The Rachel Cruze Show - Why 2020 Made Us Better

Episode Date: December 21, 2020

In this episode of The Rachel Cruze Show, you’ll learn: Three things that were actually good about 2020 What it means to balance faith and success with my guest, singer-songwriter Matthew West How to plan for a baby during Baby Step 2 Resources: Zander Insurance Minno Tuft and Needle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yeah, you can do things on earth well, do it responsibly, but at the end of the day, what is your life pointing towards to say, okay, God put me in the places you want to put me and let that mindset of those choices be that eternal. Hey guys, welcome to this episode of the Rachel Crewe Show podcast. So glad that you're here. Today's episode is wonderful. I sit down with Matthew West. Oh, he's such an incredible songwriter and singer, and we just have a great conversation talking about faith, success, and it's a great one. And I'm also going to answer a question from my Facebook community about paying off debt while preparing for a big life change. But first, let's talk about the three things that we want to bring

from 2020 into 2021 with us. There's a lot of things we don't want to bring, but there are some things we want to take with us into 2021. So take a listen. Good Lord, 2020. I mean, I think we are all ready for this New Year's Eve. You look back, I saw a meme the other day, and it was like, oh, no, the future meant to spread out all the bad things over a decade, but someone up in heaven screwed it up, and it all landed in one year, which was 2020. That's what it felt like. I mean, just thing after thing after thing, and you're like, man, can it get any worse? Oh, it can.

And it just kept going and going and going. There were some bright spots in 2020. The whole year wasn't bad. But overall, I think we all can admit there's jokes, there's memes, all of it, that 2020 was quite a memorable year. And I'm okay to say goodbye to it. I'm like, you know what? Bring it back on, bring on future. Bring on a little bit of normalcy again, maybe, God willing, because it is just insane. So a couple things that we're like, yeah, I can say goodbye to this. We can say goodbye to hoarding toilet paper. Do you remember that? A virus that affects your lungs. We all hoard a toilet paper. We still

understand that. Mom jeans, like, we're back in a little bit. And I was like, oh, no, no, the biker shorts and the big sweatshirts like the Kardashians can pull it off. No, that's about all I can do it. No, I don't need any biker shorts walking around here. No, mm-mm. But there are some things that you were doing in 2020 that we want to keep doing in 2021. One of them being paying off credit cards. Okay, you guys, in 2020, during pandemic at all,

$76 billion of credit card debt was paid off. I mean, what? Okay, listen to this. The Federal Reserve says that it is the steepest declined in card balances they've seen in history and mirrors the sharp declines in consumer spending due to COVID-19 pandemic and related to social distancing orders. Okay, again, pandemic, quarantine, all of it. Yeah, not all great things, always. But one thing was that people were not spending as much according to some studies.

So it's amazing when we see that we can just really buckle down. and realize that we really don't have to spend all that we've been spending in the years past, it's a great lesson to see, yeah, some of us spent out of boredom and all of that. Yeah, but the amount we were spending was so much less than if we were out living our everyday lives. So it just proves that we can survive without spending all this money and going into all this credit card debt. In fact, we can pay it off. I love it. I love it.

Keep on, paying it off, guys. 2021, keep paying it off. Self-awareness. This was something big. I feel like there were so many people out there really. understanding themselves. Because yeah, when everything is stripped from you, and it's like, yeah, you are stuck in your home, you start to reflect a lot about who you are, about the people and your family. I mean, there's a lot of things that come to the surface. You're like, wow,

didn't know that was in there. Okay. And hopefully, in a healthy way, if that was you, you kind of start to dive into, wow, who am I? Like, why do I function? Why do I do the things I do? And so a lot of personality assessments were up, things like the disc and enneagram, all of those, all that content skyrocketed during the pandemic because people are wanting to learn about themselves. And again, my new book, Know Yourself, Know Your Money, that's all about it is understanding yourself, which is so perfect during this time because a lot of people are finding out who they are, which is a good thing. And also something that we want to continue on in 2021 is giving. So Nashville was in such a strange world during all of this because, you guys, we had a horrible

tornado that went through downtown Nashville, a big part where a lot of people live. and I had friends, people I work with, and stuff was just absolutely destroyed. I mean, it was just absolutely terrible, so devastating. So that hit on a Monday night. Tennessee had their first active COVID-19 test, positive, whatever, on that Thursday. In the end, like, I swear, all hell broke loose, like, that weekend.

Like, it was just, it was crazy. Stuff started shutting down all of it. So within a week, Nashville was like, whoa, tornado, whoa, COVID-19. But in the midst of all that, people were giving like crazy. It's such a beautiful thing when something terrible happens and you see an entire community come together and serve and give and be available to help. I mean, it was so unbelievable. And then during the pandemic, hearing so many stories of people helping each other

within my city of Nashville, and I'm sure yours as well. But it's such a beautiful thing and something that we want to continue on serving and giving to others in 2021. So keep it up, you guys. And again, I cannot believe New Year's like right now. It's just, it's insane. Being a parent is hard today, especially when screens are everywhere. And you want to feel good about what your kids are watching without worry. That's why my family loves Minnow. It's a new streaming service created just for kids.

With over 2,000 hand-picked episodes that's rooted in a Christian perspective, Minow helps your child learn about Jesus, the Bible, and all the amazing things that God has created. So feel more comfortable about your media choices that you're making and start watching Minnow today. Download the Minow app or visit go menno.com. That's G-O-M-I-N-O dot com to get your free trial. I am joined by the wonderful Matthew West. The wonderful. Yeah, how'd you like that?

That felt really good. I needed that today. Okay, so for people that aren't familiar with you, tell us everything you do because he sings, which is actually, I'm going to interrupt you. You know, like, the one thing I don't have in life? What? That I know God is perfect, but it's like the one thing that I'm like, I think he may have forgotten to give me a music voice.

I think I could kill it as an artist. Well, have you ever tried? Oh, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And you just, I'm not seriously trying. You sure you don't want to show us what you guys? Oh, no, no, I will not sing. I can't. I don't know, pitch and all that.

I don't do any of that. Well, the Bible talks about making a joyful noise. It doesn't say, you know, as long as it's joyful. It's a noise. It could be a sound that somebody would enjoy. No good. So you do my dream. My dream that you travel and sing and do concerts and all of it.

Maybe one of these days. We'll get you with a vocal coach and maybe we'll record a duet like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Yes. And I'll just kind of harmonize and then you can like do like stuff to the voice. Yeah. We can always fix things in the studio. That's it. Fix it and post.

Yeah. We call like the Backstreet Boys treatment or something. No offense to the Backstreet Boys. No, but I love making music, you know, even. more importantly than the singing, I am passionate about the songwriting because the songwriting is the storytelling. And growing up, I always took sort of the gift of being able to sing for granted. I think when people are telling you, hey, you're really good at this. It just kind of came a little easier to me. So I was more interested in sports and thought I was going to be a professional

baseball player. But all along, you know, God had put different people in my path that were affirming this gift that I had for music. It really wasn't until I began learning to play the guitar and then discovering that I could put my story into a song, that I could pour out my heart. And that would be the vehicle by which I would get to communicate to the world. That's when it like clicked and I got excited about that. And all these years later, I call Nashville home and have built a career writing songs. I write songs for other people as well.

That's how I started my career. Okay, I didn't realize that. I was rejected by all the labels for about four years. Just like Garth Brooks, so I'm in good company. Just like a lot of people. I feel like that's a lot of people's story. And I built a career behind the scenes. And they came around and said, you're a good songwriter.

I said, well, you want to give me a record deal? They said, no, but we'd like to take your songs and give them to other singers. And so I wrote songs for artists and I still do in country music and in Christian music. But then four years later, I got a record deal. And I met my wife on the same day. She was working at the record label. so I got a record deal and a wife in the same day. That's impressive.

That's a good day. That's a great day. And so that's kind of what's led me to where I am today now, writing songs and doing something that I'm really passionate about doing. Okay, so how old were you then? I were like, what year was this? Can I, like, date you for a second? Yeah, so I'm 28 now, so that would be...

Just like four years ago. No, so I signed a record deal in 2004. 2004 was the first record deal. It was my very first album came out. Okay, so why Christian music? I'm just curious. because I know you do some country you said for writing. Yeah, it's funny.

You know, I've had a song on the radio that I wrote with a country artist. It's a song about summertime. It's a fun song, you know, flip-flops and all that stuff. But I've never had somebody pulled me aside and say, man, that song about putting your toes in the sand, like, that really changed my life. You know what I mean? And there's songs that serve different purposes. Some songs are, you know, sitting on the dock of the bay makes you want to sit on the dock of the and enjoy summertime, right?

And there's just been something that when you get a taste of doing something that feels like it can really make an impact in somebody's life, you want more of that. And so my friend Tom Douglas, who's one of the Hall of Fame songwriters in Nashville, he wrote The House That Built Me. What he says is he goes, you want to chase things that have an eternality to him. And what he's saying is it's a fancy word for eternal value, you know. And so writing songs that pour into people. people's stories and hopefully meet them at a broken place in their story because we've all got

some broken chapters. We don't know what to do with them. And I've seen over and over how God can speak through something as tiny as a little three-minute song straight to the heart of somebody in a moment where they needed it the most. And they rise up and they're able to find hope. And so ultimately, that's what fuels me. And no offense to songs about summertime, but I think if my whole career was just singing songs about summertime, I might lose some steam on that dream, you know? What I feel like I've got inside me is something that's deeper than a dream. It feels like a calling, a mission, a purpose. I love that. Okay, so speaking to that, because I'm like, yes, it's like your why. It's this huge why. That's right. Why you do the

things you do. And I feel like in our culture, in America, and we talk about money and stuff on the show a lot. And I'm like, yeah, we chase after this finish line. So a lot of people think, okay, well, if I can just have this level of fame, right? Or this level of money or this level of stuff, everything's going to be fulfilled. I'll be okay. And so from your experience, what would you say to the heart of that person? Because you're talking about a career, a successful career, but having a bigger why. And just speak to that importance of like the stuff on this earth just becomes a cycle.

Well, I think it was Abraham Lincoln, who once said, more money, more problems. No, just kidding. But, you know, I think if you don't, that was the dumbest thing. No, it was 100% Abe Lincoln. It was a hundred percent Abraham Lincoln. I thought, is he getting confused with George Washington? That's right. But one of my problems for sure.

Okay, so you're my fact check. It's for sure, Abe. You know, I think what you just said about having your why is so important because if that's a skew, if that's off in the wrong direction, then it'll never be enough. And if I'm being totally honest with you, I've had more days than I'd care to count where it hasn't been enough. and the reason has been is because my why was off in the wrong direction, right? And so you're always, as an artist, I mean, I always joke about like artists, it's really not a joke,

but like we can be really fragile people. And one of the things that we get conditioned to do is you expect applause, right? Or that's like one of the results. And I fully expect you and anybody in the studio audience to be cheering after this interview. If not, I'm completely crushed. But, you know, I think that's one of the things that you can start to develop. develop unhealthy ambitions, obviously. And with that can be money.

And guess what? Even a Christian singer, this is a shocker, but even a Christian singer can start getting like off the point, you know, to where somebody invites you to come and do a concert. And obviously, we've got to be on top of our business. It's very important to me to make sure that financially I'm making wise choices for my family, I've got a bunch of employees. The year of 2020 is a year where I've had to reluctantly embrace my role.

as a CEO. I'd much rather be known as singer, songwriter, author, whatever. But this has been a year where I've got to embrace the role of CEO. And so I do think it's important, but I've had plenty of days where I've been off course. I look at a show and I go, well, how much does it pay? But then my home base, my firmer foundation is what kind of impact can be made. And so sometimes it's about taking the show that's not going to pay you a dime because you know you're getting to walk inside the walls of a prison and something special is about to take place. And I'm not just creating a hypothetical. Those are moments in my life where I've seen God show up. The money wasn't there. The merchandise sales weren't there, but the eternality was there. And there is where I want to go.

And it's the opportunity stuff in life, right? So whether you're on a stage or not, whether you're performing or you're not. But it's those day-to-day choices you make in your life to say, okay, God, put me in the places you want to put me. And let that mindset of those choices be that eternal, right? To look for that why. We talk about along the show is people sacrifice to get out of debt, to do these things for their family so that they can have a solid foundation financially to build upon that to become extremely generous. But if you're only why to end with money is just to keep it all and just to spend it on yourself, it's a very empty life, but the same is true in everything. So you mentioned 2020, which I love talking to people about it because it's such been a fascinating,

fascinating year. So how was that for you? Because I heard, I mean, we live in Nashville, so the music industry was hit extremely hard. There could be no shows or anything. So how was that for you? Well, it's one of the reasons I'm here to do your show is because I need some financial counseling. I didn't know you were going to be asking me all the. I thought I was paying for a session.

Here's my budget. I thought I was going to like lay on this couch and you were going to say, so how did that make you feel when all of your revenue went out the doors? I'm a little disappointed right now with how this is going. The financial coach session. That's what I was hoping. This is what I was, no. But full disclosure, it's been a, it was a year of discouragement that could threaten to really cloud the hope that I know that I have, right?

I know it's there. I have this hope as an anchor for my soul. My faith is the driving force of my life. All of those things I know. And yet what I saw and what I was seeing in every direction was what appeared to be the absence of hope. the inability to provide for my employees and my team and learning how to apply for, you know, federal aid, like all these crazy things. And watching your guitar player who just had a baby girl who just had, we had like 85 concerts canceled. And so, you know, he's having to go hang drywall.

And, you know, but one thing I will say about, like, the Nashville community, and I've always encouraged, like, my team, my employees. I always encourage my guitar player. You're not just a guitar player. And this is one thing that God's shown me, and I hope to show it to other people. In 2020 has been an amazing year in this respect that I've been reminded that God is not a one-dimensional God, and neither are the things he creates.

And so this has been a year for me of rediscovery, of kind of figuring out, wait a minute, I've been, my thinking can get so one-dimensional because I seek, I get approval in this one lane. But what if the best is still ahead of me? I'll tell you a struggle for a recording artist is like you feel like you have a shelf life, right? More so than others. You know, now we've already established, I'm only 28, so I've got a long road ahead of me.

But, you know, there's always in the back of your mind, you're like, when's that radio station going to decide they've played enough Matthew S songs, right? And you can start to feel like, well, I got to get while the getting's good. like this could end. And there's been a mentality for years, even people around you that, even financial advisors that'll make you feel like the sky has fallen. Right. And I think for me, this has been a season where I've begun to realize, I am not one dimensional because my creator is not. So what if the best is ahead of me? What if my season of impact in 20 years is greater than the season of impact that I've had when my music was front and center on the radio? And so I've tried to encourage my team with that as well.

those have been some thoughts that have helped me rise above the discouragement of watching my revenue do this. And yet what opportunities and dreams have been doing this in 2020. And that's been an exciting part of it. So it's been a weird mix of discouragement and hope rising up and renewed sense of creativity. And then also the responsibility of making sure that I'm providing for my family and my employees. Oh, it's so good. And again, I think everything you just said, I'm like, you could put anyone else's life in that, but it's that level of hope. And it's that level of really understanding, controlling what you can control, right? Like, there's things that were happening in 2020.

Like, no one could control. We can't control this stuff. But, man, there is a level of stuff that we kind of can and that we can embrace and that we can say, okay, God, where are you taking me in this journey? And having that level of abundance, that mindset is huge. But the hope, I think, is the big part. And people, sadly, have lost hope in so many areas of their life. And so just talk about like the eternal hope, like straight to it, Jesus.

Like for you, obviously a big part of your story and your life and your career. But he plays a significant impact. And so I kind of want to hear that from you. Well, first of all, I know how important it is for you and how you encourage people to live a generous life. Like you just said moments ago, like the goal is not to get as much as you can, to keep as much as you can. Because you and I both know. I think we both have the same compass, which is leading us to the reminder that this earth, is not the final destination.

Right. The last chapter of the book that I wrote, my mom was totally, like, bipartisan. For sure, not biased at all. She says it's amazing. But the final chapter is called Life is an airport. And I think it takes from an analogy from an old Tom Hanks movie called Terminal.

And are you familiar with that movie? Yes, yes. This guy, Victor, comes from another country and he lands at JFK, and he's on a mission. and his home country breaks out in a war while he's traveling. And as a result, his visa gets denied. He gets stuck in some weird loophole, gets stuck in the JFK airport. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months.

Victor finds a place to sleep. Victor finds friends. Wines up playing poker with the janitors in the basement. Victor finds a job. Wines up falling in love, has a love interest in the airport. He gets so comfortable in the airport that over time he made it his home and forgot he was actually on a mission. He was headed somewhere.

And I watched that whole movie and I just literally saw my life on earth. My tendency to make sure that I'm so comfortable here in this earth, my sights get lowered and lowered and lowered and I forget the reality that I'm going somewhere, that there's an eternity that waits for me and all the money I'm making here. I'm not going to be able to take it with me. And so as far as the word hope, here's where my ultimate hopes comes from. I know that there's a God who made me.

I know that I'm not the author of my story. He is. And I know that part of the story he's writing for me is a story that never ends. Is that he's prepared a place for me for those of us who put our hope in God, that we have an eternal hope, as you said. And it's far beyond the temporary troubles of our day

and ultimately, in my most discouraging moments, when I stop long enough and say, okay, I'm going to take my eyes off my circumstances. I'm going to take my eyes off of this seemingly hopeless situation. Lord, remind me where my hope is. That's where my thoughts begin to wander. And in 2020, maybe now more than ever, 2020 has made me look up a lot more and go, okay, there's a better day that's coming where there's no COVID, right? You know, there's no unemployment.

There's no anxiety. There's no more fear, no more tears, no more tragedy, no more pain. Ultimately, that's where my hope comes from because I know who the author of my story is. And I know that the story has no end. Yeah, it's beautiful. And that's it, you guys. I mean, honestly, it's this point that, yeah, you can do things on earth well, do it responsibly. But at the end of the day, what is your life pointing towards?

And with this show in context, like, what is your money pointing towards? What's the why of you wanting to win? And if it's just for you, it's, you're falling short. And the richness you can live on this earth and beyond it is. And so the fact that you travel and talk about this and embrace Jesus so much, I love it. And I'm so thankful for you. Yeah, thank you. Your messaging and your songwriting.

I mean, you have such a gift and it's amazing. Thank you. Thanks for having you today. No, thanks. Okay. So book, it's like we have like the Matthew West store here. A whole store. There is.

But the book, hello, my name is, brand new is the album. When did this come out? It came out right. right before the pandemic. It was right before. Brilliant marketing strategy. So it's the album that time forgot. No, I'm just kidding.

So it's still, it was ironic too. The album called Brand New, was inspired by New Year's Eve. My wife and I watching the ball drop from home in Nashville. And I literally said to my wife, honey, I got a good feeling about 2020. Like, I feel like this is the year.

And I'm going to call my album brand new because it's like a brand new year, brand new decade. We're new in Christ. And she's like, I love that. I'm like, I need two. And then we went to New York and celebrated the release of the album and did a special concert in New York City. And then like two weeks later, everybody started getting sick. And I was like, oh, that was terrible. It's brand new again. It is. It's just constant. It's constant. It's so good. Okay. And the podcast is out, which is so fun. The Matthew West podcast. And featuring very special guests.

Oh, yeah. There's some good ones. There's some good guests. Dropping some major wisdom in that, yeah. It's been fun. Okay, so everywhere else you're on social. Where else can everyone invite you? Yeah, just wherever you listen to music, you can find my music there. And matthew west.com is my website, which is the place where you can find all the things. Everything you need right there.

Absolutely. So great. Well, Matthew, thanks for being on. Oh, I had a great time. So great. Hey guys, Rachel Cruz here. I'm obsessed. Seriously.

When I found out about Tufton Needle from Dave, I tried it out. And I'm not kidding. This is the best mattress I've. slept on. In fact, I ordered a second one for my guest room. You can get this mattress starting as low as $3.99. I've been talking about this for a while now. So try it out. You can keep it up to a hundred nights risk free. Now, if I'm wrong, you can send it back. But go to tn.com to get started. That's right. TN.com. And remember, it ships free. All right. Some of my favorite parts of this show is getting to answer your questions. So

Megan from my Facebook group, she said my husband and I are due with our third. third child at the end of November. Congratulations, Megan. We are still in Baby Step 2, but how do we actually stop focusing on paying debt and putting it towards savings for the baby? We just started the plan last year. Well, that is what we recommend. When you have a big life change coming up, if you know you're about to lose a job, if you are pregnant with a baby, all that kind of stuff, you pause Babysept 2 and pile up cash. And then once you're home from the hospital, you're good, baby's good, everything's fine, take all that money you were saving and throw it at the debt. So what you're going to do is you're just going to payment on payments, stay current on your debt,

but anything you would put towards that debt snowball, I still want you to be gazelle intense, but that money isn't going down towards your debt. It's going to be put in a savings account to make sure everything is okay. Because again, that big live event, you want some cash handy, I promise you. So listen, you've got a husband and three babies who are going to depend on you to provide so much for your family. So you and your husband both need life insurance. I always recommend Zander Insurance. They save you so much time because they shop all the rates for you, and they save you money because they present with you the best value for your unique situation.

So make sure you get that because you're going to want to get at least 10 to 12 times your annual income and coverage. And again, stay-at-home moms, you need it too because of something that would happen to you, you have to replace your value with money because there's going to be things like child care, home-upkeep, so much there that your family's going to need. So life insurance, term life insurance is so affordable, especially for the amount of peace that it gives you. So make sure to go to zander.com. Well, hopefully that answer helps some of you guys, because it may not be a new baby you have in your life, but life change occurs all the time.

Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. And thanks again to Matthew West for being a guest on today's episode. And, oh, man, 2020, I know we keep saying it over and over again, but what a year it has been. and I really do believe that there are things that we can take with us into 2021 that can continue to make us healthier when it comes to our money and our life. If you have not subscribed to my podcast, make sure you hit that subscribe button. And if the spirit leads, you can leave a review. As always, make sure you take control of your money and create a life you love.

So if you guys enjoyed this podcast, we have more from the Ramsey Network, like the Entree Leadership Podcast. Hey, this is Daniel Tarty, host of the Entree Leadership, podcast. We believe that small business is the backbone of the American economy. And we also know it can be really hard to win in business. So we're here to help. On the Entree Leadership podcast, we talk about the practical ways that you can grow yourself, your team, and your profits. Join us every week as we talk to entrepreneurs, CEOs, thought leaders, bestselling authors, and more to help you on the journey of winning at business. You can learn more at Entree Leadership.com

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