Planning can be both frustrating yet satisfying. In life we can’t plan for everything, but we can set milestones for where we want to go.
Proverbs 16:9 says “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”
God has a habit of changing our plans, but that is part of the journey of walking with Him. If we look at the people in the bible that were used mightily for God, like Moses, we can see that successful people plan.
Christ-centered financial planner Michal Slate says that sometimes we may not see the promised land. God calls us to make a path and prepare the way for the next generation. This means that we may work for something and we won’t necessarily see the fruits. We don’t have to live in the palace to feel like we live in the palace.
By writing out the plan and journaling as if it has already happened ushers in gratitude and thankfulness. Thanking God for what you know He wants to give you is key to activating your faith.
Listen to what Michal Slate has to share about being called to lead.
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Guest Bio
Michal Slate did not come from success but was saved at the age of 19, coming out of extreme hardships. Barely a high school graduate, escaping an abusive relationship and living in a car: God called Michal to be a leader in household financial management. She answered the call! Now Michal is a Certified Financial Planner with a masters degree in Business Leadership from Colorado Christian University.
She has a masters in education and is a doctoral student at Liberty University researching Christian Household Business Leadership. She has more than 13 years experience as a banker, investment advisor and christian coach.
She is the founder of Christ Focused Financial Planning and lives to help Christian Women take ownership of the call they have been given to lead their households and businesses.
Links
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TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1: No, we can’t plan everything that we can set the that’s milestones and God will, he’ll change it and then we’ll have to redo the plan, but that’s part of the journey.
Speaker 2: Today we talking about being called to lead with Michal Slate. Did that come from success or from being saved. At the age of 19 coming out of the extreme poverty, a high school drop out, escaping an abusive relationship and living in a car. I’ve got the God called Michal to be a leader in the household financial management and she answered their call. Now Michal is a certified financial planner, was there my master’s degree in business leadership on the Colorado Christian University. She has more than 13 years experience as a banker, investment advisor and Christian coach. She’s the founder of Christ focused financial planning and list to help Christian women take ownership of the call that they had been given to leave their households and businesses. So welcome, Michal. I’m so excited to have you on the show.
Speaker 1: Hi Mimika. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2: Well, I love your bio and I did stalk you online to make sure to see what you were doing. I was like, oh, this is fabulous. I love what you’re offering. And helping, you know, Christian entrepreneurs or business owners and leaders and women to actually step into their calling and do what God’s called them to be. So hence the title, but we’ve got a lot of content we want to dive into, especially if you feel like God’s called you to something to step out in faith. You’re not sure how this plan setup because you know, we can plan, but God orders the steps. So we’re gonna dive into a lot of that actionable tips, but before we do that, tell the audience how you got started into doing what you’re doing today.
Speaker 1: Sure so I got called into financial management, not by choice, but I was 22 around there. Uh, right after I got saved. I’m trying to figure out what life was going to have for me coming out of some poverty situations, not knowing where I was going to live or how things were going to work out financially. I just knew that that wasn’t what God had for me. There are all these promises in the Bible about how I was God’s daughter and he loved me. And so I wanted to make sure that I was stewarding the new life that I had been given. So I just started working really hard and studying the scriptures. And then I got moved into insurance and I wanted to help people protect their belongings. And so I took that job, but then I realized it was more how about making money than helping people?
Speaker 1: And so then I moved into banking and kind of led to financial planning because I love helping people solve those hard problems. But it was not even until about maybe eight years ago when I was trying to take nursing classes. At the same time as doing investment management because I really thought in my head that if I was going to be serving God, then that meant some sort of helping profession like nursing or teaching or something along those lines. But nothing worked. I prayed every day for God to open the door that he had for me and it was not nursing. Everything I tried to do, the door just slammed shut. And meanwhile in the investment world, the doors just kept opening. People kept needing my help, the market correction and 2008, a lot of people lost their jobs, didn’t know where to go and they were turned away by a lot of other financial planners because they didn’t have a lot of money or they weren’t very sophisticated.
Speaker 1: And, and I really felt the responsibility to help these people to help them navigate and to tell them it’s going to be okay because we feel like we don’t have anywhere to go when we lose our jobs or when something happens or marriage falls apart or whatever it is, somebody dies that you love and it’s like life just derails you. And if you don’t have that foundation in Christ and knowing that it’s going to be okay because this is not everything right now. Then it’s hard to navigate. And so I know that that’s my call. My call is to help people figure out that it’s, hey, that’s not about this one moment. This moment is hard, but we’re going to get through it. And I lead with grace and nonjudgmental planning is my philosophy. So I just, I love to help people with compassion and that’s really my calling. I feel most alive when I get to do that.
Speaker 2: So I love it how you talk about being called and also how you try things, which is not a bad thing. We, you, you, you fail. We’ll be cool to failures. We think it’s faded, but it’s not as actually trying things out. How you’d say it was the doors close. Now I laugh about this because I’ve had this too. What you think this is a great idea and gosh, maybe I should try this and maybe when I do this, God will bless me. But sometimes it’s thinking of it a little differently. Like what is God’s plan? Is this supposed to our plan? And then how we walk through those doors that are really destined for us to walk suit. So let’s break it down and allow for audience. Like we know it’s your story, you know, you’ve tried different things in, you know, that financial planning is important and of course was anything right. You know, everybody needs finances to run a home business, pay the bills. What would you say would be some tips that you can help everybody left if they’re in that situation where they’re running a business and maybe, you know, they little cash strapped and that little stressed about and what to do. How do you, what would you advise him to do if we had to break it up?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that’s a really good question. The one thing that I’m successful people have in common is that they’re really good at taking inventory of where they’re at. So the first thing would be to take inventory of what you’ve got. So to go through your budget and go through your bills. And your bank statements and figure out where is the money going and where’s the money coming from. That’s important. But I would not stop there.
Speaker 1: That is more of a reactionary way to plan. And I am a visionary. I’ve learned that accountants and bookkeepers are more reactionary. They’ll help you organize what you’ve got. That financial planners are more visionaries and that’s why I love what I do. So I challenged people to make a budget for the best case scenario, as much profit as you could possibly imagine. Bringing in plan that, write it down, journal it out. What are you going to do with all the success once it comes and how is it going to glory, glorify God and then also make a worst case scenario. What can you absolutely, go down to what’s your worst case, bare bones budget, what can you live with and still know that you’re on the right path and that God’s not killing your dreams so that he can lead you to another direction, which is also fine.
Speaker 1: So I like to have the three pillars kind of well you’ve got your best case scenario plan, your worst case scenario plan and where you’re at right now. And so those three plans and it can be fun. You can, you know, I love, I’ve been doing that since I got saved writing out, okay God, what are you going to, what is it going to look like when I have success, when I see success, what does that look like and how am I gonna manage that financial responsibility? Because when you are given success, it’s a huge responsibility. It’s not something that’s like a birthday cake that you get to consume in one hour. It’s like been being given a business or a house that has to be taken care of and cared for for years and years and left to the next generation.
Speaker 1: So success and wealth, whatever it looks like for you is a responsibility that has to be steward. Let’s just talk about this often the parable of the talents God to those who are more responsible with what he is because he has tasks for us to do. And you know, coming back to what we mentioned in the beginning is when you are called to lead something, whether it’s family or a business, God will equip us. Right? So it’s a matter of being faithful stewards in, in using what we have. And I love it how you said that because not a lot of people don’t like to think of it like the success of potluck. Well yes we know we are full successful. But what does it actually look like? Cause I think we get so stuck in the weeds. I’ve got to get out of survival mode, I’ve got to get the income and I’ve got to get the leads, the sales look like whatever it is.
Speaker 1: But how that actually looks like. And wouldn’t you say this week, God really sees, he said he sees dream. What? Dreaming. And this looked like for you? Yeah. And we have to remember that sometimes we don’t see the promise land. You know, like Moses was called to lead the people but he never went to the promise land. So sometimes God calls us to make a, make a, a path or prepare the the way for the next generation. And so maybe we’re working for something that we’re not going to see everything, but God will reveal little bits and pieces and diamonds and treasures throughout our lifetime. And it’s beautiful. And we don’t have to see, we don’t have to live in the palace to feel like we live in the palace too. And so God blesses us every day. And with that joy, that doesn’t sense since. Yeah. The joy that surpasses all understanding. It doesn’t make sense. And that’s what is so awesome about God. So
Speaker 2: How would we then break it down in terms of what actual steps we could do today? So we feel like God’s given us this big vision, this big dream of what you’re imagining that your business or your life or your ministry is going to look like. How do we take those steps towards achieving their cause? Of course, you know, you can’t drive a parked car. It’s no point in sitting in dreaming in the garage. You got to actually go out and drive it. What advice and steps could you share with everybody today?
Speaker 1: One thing that I used to do is, and I still do actually, I’m his journal as if it’s already happened. Talk to God and thank him for what hasn’t happened yet. Those gratitude, meditation, things that we can do where we just meditate on what we’re grateful for, but then also including the things that haven’t happened. So thanking God for what, what you know, that he wants to give you. And even it’s okay if you’re totally off base, you know, if you’re thanking God for a brand new car, brand new house or, or whatever it is and you are never going to get that, that’s okay too. Because in that gratitude process, we’re going to be revealing what we actually want and desire. So you might not even know what you want or what you want your life to look like having success.
Speaker 1: It’s still practice that gratitude of positive but also in, in Christ and in God and thanking him. And then I always leave every prayer with not my will but your will be done. And so I’ve prayed for success and I’ve prayed for all these great things and all these worldly, you know, accomplishments that we all want because we want to, you know, have nice things and be comfortable and that’s okay. But then I also say, okay God, but not my will. Your will be done because I don’t want to live in a mansion and not have the peace of God in my heart.
Speaker 2: Yeah. They say that the rich man doesn’t sleep very well, especially self. And I think that is the big difference with here. And what I’m passionate about here in what I do in the podcast is that really helping Christian believers and, and entrepreneurs and leaders and those who who, who are leading people, whether it’s family business, that we can run our business. And it doesn’t have to be according to the world’s standards. Like, yeah, somebody, you know, the whole hustle, hustle hard and you know, work til you drop that just doesn’t work with God is the grace and it’s a grind and depends on where you’re at. We kind of have to realize that. But you mentioned something earlier that I think is really important and us putting the pieces and taking that action is purposeful planning. Now tell everybody why is that important?
Speaker 1: It’s important. It’s like a roadmap. And so if you’re going to go on a road trip, even if you don’t know where your final destination is, you can put marks on the map for, you know, just kind of as a guide. So if you don’t, you don’t know exactly where you’re going to end up, but you know where you’re going to go by default. So it’s kind of like a just in case plan. And that’s something God’s worked on me my whole life because I was raised in a, in such a survival mode. One of my most shameful arguments with my mother was when I was yelling at her as a teenager and saying, what’s the point in life? You know, I don’t need to do my homework. I don’t need to go to school because I’m just going to die anyway in the world is pointless. And, and I remember my mother saying, well, just in case you live till tomorrow, why not?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was, it was great wisdom and it, and it stuck with me and then many books that I’ve read, Henry Cloud has a wonderful book on, how successful people plan. They play the movie. They kind of just see how things are going to unfold. Okay. If I stay on this path, then what will happen? And you know, there’s going to be surprises along the way. There always is. We can’t predict everything, but just in case nothing changes. What is my life gonna look like? And so planning that out, there was a, probably a post on Facebook I saw recently that said, wealthy people plan for generations, poor people plan for Friday. And so by writing it out and planning what’s going to happen and, and putting those milestones in place, you know, in six months I’m gonna have this business project completed.
Speaker 1: In three years I’m going to have this certificate and I’ll have this many clients and you know, but in 10 years I want to be, you know, having this thing done. And you know, we can’t plan everything, but we can set the milestones and God will, he’ll change it and then we’ll have to Redo the plan. But that’s part of the journey this was exciting about is when God gives us, he’s out opposites park. No, he, we plan with God the differences that he gives us a way in goals to work towards. But it’s a cave. We take detours because we know he’s gonna, you know, if we fall down and we mess up the differences, he’s going to be there to help us. But then in everything we do, nothing is that lost, right? It’s not like we have to go bankrupt with the Lord because this, it’s a never ending supply of grace, which I think is totally fabulous.
Speaker 2: So if we had to sort of wrap it up and with to say, okay, well we know God’s called us to lead a charge, whether it’s start a business, whatever that is on your heart to start a ministry, what would you say as a takeaway to what’s the one thing you want them to remember that they need to do in order to action?
Speaker 1: That that we can only see in part that God sees the big picture and so it doesn’t matter how much success you’re able to see tangibly right now, if you keep putting one foot in front of the other and you know that God is by your side than he can see the finished work. He can see the, the the whole plan and so we have to trust him. I, I imagine it like if you’re on a path and it’s dark, but you have a flashlight and you can see what’s right in front of your seat. As long as you know you’re going in the right direction and that Jesus is with you, then you’re going to find that success. You’re going to be going in the right direction. God can see all of it and we have to have that faith. It’s faith full, you know, faith filled life and believing that he knows and we we don’t have to plan beyond today. You know, the Bible says, you know, don’t, don’t worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. It has more than enough problems tomorrow does. And that’s where I see a lot of anxiety come up with a lot of clients and a lot of people is when they start worrying about, well, how am I going to control every detail of tomorrow and next week and next month? And it’s a planning is not the same thing as controlling or micromanaging. It’s just, it’s just a roadmap. It’s just an outline and God will fill in the details. Just follow it along.
Speaker 2: Someone told me a many years ago that God will give you just enough light for the step you’re on. And thank goodness for that because if we knew everything we would probably freak out. So it’s just what it means to be faithful about is what God wants. Just knowing that, so I totally agree with that and I love that sort of analogy. So for our audience listening, would you be able to pray for them and just activate them into that, into that for, you know, they are feeling called to lead and they need to know, they need to plan with God and really help them do that.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I would love to. Oh, can you want me to do that now? Okay. All right.Thank you Jesus. Thank you so much. Thank you for everyone listening, God and for this day and the beautiful opportunities that you have put in front of us. God, we don’t need to see everything, Lord, but we do need you by our side. And so I prayed, Lord, for the peace that surpasses all understanding to fill the hearts and souls and minds of everyone listening and everyone who truly seeks what you have for them. God pray that you would give them grace and mercy and that you would show them the next steps that they need to take in order to walk closer with you and be on the right path. And Lord, I pray for your light to shine bright and to reveal that the steps that they need to take if they don’t know what to do. Lord, I pray that you would give them clarity and wisdom just like Solomon asked for wisdom and you didn’t just give him wisdom, you gave him so much more.
Speaker 1: Lord, I pray that we would all seek after wisdom and seek after what you have for us, Lord, as we know that you’re a savior, that you have done everything or we don’t have to do everything in our own strength. We just have to trust you and walk with you and surrender to what you have for us. Lord, we praise you and we thank you for what you are going to give to us and how you’re going to use us mightily for your purposes. Lord, I thank you so much for what you’re about to do and I praise you Lord. I praise you for everyone listening. God, thank you so much for your children and how you knit us together and you put us together to make such a beautiful masterpiece, Lord, that not one of us can do it alone. That we need each other and we need you. Lord. Thank you so much Lord. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Speaker 2: Well thanks for that. Always love these prayers because especially for everyone listening. It’s a really great encouragement to know that others are thinking and praying about you and standing in agreement because you know as a body of Christ we stick together and support each other. So tell everybody what’s the best pace they can get in touch with you and find you online?
Speaker 1: Oh I have a website in Michalslate.com that’s probably the best place. I love social media, Facebook, Instagram, everybody cause your name is spelled a little differently. Yes M I C H A L and then S L A T E. Michalslate.com
Speaker 2: We’ll have all these links in the show notes too. So if you are listening or watching, one would have a platform where you can click below and we’ll be able to directly so you can connect with Michal and you saw her or heard her on the Mimika TV. And if you enjoy what she had to say, makes it, make sure to share it with your friends. I’m showing you know, somebody who would be really encouraged by what we talked about today. So click this button below and leave your comment. It’s like I love to hear back from people who are watching and listening and what they learn about these conversations because you know there’s this was I love about podcasting as a matter where you are in the world, what time Zone you’re in, you can gain something from someone else’s story. So if if Michal’s story inspired you and you’ve learned something, scroll below and add your comments below, we would love to hear from you. And if you want freebie resources that I only share with my newsletter community. Go to mimikacooney.com and click the freebies tab. I have also a digital downloads. You can join my free Facebook book and a Facebook group and I have a new book coming out called how to build your platform with a purpose to align your vision with what God’s telling you to do and you want to, you want some practical pieces to do that. Make sure you can go and grab out my free checklist there. So I’m going to say thanks so much, Michal, for joining me today. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule and I’ll look forward to connecting with you in the future.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so much. Well, until next time, everyone take care.
Speaker 2: Ready to build a platform with a purpose? Come to mimikacooney.com and download your free checklist, how to build your platform in 30 days.
