- Well, I am beyond thrilled right now,
because Annie F. Downs— You're here.
- I'm here! We're together.
- You're on the Rachel Cruz show.
- I'm thrilled about it.
It's one of my very favorite shows.
- Oh, it is?
- I watch them all.
- Thanks, Annie.
- I love it. I think it's so fun.
I'm just sorry we're not doing a cooking segment.
- Have you seen mine?
- Next time,
can we do a cooking segment?
- 100%.
- Like, how to cook if you don't cook.
That would be my cooking segment.
- That's basically—
- I know.
- That's basically my cooking segments. -Right! Right!
- Okay! So, Annie is a speaker and an author,
and just—and actually, a friend— a real-life friend of mine.
And so, we were talking. I was like,
Annie, you have to come on the show.
Because a lot of you know who Annie F. Downs is.
You listen to her podcast and all of the above.
But for people that don't know you, Annie,
what do you do?
Who are you?
- Yeah, what I want to do with my life is communicate
who God is through my story.
And so, sometimes that comes out in book form,
and sometimes that's in the podcast form,
and sometimes that's speaking on stages.
There's—you know— My pastor just taught
about this a couple days ago—
but taught about your spiritual gifts
and why you're on the planet.
- Yes.
- And the joy you find.
He was saying so many people feel selfish
when they found the thing they're really good at,
because they go, "I didn't know it was supposed to feel good.
I thought if I was doing good for the planet,
it would feel like I was sacrificing or it would feel hard."
And there are pieces of that, right?
- Sure. Sure.
- But there's also this, like, "Man, is this supposed
to be this much fun?"
And I— You know my life very well.
I cry a lot. Things go wrong a lot.
It's not a perfect existence by any stretch,
but there is this, like, "Man, who knew work could be this fun?"
- I love it.
Yeah! And your books are just phenomenal.
- Thanks.
- You just had one release
earlier last year, "Remember God."
- Yeah, "Remember God."
- And, just fantastic.
And your podcast. That sounds fun.
- Oh, my gosh. You and Winston
are still one of the best episodes.
- No!
- People love— Oh, my gosh.
Y'all are, like, top five of a 180 or something, yeah.
People love it.
- It's the only thing Winston—
If you want to hear Winston Cruz,
he won't be on my show, but he'll be on Annie's podcast.
- It was so good.
- I know! So, when Winston and I were on your podcast,
we were talking about EveryDollar.
- Yes! Because I used it.
- Did you use it?
- And I was able to buy a condo,
because I used EveryDollar.
For real! I would never lie about this.
It is the best, and I like it.
- So what'd you do?
You saved money every month. What was your goal?
Talk to them about this.
- So, my goal was to save my down payment.
And then, once I had half my down payment,
then I started looking, because I knew that—
once I started looking— that I had a little more time.
And then, it did end up happening a little fast,
so I had to readjust some things.
But it's been really helpful.
Now that my house is there, I need to redo
some of the saving.
You might need to help me.
Because I need to redo so I can decorate.
- You need to come back on,
and let's do a budget makeover.
- Oh, yeah!
Yes, I need it.
I need it.
Let's do it.
So then, I can buy what I need for my house.
I can do some things.
- Be grateful and content all at the same time.
- Yes, that's right.
That's right.
And have a cute house—all the things.
- Very important.
So, we're in February now,
and the stats are that 80% of people give up
on their New Year's resolutions in February.
- That's awful.
That's so sad.
- So, I think— We were talking a little bit
with—if you're not satisfied with
where you are in life—
with your job or not—
what do you do?
Where do you find contentment?
Where do you find joy when life doesn't
turn out the way you thought?
It's February, you probably thought,
"Oh, this is going to be a new year."
And you're two months in already,
and you're like, "All right,
it sucks—just like it did last year."
How do you find contentment and joy
when things are not going—
- Do you know—I don't know that you
and I have ever talked about this—
but do you know I don't do New Year's resolutions?
- You don't?
- I do New Year's experiments.
So what I say is, "If I did this for a whole year,
what would be different?"
And it is really hard to quit an experiment.
It's a lot easier to quit a resolution,
because you're like, "I'm going to do this."
No, I'm not.
but because it's an experiment,
I'm not willing to quit on it.
So, that's one part of that.
The other part is we are never—
I'm sorry to bring this news to you in a February day—
We are just never going to have everything we want.
- I always say the finish line always moves.
- It always moves.
- And that's it.
And that's true, even with salaries.
I know I've talked about this,
but there was a study done, which I think is so fascinating,
and they talked to people that made $100,000 a year.
They said, "Is that enough?
Do you feel rich?"
And they were like, "No."
And they go, "How much would you need?"
"$200,000." Then, they went to someone that made $200,000,
"Do you feel rich?"
"No."
"How much would you need?"
"$500,000."
And it's like, once you get there—
You're right. It keeps moving.
- It just keeps moving.
- So, how do you think you got there?
Because there's a lot of people that have jobs,
and they're in a career—
They're in this state of mind—
this life cycle—and they're not having fun.
They're in this moment of, like,
maybe it's their jobs.
How did you find your lane?
- If you can back up,
our friends who are with us that are saying,
"Man, my job is not working for me,
but here are the four things that make
me feel really alive at my job.
And then, here are the other things that—
in fact, all my jobs kind of have this one central—oh!
Oh, I really like to help people."
- Interesting. Yep.
- And then you go, "Okay, what's a different—
is there a different career where I can still
express my calling that looks different than this?"
Because, you know, I used to teach elementary school.
- Yes, yes.
- It is literally the same gift.
I entertain people long enough
that they learn something.
I just did it with fourth-graders,
and now, I do it on Sunday mornings at churches
or at conferences or in books.
So, I think how I found it is
I laid out my whole life in front of me,
literally, on note cards.
And I went like, "Oh, my gosh.
I like entertaining people,
but it can't be purposeless."
- And you took the time and intentionality
to put it on note cards you said.
And that's the thing.
I mean, it's true with your money.
It's true with your career,
your family, your friendships,
all the above. You have to be intentional.
- What is the thing you say about debt?
Or about budgeting?
It doesn't tell you how you can't spend your money.
It tells you how you can?
- Yes. A budget doesn't limit your freedom.
It gives you freedom.
- Thank you. Praises.
That's it.
And that's the same—
That is the same when you're figuring out your calling.
It isn't going to limit you to look at your life.
It's going to actually expand.
- So good.
- And so, with things like what you say at the beginning
of a new year—I would say you can just start over today.
Just tell yourself, "Who do I want to be at the end of the year,
and what would it take to be that?" Right?
And also, it is okay for you to not be content with this.
And what's actually true is we shouldn't tell ourselves
not to want. We should just learn—what does it look
like to want well?
How do you want things that you don't have
without making them an idol?
And how do you find contentment,
even if you haven't been who you've always wanted to be.
And even if you've stopped your New Year's resolution—
And so, what does it actually look like to—
Okay, how do I build a life and a story
where I want things, and I'm honest about it?
You need to have a list of, "Here's some things
that I want that I don't have?"
And there are people on the planet who know that.
And, "Here are the things I have I do not deserve,
and I am thankful for those."
I think that making yourself only choose
one of those lists will make for a more painful life.
- I think that's so true,
and I never thought about that before.
But holding both, because we talk about gratitude a lot.
Because gratitude leads to contentment.
So, those things that—you are—
you're so grateful for—
But there are going to be the things
that you're like, "I'm not okay with—
I want something different."
And sometimes, that's good, because that stretches you.
That lets you find that goal that you're like,
"Okay, I want to reach for that."
or, "Here's something I'm going to pray about."
And it's like, "God, you have to show up in this."
- That's right. That's totally it.
- So, in the disappointment camp—
I think some people watching— who know you—
and they're like, "Oh, she has this podcast
and books." Or some people may look at me
and think, "Oh, she has this great show."
But there's disappointments in life.
It's going to happen.
- Yeah, I think it's as easy as—
When I don't get the flight home
that I want to get home."
And I miss out on a wedding or a dinner
or whatever, and I get frustrated,
and I'm disappointed that that didn't happen.
It's going on a first date
that didn't lead to a second date.
How book sales go are great,
but they may not always meet some expectation
that you've set.
So, work stuff can always—
You set out books after you've been speaking.
You bring 100, and 95 of them sell,
and you go, "Oh, I needed 100 to sell."
- Or five sell.
You take 95 home with you.
- Right! I mean, listen—
- That's happened.
Let me tell you about a heavy suitcase—
the one that's full of books you're bringing back home.
So, I have to work to go, "Man, this didn't work,
and that is okay."
- Kind of owning it and saying it out loud.
I think that's so good.
- Yeah. And I just think it makes—
What I've seen in my life—
I can't speak for anybody else—
what I've seen in my life is that owning
my wants and owning my disappointments
and owning my joys has made me more connected with me.
I've become a more unified Annie.
- And one of the most—
One of the things I love—love—about you—
and out of all my friends, you're probably
the highest on the list for this—
is you dig into yourself and who you are.
You've done so much work.
But when you understand your wants
and desires, you're able to,
in a very healthy way— just like you were saying—
I love the two pictures of having
that gratitude and then having the discontentment.
Sometimes, it's a good thing, because it pushes you
to what you want or has you trust
in the future in that sense.
- Luckily, I have people in my life
that remind me that the reason
we do all that work on ourselves
is to be better for others.
Remember that there is more to this.
- Yeah! Okay, so where can everyone find you?
- So @anniefdowns everywhere:
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.
That's my website. All the places.
- I love it. So good.
- Love you.
I love your show.
- Thanks! Thanks for being on here. Seriously.
- Of course.
- Everyone check out everything she's doing,
buy the books, listen to the podcast, follow her on social.
She's awesome.
- Thank you.
- Thanks, Annie.