Pause, Pray, Process: Financial Harmony with Dr. Preston Cherry

Money feels heavy right now. Prices are loud, headlines are louder, and everyone’s telling you to either hoard cash or gamble big. I’m not interested in either. I brought back Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP to cut through the noise and help you build financial harmony you can actually live with.

We start by telling the truth: money isn’t just a tool. It’s a partner. You trade your time, energy, and soul for it. So act like it. Preston breaks down his definition of financial harmony as wealth secured wellbeing. Translation: align your life and your money on purpose, then give your dollars a clear assignment. Strategy comes after alignment. Otherwise, you won’t follow it.

We rip apart the “keep up” culture and talk about intentional lifestyle creep versus external proof. Then we get tactical. Preston lays out the cash moat concept so you can stop panicking during economic wobbles. Six to eighteen months of buffer changes how you react when the market or your job goes sideways. We cover why hoarding cash gets eaten by “inflation bedbugs,” and how to use pullbacks like a grown-up.

We get into the human work: Pause. Pray. Process. Or at minimum, pause and process. We walk through Preston’s Honest Self-Audit: admit where you are, acknowledge how you feel, and take action. That’s how you reduce emotional volatility without pretending fear isn’t real. We end with concrete do-this-now steps you can start today.

Watch the full episode on YouTube and share it with someone who needs a real plan, not recycled talking points: https://youtu.be/YfxWVhym-Zw

As always we ask you to comment, DM, whatever it takes to have a conversation to help you take the next step in your journey, reach out on any platform!

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DISCLOSURE: Awards and rankings by third parties are not indicative of future performance or client investment success. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investment strategies carry profit/loss potential and cannot eliminate investment risks. Information discussed may not reflect current positions/recommendations. While believed accurate, Black Mammoth does not guarantee information accuracy. This broadcast is not a solicitation for securities transactions or personalized investment advice. Tax/estate planning information is general - consult professionals for specific situations. Full disclosures at www.blackmammoth.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 Why money feels heavy right now + holiday emotions
• 2:02 Money as a partner, not just a tool (yes, even down to two-ply)
• 4:10 What “financial harmony” really means: wealth secured wellbeing
• 8:02 Alignment first, strategies second
• 9:15 Lifestyle creep: purpose vs proving and the 5 Ps
• 12:05 Cash hoarding vs cash moat; beating the “inflation bedbugs”
• 16:20 Handling panic: admit, acknowledge, take action
• 19:05 Flat-fee advice and a fiduciary membership community
• 24:00 The human element vs AI; cutting through Reddit noise
• 25:20 Planning in a “down cycle” people actually feel
• 29:20 Do this now: pause, pray, process + the mirror self-audit

Transcript

Stoy: 0:22

Well then it's time. What is going on in our society today causes a weird feeling. There's a lot going on, a lot of moving parts, and ultimately what happens is we lose a harmony with our own self, our own money, our own path, right? From inflation to tariffs, to all the political stuff to you name it. It's getting attacked a lot of times. And as you're listening to this right now, it's, it's a round holiday season, right? You're getting that. Ooh, good feelings. Come with good feelings, come money costs, right? I'm buying gifts. We're having family over. Emotions come from that. And no more important to talk about, you know, your financial harmony specifically in uncertain times than my man, Dr. Cherry Preston. Uh, he doesn't need his own intro, right? We're not gonna do all that. You can see his bio. He is been on the show before, but I could not think of a better person to talk about this topic specifically in our uncertain times. So welcome, welcome back to the show Brother

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 1:25

Story. Appreciate you, man.

Stoy: 1:28

Alright, so let's dive into this a little bit. Why, why is money feel so heavy lately? Why, why is that feel so heavy on people when all these things are going on in our, in our world? Well, you know, so

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 1:44

I, I, I don't like saying like, money is a, is a tool and I, I know that's one of your, uh, favorite lines, but it is, you know, it is. I mean, so there's nothing wrong with that. Uh, but. We, we exchange so much for money. And when I say we, I'm talking about human beings. Uh, and that's why I like giving, I like giving, uh, money. Some, some soul, right? So I say money as a partner'cause we're dancing with it and it is an exchange. We wake up and we have to exchange toil for it. We're giving our, we're giving a piece of ourselves, you know, from for, for, for money. It is an exchange and it is a partner in what we do every day. I joke around a lot, but it's not a joke. Uh, it touches every piece of what we do. All right? We have to exchange toil, which is work and, and, and soul, right? Uh, time. You know, it does buy time. You know the quality of time that we have, the amount of time that we have with our loved ones. Uh, here's the joke, right? I say, listen, when I'm, when I'm at the store, all right? And, and, and I get to choose. How I, uh, how I take care of myself at the restroom. Do I want one ply or two ply? Right. And when you, at the, when you're at the airport, you know, and you're at the, at the restaurant and stuff, you know, they, they got that one ply, you know? And if you got to do that, then yeah. You know, you gotta do what you gotta do. You know, but I ain't, I don't got to do that. I want that two ply, I want that, you know, and so it does touch everything that we do. Right. And so when that gets back to your question. When money is a partner, it touches everything from taking a shower, how that water runs, what's in our refrigerator, what type of gas we get, uh, what type of trips we take, what type of time we spend it with family. And so life is a ebb and flow. So when it's doing well, when we're going through triumphant times, everything's good, right? When we're going through those trial times, those challenging times, it helps us get through. Right. So that's why money is a partner and, and it, and it helps us ebb and flow. And sometimes when things are going, you know, uh, challenging, then we, we gotta use that money to get through. And then when things are going well, hey, we get to have our celebration times that, that's why it feels a way, it feels,

Stoy: 4:07

define financial harmony for everyone. Obviously that's our main topic today, but some people might not know what that means, right? They might not know truly what being, um. Having financial harmony is because maybe they've never had it. Maybe they've never felt it right. Maybe they've only heard about it. So define financial harmony for us and what that looks like or can feel like.

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 4:30

Simply wealth secured wellbeing. And if you give your life, life and money alignment. Life and money assignments. So, and what that means is, so people, a lot of people like to conflate, uh, wealth and wellbeing. They were like, okay, well how you living? Right? So how you, how you living? What does wealth mean to you? And people went, well, I have a wealth of time. Uh, I have, I have family, right? I have, uh, time at the vacation. I, I have, I have my children, I have good health. You know, health does well and, uh, and all this. No, no, no, no. So you're talking about wellbeing, right? So there, there, there is a difference and there there's just folks that follow the Schwab studies and all. You have all these articles and they ask you about happiness, right? And, and, and about holistic wealth and, you know, or, or just what wealth is. All right? Those are, those are two distinct, well that's why I want to talk about financial harmony. It's wealth secured wellbeing. How are you using your dollars wealth? Wealth, what it means to you. We'll get to that later, but wealth, what it means to you in dollars because there's different amounts. Uh, I, I'll get to that right now. Mm-hmm. My dad says, my dad tell, my dad talks about, he always talks about my mom and dad tell me, he said, you know, he has what wealth means to us. Make some other people, he said to your clients, you know, for, you know, high income clients and stuff like that, that make them jump off a bridge, you know, because, you know, my, my, my mom and dad, hey, they gotta pay for a house, pay for a car. They take one or two trips to visit they kids. Right. And, you know, walk up and down the beach or something like that, you know, for some, all, all inclusive trip or something like that and bring, come on back to the house and ain't good. Right. That ain't cool for some other people. Right. So it's wealth, what you mean to what, what you mean to that Well secured wellbeing. Right. And those wellbeing domains, that's when we're talking about, you know, uh, time freedom. Okay? Uh, your health, your, uh, your, your, your faith aspirations, whatever those value domains are. Your, your quality of life. You know, uh, I, I have different opinions on what. What to drive. You know, I got a friend of mine, he likes driving a bucket. I ain't doing that. Right. Right. You know, I like, you know, hey, I like to, I like to, I like to thrift, but I'm not, I'm not bum thrifting, you know, I'm, I'm fashion thrifting a little bit, but it, it, it means different to different, all those wellbeing domains. Right. What does that mean to you? So when you talk about life and, uh, uh, life and money alignment. This is purpose driven, right? Life aligned well, life and money alignment. Then that's information giving your money assignments. So that's financial harmony. Then we start getting into the financial strategies story. So that's what that means. Well secured wellbeing into the domains that make you feel well,

Stoy: 7:30

and I know we're both, we practice this way, but I love how you just ended it with. Then we get into financial strategies. All right? A lot of people. And with social media, media and all that, everything is always financial strategy heavy. First. It's like, cool, but you could have the greatest strategy in the world, but if it doesn't align with who you are and what you want out of it, you're just not gonna follow that strategy. So I love how you started with all the harmony, wealth, and, and wellbeing, then said, yeah. Now, yeah. Then we can get'em financial strategies. Then we can attach some

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 8:02

next segment. Yeah. All, all day. I, I was just real quick all day because like you said. You, because I know you get this too. People, they like story. Dr. Cherry, when you going to tell me what to do? You know, when we going to, to get to these complex estate planning? When you gonna tell me what to do with my portfolio? When are you gonna tell me you know, how to build all this and all that? Well, if we don't have any information to get to. What type of portfolio build, what type of, you know, comp, estate planning, what type of whatever, whatever that, that, that strategy is. You ain't gonna do it and you're not, you're not gonna stick to it. And then I can't give you a recommend that recommendation that's gonna make sense to you. Then you're not gonna have that ah, factor. Remember when they, they, the commercial back in the day, they opened up that Coke or Sprite or whatever the hell that was. And they, they, and they, you ain't gonna get that. You ain't gonna get that top gun. You ain't gonna get that loving feeling

Stoy: 9:01

right. And you have to have that. It's gotta be part of it or else the plan won't work. Let's be real. It is what it is there. Next segment we get into is fun. One, it, it's what society and media are saying that we've pulled out and have been sent to us, and we want to get your thoughts, comments, whatever you want to go with it. But first one, we should just keep spending to keep up.

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 9:25

Yeah. Uh, yeah. I have a couple of thoughts here. So I'm, I'm all for. Lifestyle creep. Right? But it, it's in it's intentional and purpose-driven lifestyle creep. I think your people are worthy to invest in themselves far as their quality of life. It's that unintentional, right? That unintentional, that external, you know, having to prove. That having to prove a lifestyle creep Right. You know, to keep up, that's what's gonna be damaging, right? That's exactly what you were talking about. Spending the keep up external proof, right? Uh, having to prove that you're somebody, right. That's not, that's not gonna do anything. Now that internal purpose-driven, intentional, uh, plan for. Spending that you're, that you're worthy for that life abundance that you plan for all day long. Right? And these are two separate lanes, all right? And so the myth that you have to deprive oneself, uh, to, uh, be, uh, abundant later, maybe in retirement or in life, that's not true. But you have to know those two distinct paths. How, how are you aligning your money? What is your purpose? What is your intent? What is your mindfulness about your money? Right? And if you have, uh, a definition and a purpose behind your money, then you're doing it for self, then you're doing it for family, then you're doing it for right. Uh, you, you know, uh, a, a goal, an aspiration. So it's not for proof. It's for purpose, right? And now you have, uh, now, now you have something you're planned for. And I always say that you have five peas in this matter, right? You gotta eat. You gotta eat your peas. I'm telling my little son, he is like, look, I know you like candy and stuff like that, but you gotta eat your peas first, right? And that is, that's purpose. Your preferences, your phase of life, right? Uh, who you are as a perfect person, all right? And then you have to have a plan. All right? Then. Then right there, you, you have prosperity or you can prosper, right? And within that, that, that context, then you can have, you can almost spin willy-nilly, all right? Because you have all those areas, uh, covered you story, right? Mm-hmm. And then you don't, then you don't have to have, you don't have to have guilt. Shame, and you damn sure don't have to have any explanation. Right. Not to, especially not to others. Right. Or in justification as long as your internal household is taken care of. So

Stoy: 12:19

absolutely. When tough times come up, whether that's, you know, inflation's killing us. Right now we're seeing a job market where there's not a lot of jobs out there. People are losing their jobs. Um, you know, we've got interest rates just got raised or, uh. Um, cut. What do you say when people say, you know, I'm just cut everything, I'm just gonna hoard cash, right? I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna cut all my expenses, put cash in, you know, in the freezer, uh, under my pillow. Uh, what do you say when you hear that or see that out there?

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 12:52

Right. Uh, man, when you just start, when you just said that, I started, I started itching a little bit. I said, man, what are, what? I said, what are those things? I said, man, those are, that, that's the bedbugs right there. That's, that's inflation, right? Because people start putting that stuff in the mattress, you know, and that's that inflation bedbugs biting right there, right? And so that's not a, that's not a good idea to just hoard, that's the key word that you said. Just hoard cash. And that's panic. Selling. That's very reactive. Now, uh, I'm not of the camp of saying just stay in the market, right? And just set it and forget it both ways, right? Set it in the, in the mattress and forget it that way, and let the bedbugs bite and inflation bedbugs bite, and then just set it in the market. Forget it that way, and just ride every, uh, up and down like a roller coaster and also just, hey, just let the market have at it, and just don't do nothing there either. Because you can manage if you're working with an advisor, if you're a diy, okay? Either way, all, uh, you can manage at the portfolio level according to your goals, but you have to have a proactive strategy as opposed to a reactive strategy, you know? And so what does that mean? You know, you have a, a cash moat, you know, so you don't have to, when you see the market. Because it could do a couple of things. It can have a, a correction, which is about 10% a crash, 20% or more, right? Or a slight pullback, seven to 10%. So you gotta know what you're gonna do in either one of those positions, and also what you're going to do when, you know a life moment comes up. Right? So that's proactive and you know, so that's, that's knowing what you're going to do, not what you have to do. In the moment. So if you have a moat a little bit, then you can, you can have a pivot and protection moment that I'm talking, talking about.'cause you have a cash, uh, a, a cash moat, six, uh, nine, 12, uh, maybe even 18 depending on, you know, your, your situation, your cash flow and all that type of stuff, right? So, and then that's, and you have cash and an investing strategy. And that way you're not just hoarding cash where you have. 70, 80, 90, a hundred percent of your, of your cash sitting there because of fear or maybe a precondition belief, uh, about the markets. Two totally different things. And I'll lay leave you with this, which is, and you know this too, which is, you know, what about those opportunities? Because if there's, if there's opportunities out there and the market pulls back, or you know, hey, maybe there's assets to buy, maybe, uh, you know, some, a hard asset, you know, a home or something's on sale or something like that, then hey, you can use your cash. To, to pick up some things on sale. You know, a lot of people like to buy things, everything on sale, other than, you know, the markets or investible assets. You know, you buy a whole bunch of stuff on sale, Amazon, all this other stuff. Why don't people like buying stuff on sale in the market?

Stoy: 16:02

Gee, see, that'd be a great question from Ashley or somebody with the psychology background because come on man, why don't we.

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 16:11

Anyway. Yeah. So

Stoy: 16:12

that, that's,

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 16:13

that's my thing.

Stoy: 16:14

But, but you did allude to this a little bit. You called, you said panic. I think panics a really key word. I wanna hone in on this. We panic over politics. We panic over interest rates, over tariffs, over layoffs, over all of these things that. I want to call external for this conversation because they are external factors. They are not ob, obviously internal with us. You had mentioned having a plan, having things in order, knowing where your money's gonna work. I loved the cash moat idea,'cause that that visual was great for me. What does all of those and having those in line do for you? Win. Panic wants to creep in.'cause it happens to all of us, right? We all go through this, like, I'm about to panic, like I'm freak out. Um, what do you say when you do have those things in order and what does it do for somebody that you've seen from, from your work?

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 17:05

Yeah. I, I think, look, so it, I think it just reduces, uh, the, the, the emotion. Uh, what was that, uh, was that Smokey Robinson or something like that? Was that second Danny motion? Right? Right. All it, all it does is help the emotion. It doesn't take it away because it's very heightened if without the preparation. Right. Because in the moment it is very justified and that's another thing we have to affirm. The emotion. So not necessarily, you know, that's what's kind of like second the emotion, right? Affirm the emotion.'cause it's very real. Uh, it's not going anywhere. Um, uh, but then to be beholden to the emotion and, and listen sometimes for those that are, uh, you know, economically or income challenged, you know, uh, then it becomes a challenge because there's a lack of resources, you know, so it, that's very real. But for those that have the resources or have the capability, right, for those high end comers and all that type of stuff, you know, then you can get prepared. You know, you can get prepared. And then you have the, you ca you have the capability to build a remote to, uh, remote to reduce, you know, so then you have it in the moment and you say, okay, now, uh. I can work through. So acknowledge how you feel, admit how you feel, then acknowledge how you feel about it so you can take action. I got the six A system that that works. But those are the three A's. So if you, now you have a process and it allows you to go through that process. If you have, you know, this plan, you got that cash and you got that, you got a system and you got process. So what it does, you know, TLDR, right? Is it, is it, it allows you. To, uh, work through the feeling. It doesn't get rid of it. It works. It allows you to have a process to work through. So now you can take a proactive action rather than a reactive one.

Stoy: 19:05

I love that. And, and the point that should stick for everyone is it's not getting rid of it.'cause it's not possible to get rid of it, it is just reducing its ability and emotional toll on you. Because you have something set in plan. So I love that. Next segment we get into is your point of view. So this is where we're taking your experience, your practice, things that you are currently doing. Um, I know we've hit upon that already, but this one dives deeper into what you're doing. So for those that don't know, you add something new that you're doing right. A little bit of a, a launch, if you will. Talk us through that.

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 19:41

Appreciate it. Yeah. So, uh, people are always talking about price points sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. And whether you have a lot of money or no money, but, but I'm, I'm not a fan of the, a traditional a UM model. I, I just, I, I, I'm not a fan of it. Uh, long story short, even with a tiered process, the a UM model grows with the portfolio over time. I, I like a flat fee mo model. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's affixed for the most part. Now if you have, just like any business, you know, you go to Costco or something, or, or I think I got a, a, a bill in the, in the mail the other day. I think it was for some service. And over time, you know, a businesses increased cost, whether it be three years for I think Zoom or somebody that gave me, you know, 4, 5, 6 years. They say, okay, business, our fee, you get the email, uh, you know, our business haven't changed fees in six years. You know, they go up, you know, just'cause of business. But it didn't grow because the market just went up, right? All right. So that's a normal business cost increase, not because you're just, your portfolio went up. And so that's how the, uh, you know, traditional finances, uh, has worked for a UM model, right? So I'm a, I'm a flat, I'm a flat fee person. That's for one-on-one advice, and that's for folks that have high income assets and they value working with and collaborating with an advisor, and they need it and they value it, and that's a good match. You know? And so other folks, the DIYers do it yourselfers out there, you know, they're always on. Hey, hey, look, there's a whole bunch of stuff out there. You know, they got, uh, YouTube, they on the newsletters, they in Reddit. Right. They own Facebook groups and all that type of stuff, right? They, they, and there's some good information out there. You know, if they're listening to you story, they listen to us, right? There's a lot of stuff out there. The issue with that one, one drawback as that is, is first of all, the abundance of it, there's a whole bunch of it. And then number two, uh, who you getting it from, you know? Number three is there's a lot of survivors bias in there. You know, it is like the people getting shit on all the time. You, you should do this, you should do that. Well, you know, I did it right, all this, right. So there's a lot of incomplete information out there. So, and then there's number four. There's the, is the, there's the cost, you know, so, so, so it's not a good fit either on the cost or the service, you know?'cause they may not need the one-on-one. So all those points right there. So with that, TLDR is the membership community. Fiduciary, you're getting it from a trusted source, and you, you, there's uh, no shame, no judgment. It's not a should thing, right? Uh, you get access to a, to a trusted person, right? It's, it's group oriented, right? I guess that's the, the word for community. And it's a good access point far as cost is concerned. So the cost is, um, 150,$115 a month, uh,$1,200 a year if you wanna pay upfront. Then you get all this, right? You get workshops, you get uh, uh, uh, couple of times a month access to me, right? You get to ask questions, you get community oriented. So if you like those Reddits, you like those forums and things like that, then you get guidance. There's, there's advice one-on-one because you know somebody, but then you get guidance. Same way you're getting in those other forums, but it's more of guidance, financial education and, and community organization. It's a big thing because of the trust element of it and the fiduciary of it. And, and where you're getting it from.

Stoy: 23:18

You get it from a person. Let's be real. We live in ai and I know our industry loves to fight back with, is AI gonna take over our jobs or not? And I, I, it won't. Okay, let's just put it out there. It's not going to because of the human element, I believe our industry is shifting from this. Investment, a UM, like advice, uh, and just this is what it is to, we're focusing on this human element to help you get through all that noise, to develop something for yourself. Whereas before, I believe our industry really just came up with these plans. Oh, this is best for everybody. Well. We didn't, we didn't really take into fact the human element of it. And I love that you're creating a group, a community, if you will, um, that allows to have that connection and to get that information. So hopefully they can tune out some of that noise.'cause some of these things on Reddit, I got kicked off Reddit folks. Okay. I got kicked off Reddit because I was calling out the bullshit on it. Um, and apparently you, you can't, you can't, you know. Call out the bullshit when you are someone who's A CFP. Right. But I realize that there's a lot of this information out there that is just not based upon facts, or even if it is true for somebody, it's not true for you. It's true for them. And that's not cool. Right. We gotta figure I love that. I love that part of what you're Oh,

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 24:35

and you, and then also too, the, the, uh, uh, the, uh, the do your own research stuff. Yeah. Oh man, I'm, I'm tired of hearing that, you know, and obviously for the DIYers, you know, they thrive themselves on, Hey, you know, I, I went and got the information. But to, for, for those that are out there telling folks to cloak, you know, themselves and, oh, I'm gonna tell you this stuff, and it's misinformation, and they kind of know it and they're like, go do your own research. Ah, I'm not that, oh man, that chaps my hide right there. That, that's the clean version of that. I want to get some MFS in there, but I, you know. But I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say chaps, my hide.

Stoy: 25:10

There you go. There you go. What are, um. When, when we're talking about planning, especially like in a down cycle or in this market, what are some things that you speak to people about? Right? I know we've talked about getting your mindset, getting your goals and stuff in order, but is there anything when you're going through their planning, when we are in a down cycle, that you either recommend or talk to them more about in detail? Because there's a lot, everybody, listen, there's a lot to do in financial planning. We got a lot of conversations to have. But certain times dictate what, when we should be speaking about certain things. So when it's a down cycle, like right now, what would you, what are your conversations, um, talking about and people, I don't mean down cycle in terms of the market. We know it's hitting all time highs. So is gold, so is Bitcoin and all them. I'm talking about in the, in the public's eye we have high inflation. Groceries are getting more expensive. Jobs are being less. That's what I mean by down cycle. So those conversations you have, what do you guys, what do you talk about? What do you lead with?

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 26:12

I, I, I, I asked the, I ask a question, you know, what do you, how do you feel right now? You know what? Just like you asked me, you know, I asked, I asked them, you know, how, how do you, how do you feel in your household? What's top of mind? What, what's, what's the conversation going on? What's, what's bringing you Now, I don't ask all these right now, but it's a variation of it, right? Now, uh, what's bringing you is anything bringing you worry right now in the economy, socially, uh, in your household? The feeling wise? Talk to me. Right, and then I pause. I know pauses are not good at, on, on, on podcasts or anything like that, but pauses are very important when you ask a question and you let people sit with it. Tone is very important now. We've been talking on the podcast today. You know, we've had a couple of rah rah moments. We've had a couple of serious moments, you know, and, and all because the emotion fits it when you're speaking with people and with people story, not too, you're not talking too, you're speaking with, you know, you're chopping it up right then the tone is different and you're, you're expressing, uh, willingly and compassionately. Uh, and, and not, not no fake stuff. You know, and when somebody said, man, holler at me. Right. Uh, then you, you know, you know what a fake holler at me and a holler at me is, you know, somebody talking about holler at me. You, you know, nah, you, you, you know that you, that person ain't trying to, uh, trying to get at you. Right. And, and so when somebody asks you, you know, what, what's, what's, what are you talking about in your, in your household, you know, what's, what's bringing you? It's something, anything bringing you worried economically, moneywise, family wise, socially, um, what do, what are you, what you thinking about right now? And you pause, you know, and then somebody's gonna be like, you know that mom, whatever. Right. Because, you know, because when you get that day, they gonna matter. You know? And, and when they hit that, when they hit that octave story, you know, they, they, they, what they're saying is, Vince, I'm glad you asked

Stoy: 28:17

right

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 28:17

Then, you know, that's the conversation. And then that's going, that's gonna inform, you know, they've been talking about at the job. It depends on what career they're in or something like that, right? There may be a buyout or something like that, and we've been talking about that as a family, or you know, we got a child on the way, or you know, this, this child went to college. We've been dealing with the empty nester type of thing, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever that may be. You see, but you opened the door and, and the way you do it, how you do it, and opening that door and then listening and affirming that. Is the way to go.

Stoy: 28:55

It absolutely is. To me, it gives them the opportunity and the okay to calm that chaos down and actually spit it out. Right? We all have a lot of chaos going in our brains. There's a lot of things going up on there. Um, and when you, when you do that pause, it gives them time for that chaos to kind of slow down enough for them to. Oh, this is how I'm feeling, or this is what's going on. And I just don't think we have enough of that in the world. Right. Uh, we, we truly don't. There's too much going on, and for you and us to sit down and, and just pause and let it happen. That's when the clarity happens. That's when action happens. That's when things start to move. But, um, definitely appreciate your, your thoughts on that. Alright. As we get to the end of this action steps, so we're gonna have two of them. All right? I want to tell people what not to do today, and I want to tell people what to do right now today. All right? So, all right. What should people not do in terms of reacting to the headlines that pop up every other hour for us? But what should they not do when they see the headlines out there in the news

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 30:04

immediately react I that I just. Have a feeling. Yes. You know, acknowledge that feeling, but don't immediately react. Uh, I do read it, have a feeling of it, but pause and pray. Pause and pray. And you know, if you're, if you know, if faith is your thing, you know, but if, if faith is not your thing, at least pause, you know, so it's pause, pre pray and process. Those are the three Ps. And if you're not somebody of, of, of faith. Pause and process. So it's either three or two, either way. So I'm a faith person, so there's three, but that is the thing, don't react unless you've done three or two of them. Peace.

Stoy: 30:47

I like that. I like that. Okay. What, let's let, let me ask it this way. What, and if you haven't, what is a self-check exercise people can do right now from listening to you with what you're about to say? That can start to get them to align themselves with their money and their values and things that they want to do. So what does that self-check exercise people can do?

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 31:13

Yes. Uh, the mirror. Is an expensive, uh, audit, expensive tax, or a healthy audit, the mirror is an expensive tax or a healthy audit. Get in there. It takes courage. So I call it the Honest Self-Audit that we discussed it a little earlier today, which is admit where you are, acknowledge how you feel about where you are, and that way you can take action. It is a process. It takes courage. You have to be honest with yourself. And process that, you know, what are you, what are you doing that you don't wanna do anymore? And what do you do want to do? It's an aspirational process and that, that defines that life and money alignment. Give you money assignment, but that that will kick off. You know, where you are now and where you need to go. And that's in any life's, uh, life phase. And it's not soft stuff. Right now, if you's like, man, uh, I get, I get people in Gen X right now. High end comes all this. They're like, they, they tell me all the time where I don't know, I, I'm making plenty of money. I don't know where it's going. Okay, then let, let, let's, you've admitted that it takes courage. All right? You've done that. Appreciate that. Now, how do you feel about that? What, what, what feelings does it bring to you? Right it, that it is not feeling good to you right now. That's why we talking All right now. Now let's take some action about that. What do you want to do? What do you aspire to do? Let, let's do that thing, right? So the mirror expensive tax or healthy audit on a self audit.

Stoy: 32:44

And don't, people don't, it's intimidating. We know it's tough. It's not easy to go through. Start with maybe literally in the mirror and just talk to yourself for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, start somewhere today with that conversation. It doesn't have to be the full, Hey, let's go get all our tax returns and bank statements and, and do all of that. It literally just is you looking at yourself and having a conversation, um, with that. So, hey, I appreciate you. Um. Wholeheartedly, brother and everybody out there, we're gonna have all his links to his book, to his communi community. All of those things around there. All we ask is engage with us. Go to his platform, his lives are coming back on YouTube. Go back and do all of those things and engage with us because the more you engage with us, one, the more we can help you, the more we're gonna help other people. In three. Ultimately, that's how we create a bigger community outside both our spheres and outside of yours. Communication and engagement are the way to go. Can't wait to see you next time, but hey, I appreciate you coming on and again, everyone check out all his stuff.

Dr. Preston Cherry, CFP: 33:48

Thank you story. I appreciate you man.

Black Mammoth: 34:04

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