Hey, can I ask you something?

Have you ever felt like you're doing everything right?

You know, you're budgeting, your, your savings, you're, you're

cutting back, and yet it still feels like you're not getting anywhere.

Maybe like you feel like you're stuck in this perpetual state of slow motion.

And let me just tell you right now, you're not alone and feeling this way.

Many of us feel this way.

I felt this way at times.

So today I wanna talk to you about something that doesn't

get nearly enough credit.

That's small wins.

You know those little victories, and lemme just tell you right now,

they matter more than you think.

So today, let's talk about how they build momentum and how you can start seeing

the change you've been praying for.

Hello, I'm Ralph, your financial evangelist, and show is all about

helping you break that cycle of financial shame and do it with confidence and

do it with Christ at the center.

So whether this is your first episode or you've been with this journey with

me before, I'm so glad you're here.

So today we're gonna be talking about small wins, big change.

I thought that was a great topic for today because sometimes even

when you're doing the work, it feels like nothing's changing.

I got his great message from a listener named Emily.

And Emily said this.

She said, Ralph, I'm making progress, but it's slow.

How do I stay motivated?

Well, I'm just tell you right now that's real and, and maybe you felt that way

too when you're listening right now.

So today I wanna speak directly to you.

I wanna talk directly to you, and let's talk about building and momentum

with just one small win at a time.

Now, first thing I want you to do, I want you to take a breath with me.

Because listen, if you've been listening to the show, I know you've been trying,

I know you've been grinding and, and you've been making better choices.

So let me start by telling you something right now.

You're doing better than you think and hear me on this.

You are doing better than you actually think you're doing.

You might think, Ralph, listen, I've only saved $20 this week,

or, I just paid off a $50 balance.

But that's not just anything I want to tell you right now.

That's a win.

That's a brick, and I'm gonna talk about bricks in a minute.

And with those bricks, you're building something solid.

And listen, I remember a few years ago here on the farm, we had this brick

wall we wanted to build at the entrance.

And so I hired this brick layer and he started clearing the area

out, making it nice and flat.

And then he, and he put down what he called the foundation.

That was some concrete and that was some cinder blocks.

And then he started with just that first brick.

And I remember watching him, I was sitting back wondering, now how's he gonna take

this big, seemingly huge block of bricks and make something remarkable with them?

And I sat back and I just watched and within what seemed like just a

few minutes that wall was started.

And yes, it started with just that very first brick.

And here's the truth.

We all have to start somewhere.

So just like laying those bricks for that wall one by one, they may seem small.

When I first looked at that, I'm like, where is this guy ever gonna

put all these bricks into order?

But putting them together for you and for him, it created a foundation of strength.

So I wanna give you your first takeaway today.

I want you to start seeing and celebrating your small wins.

And here's what I want you to do.

I wanna encourage you to write them down.

I want you to speak them out loud, and I want you to thank God for them.

Because here's the truth, you're not standing still.

You're building that momentum.

You're doing it step by step.

Brick by brick.

But now I wanna get practical with you.

I've got a challenge for you, just for you.

It's called the seven Day Momentum Challenge.

And here's what I want you to do For the next seven days, I want

you to write down just one small victory, one small win each day.

I want you to consider that your daily brick, and that's all I want you to do.

Just one thing a day.

Maybe you skip that $6 coffee.

I know I pick on coffee all the time.

I'm sorry, but it's a easy target.

Maybe you packed lunch and you're brown bagging it so you're saving money.

Or maybe you saved $5, or you said no to that purchase or that purchase online.

And here's what I want you to do.

It's real simple.

Every day track it, just write it down.

And then at the end of the week, I want you to look back at your list.

Just look at all the things and guess what?

What's gonna happen?

You'll see it.

You're gonna see that you're moving forward.

And if you want, I wanna encourage you, share with me.

I'd love to celebrate your progress with you.

Tell me about your progress.

This is something you can do and it just takes putting

that first brick into motion.

But now I wanna talk a few minutes about mindset.

'cause it's so important we understand the mindset with this because you

might be doing everything right, but because it's a quiet progress.

It just doesn't feel like it's enough, and that's why I love

this verse from the Bible.

It comes from the book of Galatians, chapter six, verse nine.

It says, let us not become weary in doing good.

For at the proper time we will reap a harvest.

And I love this part if we don't give up.

See, because here's the truth, you don't need to hustle harder.

You just don't.

You need to just keep showing up.

God sees your faithfulness.

He sees your consistency, and yes, he sees your obedience.

And think about it like this.

You're planting seeds.

You want this garden to grow, so you're planting these seeds

and the harvest is gonna come.

You're laying those foundational bricks.

And let me just tell you a masterpieces, awaits.

And remember this, God sees you.

He celebrates your obedience, and he's not asking for speed.

This isn't a race.

This is a journey.

He's asking for your faithfulness.

And here's another thing I wanna tell you about.

Don't compare your journey to anyone else's.

It's so easy to do that.

It's so easy to get stuck in the quagmire of that.

But I want you to remember, this is your path.

This is your journey, and you're walking it with a purpose.

So now I just wanna revisit your question, Emily, because again, I wanna

thank you so much for writing in 'cause I truly love answering your questions.

It's really the heart of what I do here on the show.

It's what makes me want to turn on this microphone and

turn on this camera every day.

And Emily, you said, I'm making progress, Ralph, but it's slow.

And so Emily, I wanna remind you a very simple truth.

I just wanna remind you this slow progress is still progress.

You're not stuck.

You're making progress, you're building.

It's not a race.

And guess what?

Building takes time.

And remember this, God's not measuring you by how fast you move.

If he did, we'd be in trouble.

'cause I'm not a fast guy.

He's looking at your faithfulness and Emily and everyone else.

I see it in you.

So keep going.

You're not alone in this.

How about we pray together today?

Lord, I just want to thank you for the person listening right now.

I just thank you for their effort.

Lord I thank you for their heart and I thank you for their courage

in taking that first step, Lord, in laying that first brick.

And Lord, I know you see their small steps, you see every win,

even the ones that no one else sees

Lord.

Lord, help them to stay encouraged, help them to see their progress the way you

see it To celebrate their faithfulness.

Lord to help them keep pressing forward.

Lord, I ask that you give them strength, give them wisdom, and give them the

joy they can see in the progress.

We ask this in the precious name of Jesus.

Amen.

Well, let's just take a few minutes to recap.

These are my key takeaways from today.

Remember this, if you don't remember anything else I talked

about today, small wins matter.

I want you to track and celebrate them.

Take that seven day momentum challenge.

And remember, this progress isn't always loud and I want you to hear me on this.

Progress isn't always loud, but it is always real.

Now, tomorrow we're gonna go even deeper.

We're gonna talk about what legacy will you leave?

Can you build wealth that matters?

Tomorrow's gonna be about building for a purpose.

That's gonna be a big one.

So I don't want you to miss it.

And in the meantime, I wanna encourage you to visit askralphpodcast.com.

Send me your story, send me your question, and while you're there,

you can sign up for our newsletter.

You can do that easily by going to askralphpodcast.com/newsletter so we

can keep walking this journey together.

I want to be with you on the journey.

It excites me.

So until next time, I wanna encourage you to do this always on a show like this.

Stay financially savvy and let's keep moving forward helping you

break that cycle of financial shame and do it with confidence.

So as I end today, may God bless you abundantly.