stuff, Garrett. That stuff we're working on. Oh, that's okay. I don't know either. Our assistants will figure that out. Um, yeah. So it's just interesting to me that I. That I'm hearing that and I just kept, you know, saying over and over, like the last couple of days, like, well, that as long as I'm doing that, like everything else. Needs to wait right now because I feel like I'm being obedient. Like something is just in me where I'm like, I need to just spend this time. Yeah, it kind of immediately made me think of, uh, Gary Keller's the one thing. Um, I think he, I remember one quote, he says multitasking is alive. But then he said, work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back the other four balls. Family, health, friends, integrity are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicks nicked, and perhaps even shattered. Why did it make you think of that? Uh, just because of the shift from priority singular, the intense focus on one thing to prioritise the intense focus on multiple things is a lie. And so we've spread ourselves so far and so thin that we believe we're accomplishing much, but we're not. And then, just like Janet said, how much more, uh, fulfilled. And filled up. She is by only doing one thing and that's abiding. I think the you know what's so interesting when I have conversations about this with with really anyone but Christians in particular and I want your take is I would think all of us, especially in the real estate industry, would acknowledge. Yeah, I've way too many priorities, right? I have way too much going on. I don't think that's the question. There's, you know, I don't think anyone listening to this show is needing to be convinced of that. Right? I think the question is, how then do we protect. Right. Because we've become I'm reading a book also called Work by Dan Dorion. It's a biblical worldview of of working. Right. One of the things he talks about is the reality of the rise of, you know, the smartphones, right, is now we're just constantly connected. People always have say and opinions over what we should be doing and all of this stuff, social media, right. All those things. But but we can't look at social media. We can't blame social media or blame our phones or blame email. It's our choice. Still, everything is still our choice, right? And what we do and don't do, not having lived in the early 1900s, right? I don't know that the pressure is more than it was then, but it feels like it is. And so the question is not are we needing to reset priorities and protect? I think the question is 

how. So what would your thoughts be on that? How do we do that? How do we. Because we've said yes to things, Janet. And so there's it's naturally going to require us to just go back and say, no, swallow that frog and just say, sorry, I shouldn't have said yes. How what do we do? How do how do we regain our time? Regain our priorities? Uh, I use the word wrong again. Right? How do we regain the priority and know what that is? What do you think? Yeah. I mean, I think going back and, um, you know, having to make your yes and no is part of growth and leadership sometimes, you know, like I got it wrong and I'm sorry. And, um, you know, I think figuring it out for me and what I'm learning is, you know, as I'm spending more time, you know, with God and in God's Word, I'm able to, um, almost come and do things from a from a place of God versus, like, for God. Like I had a lot of thought about that. Um, you know, just like, pack that. What does what does that mean, Janet from a I and I'm sorry, I think you said from a place of God versus for God. Can you unpack? What do you mean by that? Like just getting to a place where, um, you know, I, I feel. I have thought in the past, very convicted. Like, I'm sure you've heard me say this like I've. I've always felt like God has this huge calling on my life. Like, I can't tell you how many times I have said that, like I've said a lot because I have felt that way. Um, but, you know, then I'm realizing, like, I'm out there doing all of this stuff and I'm okay, this is going to get deep right away. Okay. So at this retreat, I, um, had a friend who told me about this prompt that she put into ChatGPT around The Screwtape Letters. You guys know The Screwtape Letters? Yeah, C.S. Lewis book. And, um, basically I put into ChatGPT, um, you know, write me a letter as if you are Screwtape and I am, um, ringworm or, you know, you're writing, right? Yeah, yeah. Ringworm. Ringworm. I it's you got a different response than I think you meant. Yeah, yeah. Go see a doctor. And for those who don't know, super quick. So it's basically two demons talking about how they would deceive a Christian. Yeah, like the senior demon is writing to the. Yeah, the junior demon. And anyway, so it wrote this letter about like how he would advise this like junior demon to to get to me and it hit. I mean, I was in tears, um, because it was like, you know, you can't just come on as a full on attack. Like, she's too smart for that now. She's too close to God. You know, you've really got to, um, you know, keep her really busy. One of the reasons I got still was, um, it said, you know, keep her really busy, and, um. Whatever you do, don't let her get still and be one with God, because she'll be way too dangerous. Um, and it talked about like how I strive to, like, do stuff for the Lord. You know what I mean? Which I was like, well, yeah. Like I want to do stuff for the Lord. I want to build. I want to build communities for the Lord. I want to do this for the Lord. And and, um, it basically talked about if I got still enough and got full enough from him, it would be building from, you know, him versus me having something to to prove. Um, I basically said the worst thing that could happen to me was, um, reminding me that God doesn't actually need me to accomplish his purpose. Like, all he wants me to do is love him. Like that's it. Everything else, you know? And so it really made me pause. I was like, what am I doing? Like, I don't need to prove anything to God. Or do you? He doesn't need me to do anything. And, um, that's why when you said this was our topic, I was like, floored. Because I need this more than more than anyone right now. Because that's exactly where I am. Like, God, what do you want from me? Um, what do you. You know, I'm. I'm reporting for duty. Where do you want me? Um, because I've just been doing too much. Hmm hmm. Janet, I'm going to interrupt us real quick. You do that a lot. I do, but this time it's important. So, agents, listen up. What if the next level of success in your business has less to do with finding a better strategy, and more to do with surrendering to gods? That question is exactly why we're bringing the gathering to Northern Virginia on September 10th and 11th at the Dulles Airport Marriott. It's a two day experience to help believers in real estate grow not only in their business, but their faith, leadership, families, and impact. Now, don't get us wrong, we are going deep on business. You'll learn from some of the top agents, leaders and entrepreneurs in the industry from lead generation, marketing, social media systems, 

leadership, all of it. But we're also going to wrestle with questions most business conferences never ask. Like, what would it actually look like to fully surrender your business to God? What happens when you stop building from pressure and start building from purpose? What if the gifts in the calling God placed inside of you were meant for something far greater than just personal success? That's the room we built. Two days of practical business training, authentic community, powerful worship, prayer, and real conversations with people who get your heart and your work. Because the goal was never just to build a bigger business, it's to build a life that glorifies God and a business that becomes an extension of that calling. And right now, the first 50 people to register. Get 50% off. So if God's been nudging you towards something more. Don't wait. Grab your ticket today. While the discounts still here, go to the salty com or click the link in the show notes. Our prayer is that he fills that room with exactly the right people. We'd love for you to be one of them. Can't wait to gather with you. All right, back to the show. It's so interesting. And I want your take too, buddy, but so interesting. Uh, Matt Farnham was on the show. Gosh, I don't know, a year ago, maybe at this point. But he made this point that I'll always remember. He said, you know, the the devil can't destroy a believer anymore. We're sealed with the Holy Spirit. Is the inheritance, the guarantee of our salvation. But his job is he will distract us. He can't destroy us, so he'll just keep us distracted. And as long as he keeps us off mission, that's his only victory, right? Because there's no eternal victory for him. For believers. But, uh. And that stuck with me forever looking in the minutia of our schedules and minutia of the things we say yes to. Right. What are you thinking? Oh, man. I'm thinking about this book. My book of the year so far is a severe mercy by this guy named von Aachen. He was C.S. Lewis, one of C.S. Lewis best friend. If you've never read it, it's like a love letter to his wife. And it's like a love letter to God as as he is wrestling with do I believe or do I not believe? But he he he's so aware of this idea of time. And he writes at my father's club, sitting before the fire we had spoken. My wife and I of moments made eternity meaning what we called timeless moments. Moments precisely without the pressure of time. Moments that might be called indeed time for moments. And he goes on and he says, how strange that we cannot love time. It spoils our loveliest moments. And then. C. S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis later writes, if we complain of time and take such joy in the seemingly timeless moment, it suggests that we were created for eternity. And it just made me think about it. Because as the book progresses, he realizes as he's looking back on his life with his wife because, spoiler alert, the book's been out for 70 years. She dies. Um, but, um, he's sitting by her bedside and he's remembering all of those moments, and this guy, like, taught at Oxford, you know, somebody extremely intelligent, best friends with C.S. Lewis. And he writes a book about the final moments that he has with his wife, the timeless moments. And those are the things that he writes. You know, people write books about not I mean, yes, people write books about real estate, but come on, you and I both know the ones that are more meaningful are time and love in the Lord. So that that you mentioned C.S. Lewis, Janet. And so it just made me think of that. Um. I mean, and it's always make more money. You can never make more time. Yeah, right. And how do we, you know, I and I, you know, we we had that call earlier today Janet. Right. Your salt community that we'll talk about, you know, I don't know go check out the salt community. Uh, but the salt community call. One of the things I meant to say on there that I forgot. Janet. Yeah. Was the. And you've probably seen this, but I remember seeing, gosh, I don't know, 20 years ago, maybe at this point, maybe longer. But on stage, this example of you get this massive rope, right, it's 100ft long, whatever it is, you, you color the very tip of it black and it's like, this is your life. Everything else is eternity. And even that falls short, right? Because we don't have anything that goes on forever in our world. And it's like most people I remember this pastor, given this example, like most people, live for this little part, which is retirement, right? And they forget that the their actual living is happening in eternity. And so we just, you know, at least for me, my distractions come from the cares of the world. 

Right? I'm going to read in Luke 21, Jesus talks about that. My distractions come from my pursuit of whatever, my comfort. The next thing the, you know, whatever I can build, look, whatever it is, whatever I can accomplish, that's where my distraction comes from. It doesn't mean that ambition is bad. It does mean that ambition is was meant for someone else, not for us. And so how do we look around and say, Lord, how do you want me to use what you've given me for the sake of your kingdom? And recognizing to your point, Cole, that at the end of your life you know when I. Uh, I did an exercise recently. Right. And it said it like, asked the question when you're 80. Imagine you're 80 and you know you're still around and your spouse is still around, and you're sitting there on a park bench and you're looking around what's happening. Right. Just vision that. And so for me, it was well, you know, my kids are there, their kids are there. I'm holding my wife's hand. We're talking about, you know, the joys of this life. And my family loves the Lord. Right. It's just been such a blessing in the family, all the things. Right. And then you zoom back, it's like, well, are you actually trying to live that out today? So that is what happens when you're 80. You know, you're like, man, when I have that perspective, it does change things, right? Like the priority shifts, the the time that I'm willing to spend on things. It's, you know, today is my daughter's fifth birthday. So, sure, when we're done with this podcast, could I knock out a little bit more work? Of course I could. Would it, quote unquote, help me get ahead? Sure it would. Am I ever going to get my daughter's fifth birthday back? No. Right. What do I want to be talking about when we're. When I'm 80? Uh, Lord willing. Right. So I think it's this perspective, at least for me, that is so hard to have that when we gain perspective, We start to realize what does matter and what doesn't matter, and what will matter 20 years from now, and what won't matter 20 years from now. And maybe gives us a little perspective. Yeah. I got a question for you, Janet. So for for the listeners, because I think sometimes when I hear like when I'm listening to you, Janet, like I can truly tell, man, she is spending time with the Lord and she's also excited about that. How did that shift? Right. Because you have been busy before. You've also been productive before, and you've also been doing those things and not walking with the Lord and not abiding in the Lord, right? So how did you get to this point where you are now like, what has happened? Has it been really, really long? Or did you all of a sudden like, oh my gosh, I need the Lord way more now, and I'm busier than I was even five years ago? Yeah. I mean, for me, I'm a slow learner with a really hard head and, um, you know, so I did like I've always been, like, very driven and, you know, my my backstory. It started from my childhood, you know, like, I came from a. Chaotic, um, traumatic household. Um, I, I've talked to, I think both of you guys about this offline, but, hey, every time I was on Garrett's podcast, we just go to, um, but, uh, you know, there was sexual abuse in my home. Um, it was it was just crazy, right? And so, like, I, I learned very early on that, um, hard work gave me options, right? Like, I had to make really good grades so that I could play sports and do extracurricular activities. Like, that was a rule in my house. And so, like, I did that so that I could like, you know, get out of my house, honestly. And, um, you know, then I went on, um, you know, went to college, met my husband, um, and we worked really hard. He graduated second in his class. And, you know, I started my real estate business and had four beautiful babies. Well, you guys know. And then 2012, twin towers of my personal life came down. Everything I thought to be true was no longer true. Like husband gone. Like just. It was it was crazy. And, um, you know, right when I thought I had it all figured out. Like it was taken again. And so I'm like, I'm working so hard. I accomplished all these things and they just keep. And anyway, long story short, basically is like, I had to really get to a place where, um, you know, the lesson for me was like, I can be doing all those things. God just wants my eyes on him and I'm trying it. It took me being in a place where I had to completely surrender and completely trust him to say, no matter what happens, like you are, are my savior. Like you're the one that's going to give me peace, comfort, provide like there is no one else. Um, and you know, and there's a whole other long story around around even 

how I got there. But, um, you know, my my God is a jealous God, and I, um, you know, got to a point where I was like, all right, he wants my time. Like, he wants my energy, wants my first, like, you know, so I just kind of when I turned it over to him because I've been a believer my whole life. Um, but I've not. Surrendered until like 2020. Like, I was like, oh, like nothing's working. Did you see him chasing you? Oh my gosh. Yes. Like, thank God for his grace. And she's like, thank goodness. Um, like he never let. And it was just interesting. Right. Because like, I've been a Christian, you know, like I, um, it's so funny you mentioned Gary Keller because I went to Keller Williams in 2012 when my life was so poorly open. And one of the main reasons I went to that company was because I walked in the door and I saw God family business on the wall, and I was like, that's. I was like, okay, here I am, like, let's go. And, um, you know, I would like hashtag God, family business like that, would I? I was striving to live by that priority order. Um, and, uh, in 2020, I ended up stepping down from being the CEO of a Keller Williams franchise and, like, reordering my whole entire life because, like, even though I was hashtag ING God, family, business and wanting to live by by that priority order, um, it was like business, business, business. 14 hour days. Um, family was like, did you do your homework? Get your stuff for practice, you know? And my God, for me at that point was like literally getting in the car on Sunday. Just give me my one hour. Come on. Let's get to church. You know, and like, other than that, like it. Really? I'm ashamed to even say that. But, like, as a Christian, like, I didn't give it, like, a ton of thought. Like, I guess I prayed once a week, twice a week. I don't know. Um, but then all of a sudden, I was I ended up crying in my pastor's office. Um, and, uh, he basically said, sort of. I guess what we're talking about right now is like, he's like, there is no priority order with God. It's like he's like, it's just God. It's not like God family business. It's like if you are leading with God, God is in you. So he's in your business, he's in your family, he's in. And I just realized, like, wow, um, I just have to turn it over. And it takes a lot of trust to do that, you know? And when we're talking about saying no to things. That it takes a lot of trust in him to say no, because you feel like you're missing opportunities. You feel like there's more that can be done. And, um, you know, for me, when I when I really started spending more time with him, um, and it's not like I'm spending more time with him to get what I want. But it's really weird that the more time I spend with him, the more my life just seems to be blessed. It's like. It's like, you know, the secret, I don't know, but, well, it's the realization. I think the more time you spend, the more we realize how little everything else matters, right? I mean, I think that's that's it. And that the. You hit on something and call. I want your opinion. But the word trust, right. Like I, I think that so much of why when I was in a season or fall into seasons of overworking. Right, it's it's just a lack of trust. It's the Lord going to provide or is he not right? And if if I say, well, I'm not going to work Saturdays and Sundays because I'm going to be with my family, right, I'm going to put them first or I'm going to turn it off at five, or I'm going to shut off my phone for an hour every day, whatever the scenario is. And then someone says, well, you can't do that. And it's like, oh, well, maybe you're right. Everybody else is working. They're out doing this. They're out showing houses Sunday morning. Maybe I need to do that, whatever the scenario is. The real question comes down to you do you trust him to provide or not? Right to to your point. And it work is nobody. Nobody understands. I certainly don't. You know how our work with the Lord's sovereignty, how those blend together? I have no idea. Right. The Lord's going to do what he does, but we also have to work. Like. I don't understand exactly how that you know, how that comes together. But the reality is, as a believer, when we are prone to overworking or saying yes to everything, right? Which we all have and I'll do it, I think it just stems from a lack of trust that if I don't, then I'm not going to be where I'm supposed to be. And then and then we convince ourselves, at least I do. We convince ourselves, like, well, then I'm not building what the Lord wants me to build. So I need to be saying yes to everything. And it's like the Lord's going to take you where he wants you to take you. Along the way, you have to 

honor him by protecting the things he's told you to protect. Family, Sabbath, right. All of those pieces. And that's hard. I think that's super hard, right? The nature is to overwork 14 hours a day, like you said, because, hey, I got stuff to accomplish. What do you think, though? Coal. I mean, you and I are in a similar place right now that our kids are young. Uh, yeah. How have you felt that or what's your reaction to that? I got two reactions. One, I lost a I lost a listing this past week actually because he texted or he called me like 720 on a Saturday and he's like, hey, just got a quick question for you. I'm like, all right, well, quick question. That'll wait till Monday morning. Call him Monday. He's like, hey, sorry, I went a different direction. We're gonna list our house. I'm like, dude, I just sold that to you like two years ago. Um, but yeah, I mean it all. It happens to every one of us, quote unquote top producers. But I think about three weeks ago, a pastor who visited our church was talking about money, and this resonated with me so much. And it's so simple. I can't believe I've never thought about it before. But he said money is the most like God thing that we have. Like it promises security, it promises provision, it promises freedom, it promises identity, it promises hope for the future. And I'm like, oh my gosh, that's why I like it so much. Um, and just like Janet was saying, I realized when I got into my business, holy crap, I can work really hard and I get results, and that results creates opportunities that those opportunities create money. Like this is a cycle I'm really enjoying. And then. I didn't. And then I realized that saying yes to everything was saying no to a whole heck of a lot. And so, um, yeah, I trial by fire, too. I think I'm hard headed. And once again, like, money's great. Like, but it also is so close to God. And I think that's where we have to be really careful with what, you know, where we're giving our heart to. Quick question for you. Did you get into real estate to create more freedom for yourself and for your family to live a more faith filled and purposeful life? Now, if that is true, and I believe it probably is. Let me ask you this question. Do you feel like you're having to be on your phone almost around the clock, and do you feel like you oftentimes have to work weekends when you'd rather be at church or with your family? Or do you feel like you're constantly chasing attention on social media? And does all that feel like freedom for many? It does not. The good news is this the homeowner concierge is a simple platform that scales your referral relationships. It's not just dependent upon the relationships that you have, but the referral relationships that your preferred vendors have. Now, if you're interested again in having more referrals, so much that you don't have to live in scarcity, you can live in abundance and you can have that freedom that you desired. I want you to go to Pro insight.com for faithful, you know, like the Faithful Agent podcast. Again, it's Pro Insight faithful. You're going to watch a quick video there. If what you see there resonates, you're going to schedule some time together. And I'll walk you through how we're helping real estate agents to again scale their referral relationships and finally get the freedom that you desire. Mm. How do you protect that then? Right. The the devil also could just use like. No, you just need more money. More money. And it's so easy for us to convince ourselves. I'm gonna get more. I'm going to give more. Look at all the awesome things I'm going to do for the Lord. All the things when. Meanwhile, the Lord saying, well, the thing I gave you to shepherd your family, you've been ignoring them, dude. So you're out of order. Like this is not correct. How do you protect against that? I think a little bit of what? Shae. Um, one of our guests on was at two weeks ago, maybe, and she said, um, like, surround yourself with people that are going to hold you accountable. And for me, that's my wife. I mean, she could live in Laura Ingalls cottage and we could have one room and she'd be totally fine, which I'm so grateful. If I married a hustler, I would completely destroy my life. Um, so I think surrounding yourself with people and some of my best friends are. They're just not like me. They they're not they're not that hustle culture. And they don't they're not small business owners, and they're really content. And the crazy thing is, like, I'll hang out with them. And I'm actually jealous of their position because I realized that I'm chasing something that they don't necessarily need, and I'm convicted by it. Um, so I think that in our world, we're 

consistently saying like, oh, be, you know, you sold 10 million last year. You should be around somebody who sells 20 million. You only sold 20 million. You need to be around somebody who sells like one every other day. And that just proximity is going to, you know, change your priorities and, you know, and on all those things are good in some manner. But, um, I think you need to surround yourself with consistent people who are chasing after the Lord and, uh, not chasing after. You know, fill in the blank. The world. Yeah, yeah. It's good. What do you think on that, Janet? How do we how do we protect against the pressures that come from internal pressures? Right. But also the external pressure. Certainly this industry. Yeah. It's interesting, I thought when you were talking about, um, you know, money. I was reading the other day, um, that the word hate, um, the the, like origin definition, like way, way back pre biblical whatever um, was was not how we think of it today. It was just um, to, to not choose that. And um, so they were talking about, you know, money and um, you know, God and you can't worship money and God and it just simply means like to choose God, like when, when you have a dilemma. Right. And I think the litmus test for me would be like, am I choosing like God? Am I choosing to trust him? Um, or am I, you know, and I'll even back up because, like, first of all, I never even used to ask, like, I could be like, God made me ambitious, so I better go crush it. Like it's just who he made me to be. And, you know, like. And now at least I'm finding myself like, I ask, like, is this what you want? Like, what do you want me to do? Like, I can go do a bunch of things. Doesn't mean I should. Um. And so like, I, I again just go back to, like, sitting still and, you know, slowing down, um, to just really listen and hear. Is this what you would have me do? Um, it's another interesting, you know. Um, predicament. Because I was just, uh, listening this morning to, um, a pop. I'll never remember her name, but it was a, um, YouTube about the practical way we can hear God's voice. Um, and she gave kind of, like, three filters, and, um, you know, it's not in Scripture, um, all that stuff, but she was talking about how you hear from other people. Um, and if you're really asking with a genuine openness to want to hear, then, you know, it's kind of your duty to go look for, like, listen for the answer, like pay attention. And so he can sometimes give it through. You know what we see? What we hear. Um, and other people. And I just had a coaching call today right after we did this all call. And she basically looked at me and said, why is that your goal? Like, I gave her a very specific number to a goal. And she was like, why is that your goal? And I've been working with this coach for two months and she's never questioned the goal. Like, I hired her so we could go reach that goal. Like, she knew why I was hiring her. And it was the first time she said, why is that specific number your goal? And that was like the third time somebody had asked me that in the last week when I've been, you know, telling God, like, what? What do you want me to do? What do I it's just interesting. I don't know if I answered your question. No. It's good. Well, I mean, it reminds me because like that, that's something that I am so bad at, is we've succeeded because we have speed. And so the few times that I sit there and say, okay, I got to force myself to be still. Lord, what do you desire of me? And I sit there for an hour or two hours and then I don't know the answer. Then I'm like, all right, I'm just gonna get up and do something right like that. That's just the the sinful nature. I hate waiting, I hate patience. Like things are happening. I need to get up, and it doesn't feel like work. Uh, I don't mean in the context that I'm, you know, work like we're going to work. Whatever. It doesn't feel like we're being active if we sit there still and be prayerful. Yeah, but that is active. I've had debate with friends, not debate, but conversation with friends over debate with your friends. I've been in the room. It's always a debate. But. But all right. I'll just be happy. It's healthy. Healthy, happy. Debate of. Is prayer a lead generation strategy? Right? Not in a way that like, we can manipulate the Lord because that's not that is completely inappropriate. But if we just sit there and we pray and and we trust the Lord and ask him, yeah, go ahead, Janet, please. I have some thoughts on that. I just, I literally I wrote this I wrote so many questions down. So I'm excited Janet you take it for I'm oh hold on I'm gonna tease that. Then next time 

you're on that can be the conversation. Is prayer a lead generation topic? Don't have time to dive into that today. Come back next time. Jan. It's on. Uh, that's what we're going to talk about. We're going to just put a make a sound effect call or say like say, oh, there you go. Yeah. We're going to shoot a laser beam. You cute. Okay, I gotta go I gotta go back to this question because this, you know, Janet said, uh, the litmus test and one practical thing that has really helped help me and this is can segue to the next episode, whatever. But, um. Do you pray for your clients? And when I pray for my clients, it radically shifts my priority. I realize, oh my gosh, how selfish I have been. I'm not thinking about my client like we say, oh well, I'm thinking about my clients. For clients. First you pray for your clients and it will. I think it will. I think it radically changes my business. So. Hmm. That's good man. Luke 21, verse 34 Jesus is talking about end times. But but he says, but watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. I had to declare, if I read one more time, I had to look up what is dissipation? Me. And you would know, Cole, you were an English teacher. Yeah, but in the biblical context, it's, you know, the the wasting and squandering of the things. The words give you time, energy, talent, money, those things. So with that in mind, let me read it again. But watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap, and real quick. And I want your quick thoughts before we wrap the episode. But I just was journaling through that, uh, verse this morning. And I just wrote down, like the first command, and then just watch yourself. And what came to mind was that's what we would say to my about my kids, like, hey, we gotta watch, you know, Zoe, the three. Oh, we got to make sure we got eyes on Zoe or she's got to do something crazy. And Jesus is like, yeah, do that to yourself or you're going to do something crazy. The cares of the life. Not I'm getting drunk, but you know, the cares of the life, the dissipation, the squandering of time, energy and talents. You better watch yourself or that day will come upon you suddenly like a trap. Right? We didn't know it was coming, and that has just been stuck with me as we think about priorities in time. Is am I watching myself? So I'm not squandering the things, letting the cares of this world, you know, take over that my heart would be way down and that the the, the final day. I know that's not what Jesus is talking about specifically, but at the end of my life would come on me like a trap because I wasn't paying attention. And I feel like that's I don't know. I mean, it's Jesus's words, so it's much better than anything you and I could ever say, but I don't know. Quick reactions to that as we wrap up. Cole, why don't you go first and we'll let Janet get the last word? Yeah, the picture I get, I remember one of my good friends had a had a baby girl, her name was Azalea, and they were at the Grand Canyon and they were, you know, at the top, their little picnic area and. She was. Azalea was just like running towards the edge of the Grand Canyon. So happy. Right? So blissful. Picturesque in the background. Sun, sunset. And my friend Ashley said, I've never realized how like, dumb my daughter was. She literally was just running to the edge of the Grand Canyon, and I had to stop her because she was so unaware, and that that's kind of the picture that that verse came to my, my head because I'm thinking about like, like what is weighty, but and then it ends with the word trap, because Azalea didn't know what was about to befall her, but her mom most certainly did, even though to Azalea it looked beautiful and it was just flat. And then all of a sudden it wasn't. And so that's the picture I got, Janna. What you got? I literally have not. I didn't take a breath, and I was worried that she did not go in a different direction. She did not she did not know. I actually went and grabbed her for hot take. Yeah. Praise God. Yes. Yeah. No. Yeah. That reminds me of, um, you know, the, the saying where it feels like God, um, is watching my life. Like, sometimes we watch, like, the squirrel in the middle of the road and you're like, ah, like, he's like, you're like, pick, go do something. Um. But yeah, you know, I just. For me, I'm. I feel like that's why I am so, um, just enveloped in. Um, just connecting with the Holy Spirit right now because, like, I can't see, I don't know, um, you 

know, and I just it goes back to that trust and, and me just spending time and, like, asking for, like, this supernatural direction, like, that's just where I am. Like, I don't even want to figure it out anymore. Like, I trust you. Let me know you're all seeing. I know nothing, um, you know, and I mean, God, God really doesn't tell me. No, um, when I put stuff in front of him, he either says yes, not yet, or I have something better. And I'm like, okay, like, let's. It's just trust, trust in time with them. It's good we could talk about this forever and still never solve it, right? Because we all are sinners and we're going to struggle with this. But I think the clear throughline of the conversation is go talk to him. Go ask him for wisdom and direction. And I think what we think matters most of it probably doesn't matter. And what he wants to matter for us. We get distracted by all the quote unquote good things we've said yes to. And so go talk to him and find people to hold you accountable. I mean, that's there's a whole purpose of the gathering conference that you all just heard about in the mid row. That's the whole point of salt. It's the whole point of faithful agent. It's the point of this podcast, right? It's to do business in life in context of a community of believers who are in the industry where we hold each other accountable. Uh, people need to tell me like, dude, you're being too ambitious. Have you spent enough time with your family or discipling them? What does that look like? Right? The things that will actually matter for the weight of eternity. Uh, the timeless moments, as Cole talked about. Right. So, you know, we we love you guys. We don't have all this figured out by any stretch of the imagination. We're going to continue these conversations. If there's something you want us to talk about, shoot me an email. It's in the show notes. Go grab a ticket to the gathering so we can be together and talk about these things in person. That's also in the show notes. We hope to see you there. Faithful agents, next time we'll talk about is prayer a lead generation strategy. And you're going to find out all those questions that Cole wrote down and all of Janet's amazing answers. So you're going to want to come back for that. We love you. We love you, faithful agents. We'll see you next week. Hey, Christian agent, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If it resonated, would you take 30s and share it with another agent who's also trying to grow their business without losing their faith, family, or peace? That's how this message spreads. And if you haven't yet, hit that subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. I release new ones each Thursday to help you build success that actually lasts. It genuinely fires me up knowing this podcast is helping you pursue excellence to the glory of God, both at work and at home. I'll meet you back here next week for another episode of The Faithful Agent.