STAND with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka
One grew up in Alaska; the other grew up abroad. One is a Daughter of the American Revolution and a descendant of generations of American veterans; the other, the son of an African immigrant and a descendant of Congolese chieftains. One was a government watchdog; the other, a civil rights activist. Both had parents who were homeless for a while, and both graduated from Harvard Law School.
Like you, they have suffered devastating loss and faced overwhelming challenges. Through it all, they’ve found victory over the hardships of life simply by choosing to Stand. Join Kelly, Niki, and their inspiring guests as they move beyond simply talking about issues and challenges, to exploring how to solve and overcome them. Together, we will build a movement of everyday Americans who courageously take a stand for freedom, truth, and a country led by “We the People.”
STAND with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka
Time, Talent, and Treasure
Are we succumbing to a society steeped in victimhood or can we reclaim the resilience of bygone heroes? That's the burning question we tackle with my co-host, Josiah Chewbacca, as we dissect the rise of a victim mentality and its stark contrast to the stoic bravery that once defined us. This episode peels back the layers of a cultural shift towards helplessness, unveiling how it's sown seeds of division and despair. We don't just point out the problem; we shine a light on the solution. With the innovative app Veebs in our arsenal, we illustrate the transformative power of technology in empowering individuals and communities to become agents of change. It's a call to action, urging you to invest your time, talent, and treasure in the causes that resonate with your core values, whether through volunteerism or activism, and regardless of political stripes.
Now, brace yourself as we chart a course through the realms of effective advocacy, armed with nothing but Google Calendar and a commitment to making every second count. We implore you to harness your unique abilities in the pursuit of freedom, truth, and democratic governance. Josiah and I are here to guide you in identifying the issues that stir your spirit and how you can amplify those discussions. Your voice matters, and we're here to help you raise it. Engage with us and our vibrant community at stanshoworg, and together, let's foster a culture of empowerment, transcending the shackles of victimhood, one small action at a time.
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Welcome back to Stand with Kelly and Nikki Chewbacca Today. My co-host is Josiah Chewbacca. I finished an interview earlier this segment with the CEO of a new app called Veebs. You can download it on Google Play or the App Store. Josiah, I want to pick up on this concept we were talking about, which is this new victim mentality that's been kind of perpetuating and sweeping across our culture.
Speaker 1:I don't really understand where it came from. When I think back to, like, your great grandpa, my grandpa and the greatest generation that fought in World War II passed on this amazing legacy to the baby boomers and modeled for us what heroism looks like and what taking a stand for courage and for things that are greater than us, you know, for a country, for human rights and dignity, what that looked like fighting for people and going into some terrifying, horrific situations at the cost of their lives. And then we that we can do something, we can take a stand, we can make a difference and we can win. And then you know even my dad and the Vietnam generation doing something similar, being brave and doing something for their country. And we have all these you know, military heroes and these legacies walking among us today, and then yet there's this victim mentality of I can't do anything. You know everybody around me, you know even what is being taught in schools or in our culture of, like you said, these people are oppressing me, I'm oppressed, and this division among all kinds of groups in our culture that's just being perpetuated and people will kind of absorb it and think it and what I really kind of see it as is almost like a social collective discouragement, and then it festers as almost like anger and bitterness and resentment, but then really seeds itself as hopelessness, so I can't do anything.
Speaker 1:Instead of being this idea of individual empowerment I can do something. And then community empowerment we can do something, our family can do something, our community can do something. So what are we going to do to make a difference and then doing something about it? So one of the things that I think is cool about this app is it makes it easy to do something, even if it's small. Small acts make a big difference. A lot of times we'll even ask people you know who are the people who've made a big difference in your life? And it doesn't tend to be significant influencers, it tends to be almost invisible people who've made a big difference by doing small, important things, which means to us that everybody can make a difference, that even doing meaningful things in your life, just being there, loving on you, words of encouragement, building you up can make a life-changing difference in someone's life. But I wanted to kind of kick that question to you to say what are your thoughts on small things making a big difference, being empowered, being empowered, small things making a difference, difference being empowered.
Speaker 2:Being empowered, small things making a difference. It just all that reminds me of that. Saying hard times make good men.
Speaker 1:Good men make easy times.
Speaker 2:Easy times make bad men, and bad men make hard times.
Speaker 1:So we're on the cusp of some great men.
Speaker 2:No, we are. We'll see them coming, but not right right now. I think right now we are definitely in hard times, but I think people like chris rhodes are doing things like making apps called veebs and that will bring us into easy times, because it's going to empower people to take a stand. Where all of this victim mentality comes from? My best guess is it has to be indoctrination, because nobody is born thinking that they are a victim and no one reaches that conclusion on their own.
Speaker 2:You have to be convinced that you are a victim, because it's deception, because it's not true. You're not a victim, especially if you live. If you I'm sorry, if you live in the United States of America in 2024, you are in no way a victim. I invite you to travel internationally out of this country and look at some of the other people groups across the world and then come back to me and tell me that you are a victim. You are not a victim. You live in one of the most amazing places. You are, in fact, privileged to be an American, so I'll just put that out there right now.
Speaker 2:If you're in the US, you are not a victim, but you have been convinced that you are, and so I think we have to go to the source. Who is convincing all of these people? And it is generally people of minority racial groups or just minority demographics, who are convinced that they are, in fact, helpless. And why are people convincing minority demographics that they are helpless and causing minority demographics to enslave and disempower themselves? Demographics to enslave and disempower themselves. Why is that happening? Who's doing that? I think those are the questions that we have to ask and ponder, just as a society.
Speaker 1:There's a benefit to them there. And then we have the idea we've all got time, talent and treasure that we can invest. And so choosing to invest our treasure wisely with groups that align with our values is one thing we can do to be empowered.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and everybody has time, everybody has an equal amount of time.
Speaker 2:Everybody has a talent and everybody has treasure to some degree, to varying degrees. If you don't have treasure or if you aren't able to put your treasure towards things that you value, you absolutely can put your time or your talent to things that you value. I remember we talked about that. I remember Harmeet Dhillon was talking about that that currently one of the issues that we see is in the GOP, leadership just expects people to volunteer. They just expect you to give over your time and your talent, Whereas on the other side, they use treasure to motivate people to give them their time and their talent.
Speaker 2:So, even though it might be a flaw in the system when it comes to voter turnout, it's definitely not a flaw in the system when it comes to free market economy or saving GameStop stock or ruining Budweiser stock. You absolutely can take your time and your talent elsewhere and apply it to take a stand for what you value.
Speaker 1:That's really a good point. So then we would suggest that the best way people could take a stand is almost to take an inventory of how they spend their time, their talent and their treasure. It's a really good point. I remember actually taking a training on time management about midway through my career. Thus far, I realize I still have a long way to go, still have a long way to go, and I as so the coach was taking us through and he said something similar that where you put your time is where you're investing your treasure. That's what you're saying. You value and you prioritize.
Speaker 1:And so we had to go through an exercise of analyzing our calendar, our work calendar and our free time calendar, and then, based on time, assigning that those were our priorities, and then comparing that to a list that we had previously made out of the goodness of our heart of what our actual priorities were. So our time priority said these things, based on our time allotments, were our priorities. But then you know, our pure hearted priorities were these. And then how did they align? And mine were completely upside down Right. And so then we had to do this disciplined exercise of realigning our calendars so that we blocked in the things that mattered to us, and it was so hard because, of course, there was no time for the things that mattered.
Speaker 1:And he told these most compelling stories, like, for example, he said that I don't intend in any way to suggest this, even that you're going off to college, this just came to mind. He said that every week or every day he called his parents, who lived in another state, and he talked to his parents every day and had a great relationship with them, and then his father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. But he wasn't sad, he was actually really good because he had this continuing. He built it into the calendar that he talked to them every day. And then there was this big family conflict with his siblings and everything, because they grieved very differently and hadn't done the work of maintaining the relationship with the parents, and that all came out at the funeral.
Speaker 1:And he told this really long, compelling story. It was really good and it made me think, wow, what am I doing with my time? Am I investing it in the people that I want? That when those days come because those days come for all of us that I would look back and say I invested my time the way I want, instead of looking at this list that I had in front of me saying the whole pyramid is upside down. Actually, I'm spending all my time. No one's going to get to the end and say I wish I'd clocked in another day at work, right, and oh, I wish I'd gone to more meetings, you know, if only I'd gotten another meeting in. So everyone's got time, treasure and talent to invest and to take a stand with, and those stands can actually make a really big difference in how you live life and the influence that you make on other people.
Speaker 2:Right, and I think it's important to remember that you're always taking a stand, whether you realize it or not, because you always are giving time, talent and treasure to something and with those being your three agents of taking a stand, we'll call them your three legs for standing up. You're always giving that to something. You just might not realize what you're actually giving it to.
Speaker 2:So it's important to be very conscious of those things and even just thinking, you know, if you're, if you're a parent and you value your children and your family, how much time are you choosing to work overtime every week versus spending time with them? And it's just like that age-old dilemma of I can, I can work more work to make more money so they can have a better life, but then I'm not at home and then my kids aren't with me and we don't develop the relationship you know, and it's that whole dilemma. So, really taking the time to figure out where am I spending not only my time, but also my talents and my treasure, and do those really align with my values? I would encourage all of our audience to just take a moment to do that this week. Think about what do you say you value and then what do your actions say you value?
Speaker 1:Right, and then, what practical tools can you use to start aligning? So like, veebs is a practical tool, but it's not the only one that you can use to start aligning financial.
Speaker 2:Google Calendar is an amazing one for time.
Speaker 1:That's an app that we use to time manage and what are some other ones you can use for time, talent and treasure. Even thinking through what are some of those talents you have and how you can lend them to taking a stand and what do you want to take a stand for? You know here we love taking stand for freedom, truth and government by the people, but what are the things you believe? This has been another episode of Stand with Kelly and Nikki Chewbacca. Today, my co-host is Josiah Chewbacca. You can find us on stanshoworg. Please hit subscribe and we will see you next week.
