Join us for the New Year's episode of 50 Cups Hot Takes! Hosts discuss immune-boosting teas, share personal experiences with Jim Baker, and reflect on the aftermath of the holiday season. Dive into tech troubles with iPhone glitches, debates on wrapping paper waste, and the importance of New Year's resolutions. The conversation takes a thoughtful turn as they explore faith, spirituality, and the pivotal role God plays in their lives. Tune in for a blend of humor, heart, and honesty.
00:00 New Year Greetings and Tea Talk
00:58 Holiday Health and Immune Boosters
02:07 Memories and Shoutouts
05:07 Holiday Gift Giving and Wrapping Waste
11:45 iPhone Troubles and Tech Frustrations
21:10 The Problem with Phones at Stoplights
21:42 Using Phones as Tools, Not Entertainment
22:24 Changing Phone Habits
22:52 Forced into High Tech
23:19 New Year's Resolutions: Do They Work?
26:14 The Reality of Habits and Change
31:39 The Role of God in Our Lives
34:15 Balancing Health and Spirituality
35:19 The Concept of Life on Loan
38:23 Facing Life's Challenges with Faith
41:35 Final Thoughts and Reflections
Creators & Guests
Host
Jim Baker
Author of "The Adventure Begins When The Plan Falls Apart" Converting a Crisis into Company Success, Jim is a husband and father of 4, Baker has spent the last 30 years in the business world as an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He had a successful exit in 2014 after owning and managing a CRO and functional services company, Ockham, specializing in Oncology. During that time prior to exit, Baker grew ASG and then Ockham both organically and through M&A. Over time Baker has experience in acquiring and selling companies, working with investment bankers, private equity, and mezzanine debt funding. In addition, has vast experience in business branding and managing and leading people. After the sale to Chiltern International, Baker started Sumus Development Group, an advisory business focused on operational excellence, exit strategy and marketing. In addition, Baker is an active investor in the business community.
What is Hot Takes: 50Cups?
United We Sip – Dive into the fascinating world of American culture with "Hot Takes: 50Cups." Join founder Jim Baker as he shares his hot takes on everything from day to day life, business trends and societal shifts, uncovering how we are all more united than we think.
At 50Cups, we believe in the power of community and the shared goal of living a healthy, fulfilled life. Our mission is to inspire you through organic, great-tasting teas, education, and awareness, uniting us all in our quest for better living.
Each episode of "Hot Takes: 50Cups" features Jim's candid and insightful commentary on the challenges, triumphs, and everyday experiences that shape our collective journey. From entrepreneurial wisdom, cultural observations, to health topics and nutrition this podcast offers a fresh perspective that will leave you inspired and enlightened.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a business leader, or simply curious about the threads that bind us, this podcast is your gateway to understanding and connection.
Subscribe now and join the conversation!
Default_2025-01-07_1: Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to the [00:00:30] 50 Cups Hot Takes and I gotta tell you something, I am excited about this new year and I'm also excited sitting across from Jim Bakker, who happens to own this fabulous tea company as well. Happy Holidays. How was it for you? Yeah, it's great. Great. Happy New Year to you.
And yeah, you know, another [00:00:45] year has gone by, as they say in the Christmas Carol, and, um, I'm excited for 2025. So am I, I think a lot of people are, and we haven't gotten together in a while. And so I kind of missed the tease. Yeah. So today we had a little [00:01:00] immune booster. Um, thankfully I'm not one of 'em, but it seems like over the holiday season Oh yeah.
We've heard stories of colds and flus and covid again, and all this other stuff. And so I thought, you know, that we just continue with our immune booster today. [00:01:15] So I have my handy dandy, yeti, it's filled with hot water and I'm gonna take these two giant robust tea bags and I'm gonna, one's, one's leaking a little bit and I'm gonna put 'em in.
And we'll let that steep for about three or four minutes and we'll, [00:01:30] we'll pour it out. I was hoping you'd do this because we always get a letter from the school at this time. You know, your child can't come to school if you, and there's a long list of things. Sure. It's that time of year where people are getting sick, so.
This will, this will help. I can't wait to taste it. I have not tasted a [00:01:45] bad tea yet. From your, your company yet. Well, that's good to hear. Yeah, it's good to hear. We had a lot of orders over the holidays, which is good too. Oh, good, good. We are by no means a wildly successful tea company yet, but we are, we are making strides, so I appreciate the dress.
Um, [00:02:00] oh yeah, you're looking quite nice. Yeah, you as well. You got the sweater? Yes, I did. Yeah. That's good. So. Thankfully they do have a couple people that watch this Hot Takes and one in particular that's great is out in Arizona and he has his nickname. He's, [00:02:15] his name is Macco, MACO. And who Macco, his real name is Chris McDonald, and he's a good friend of the families.
We grew up together in, um, Ridgefield, Connecticut. I'm older than Macco. About four or five, maybe six, about five years I [00:02:30] guess. Mm-hmm. And but he was a really good friend with my brother Mike. And the McDonald's were this family of, I think five boys. Um, and they were giants. Every single little one of 'em was, was bigger than the other one.
And I coached a couple of the [00:02:45] kids when they were younger Tommy and Timmy. And so Tommy went on to be a FBI agent who lives now in, um, the Northeast. And he helped. Cracked the Whitey Bulger case. Wow. A few years ago Timmy's gone [00:03:00] on to be a successful leader in the educational field and his other brother Michael, um, was division one basketball coach for a while.
And he's got a couple kids I think that played division one basketball at this point in time. And then Macco, who [00:03:15] is a great individual but. The three older brothers and then their other brother Johnny. Um, they were all really good basketball players and, um, Chris never really got the athletic Gene Uhoh.
But nonetheless, he had, he got the humor gene. And so he's talking [00:03:30] to my brother, I guess sometime in early December. And he is like, Hey, which with your brother? And my brother's like, what are you talking about? He goes, well, I watched the hot takes. He's always wearing like these golf shirts and he's got the collar open and, you know, he looks like he's [00:03:45] barely wearing any clothes.
He looks like he's, you know, from the deep south, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah. And you know, I'm like, well, you know, usually when we're taping these things, it's hot outside and I'm not walking around, you know, wearing a coat or anything. But then I thought to myself, [00:04:00] it's time for pro professional dress to come back in.
And I appreciated Mac's humorous. Cut on me to get me to think a little bit differently in 2025. So, you know, this year we're gonna present a lot more [00:04:15] professional. I just wanna thank Macco for that. Well, thank you Mac. I got the text late last night. Yeah, dress up, you bum. Something like that. So if I can get Macco and the rest of the McDonald's to buy some tea at some point in time, that'd be great too.
But, um, unfortunately their father passed away a few years [00:04:30] ago, but their mother, pat is, is still alive and she's a really good friend of my mom's. And, um, so shout out to the Macs and the McDonald's in this case, and to Macco in particular. For, um, for making me think a little bit differently in 25, if they [00:04:45] wanted to buy tea for their mom who understand likes tea, how would they do that?
Yeah, 50 cups.com. Okay. You know, and I'm sure I. If their mother is like my mother, they'll probably need a little help, you know, to get to the website and to click that button to, and especially the [00:05:00] password when you need a password to get on your iPad to begin with. But that's another story for another time.
But yeah, they can just go to 50 cups tea.com. Right. Well, we had a I had a great holiday. You as well you love, giving things this year was, was the big [00:05:15] gift in your household? Yeah. A lot of mini gifts, you know? Yeah. And my kids, you look like the kind of guy who would give many gifts. No, many.
I said Oh, many gifts. Yeah. Um, okay. Sorry. In fact, we try to, you know, cut back as our kids get older and [00:05:30] older. Yeah. Um, there isn't a need to. You know, provide, you know, we don't need to be Santa Claus times two, you know? Right. Um, so it's a little bit of a, not necessarily a, a, it's a positive debate, but it's a debate between my wife and I every year.
[00:05:45] Um, but we try to, you know, give them some things that, um, hopefully that'll be educational. Mm-hmm. Um, so books, et cetera. Um, and this year, um, I gave them a, we're Catholic, each of a monthly missile [00:06:00] that they could, a yearly missile actually, that they could. If they're gonna go to mass on Sunday, they could follow it.
And then if they don't go to mass, hopefully they'll open it up. Nice. Hopefully it won't be used as a you know, ko coaster or, you know, anything else [00:06:15] year, something, the bird cage or something like that, that, um, but it reminded me, though, a Christmas. Yeah. Right. You get all these presents and, and what happens is you spend all this money on wrapping paper Yes.
Tape. Yes. And, you know, they sit there under [00:06:30] the tree for, you know, a week or so. Maybe in th maybe not a week. In some cases, maybe two hours. Yes. If you're hustling around at the Oh yes. Which most of us do. Yep. And you're taking it outta the beautiful Amazon box. Right. Or you, you, you believe [00:06:45] it's a beautiful box too, Jim.
Well see, I've see nothing wrong with the Amazon box, but continue. I didn't mean, and then obviously when you open the Amazon box, you got the other, wherever that you bought the product from. Yes. It's usually in another box. Yes. Um, or it's in some. Really [00:07:00] well wrapped, you know, plastic. Yes. Um, so you're going through this layer of stuff that you're just ripping apart and tossing out to get to the actual product that you bought.
Right. And then you're turning around and you're wrapping it. That's right. And I started thinking to myself [00:07:15] with this. Focus on this environmental stuff that we've been brainwashed with over the last, you know, 30, 40 years. Mm-hmm. All some of it's good by the way. Um, that man, we waste a tremendous amount [00:07:30] of resources, boxing, sending, wrapping, so I looked it up.
2.3. I knew you would look it up. How much is it? 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper. Just for the Christmas [00:07:45] season alone. Wow. That's gotta go somewhere. Yeah. And, and in my house, um, I'm like the garbage guy, so we'll sit around and we slowly open gifts, you know, for a couple hours. And that's probably gonna change once our grandkids get a little bit older.
Mm-hmm. Because they're gonna wanna [00:08:00] rifle through things in about five seconds flat. Um, but I'm the guy, you know, they throw all, they wrap, they ball it all up, and then they throw it at me, and then I put it in a giant plastic bag. Mm-hmm. Um, so at end of the day, within, I don't know, three hours of. [00:08:15] Opening gifts.
We have this big giant, you know, bag of wrapping paper that gets thrown right into the trash can and it gets carted off. Right. Not to mention the boxes. Oh yeah. And all that other, and the, and those, oh I hate 'em. What are they? The [00:08:30] popcorn stuff that they put in some of these boxes. Hate it. Yeah. Then you gotta take the boxes.
You gotta break 'em apart. Yes. Stick 'em in the recycling bin. 'cause God forbid they take 'em. Yeah. You know, it's act in the recycling bin. And and then obviously if the bin's full. You don't really feel [00:08:45] like driving to the dump. What do you do with the boxes? That's a good question. What do you do with the boxes, Jim?
Throw 'em in a garbage can. That's right. So, and these boxes are pristine. They're brand new. Yes. They're clean. Yes. They got the beautiful tape. They got everything they do. You know, I'm thinking why not just [00:09:00] give the boxes to somebody? They write their name on it. I agree. You know, I, I also think Amazon could do us all a great favor if they would just give us a little flashier box when they deliver.
I. The item, maybe they could change up the colors [00:09:15] more Christmas-y kind of a feel, and therefore we could skip the entire wrapping process. Put a bow on it. We're ready to go. It's not a bad idea actually. Well, maybe he would like to invest in that idea. Did you? But no, I know what you're saying. And I, I [00:09:30] actually filled a, a pickup truck full of boxes and wrapping paper, and I could burn on where I live.
So it was a heck of a bonfire, but I, I also said, my goodness, what a waste of time and a waste of you know, product. Yeah. That just went up in flames. And I don't think [00:09:45] anybody. I, I think people appreciate the fact that something's wrapped. Sure. But in reality, they really don't because they're tearing it apart in five seconds flat to see what's underneath it.
Right. Right. Um, 'cause nobody gets a gift that just puts it on their shelf and stares at the wrapping paper for the next six [00:10:00] months or a year. Right. And to your point about burning. We were told years ago when we lived in Connecticut, you can't burn 'cause your fireplace is gonna catch on fire at some point in time with all the stuff that sticks to the chimney, you know, going up.
So we can't put that stuff back in the [00:10:15] air. And so now it just goes into a landfill. And it's, there's a, we talked about this before. There's a lot of plastics in the wrapping paper. So how long does it take for that to biodegrade, you know, back into the soil, and then what's that do to the soil down the road?
So anyhow, [00:10:30] why not just brown paper bags, you know, or something simple for wrapping. I know we have that out there, but nobody buys it. I mean, Jim, do you ever just relax and, and not have deep thoughts? But I mean, that's amazing though the, the figure [00:10:45] alone, 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper that I would never have thought of that.
And that's a lot of stuff that needlessly is thrown into landfill. Yeah, you gotta figure that with birthdays and everything else, and. The other celebrations we have during the year that, [00:11:00] um, you know, you gotta double that at least, right? Yes. Every single year. So, well, I have, over the years been very successful in proving my inability to wrap gifts.
Gotta be hot. So be careful. Okay. Thank you. Which excuses me from that process. [00:11:15] I'm the burn guy or the garbage guy, like Cuban hot tub. So this is it's gonna help with the immunity. This Yes, this team, it'll boost your immunity. It's, it's very good tasting. And a nice cold day like today. I think it should be very refreshing to you.
Oh, that is really good. That is [00:11:30] really good. You're very brave, by the way. 'cause I have to wait for mine to cool down a little bit more before I can, I can drink it. Really. I'm sure the McDonald's, I'm getting older. I'm smell and feel, just kind, kind of goes away. Um, you know, I Did you ever [00:11:45] get into this?
Um, there's this almost a a fanatical religious movement where. You had to get on a waiting list and you had to stand in line and and just wait for that next updated I iPhone. [00:12:00] Have you done that, Jim? Have you waited outside the Apple store for No. No. Why? Well, it seems like a lot of people are really into it.
Yeah. So I've never understood that. Yeah. I don't get it either, but this is my story. So this is the iPhone 16, the new one. [00:12:15] I had a 12. You have the brand new one? Yeah. Well, here's the story. I'm still on 13. Go ahead. So I had the 12. And thing was running fine until I did the last software update, which I'm sure all of you have experienced.
Um, probably about three weeks [00:12:30] ago, and then probably a week after the software update, my face, ID stopped working. Hmm. So I thought, well, maybe it's me. Maybe I've changed, you know, maybe the sunlight's not hitting me the right way. Right. Maybe I got one eye closed. I mean, who knows. Right. So, kind of [00:12:45] ignore it.
I'm just doing the annoying passcode to get in all the time. Yes. Probably after about a week and a half of that, I decided I'm gonna go online and look up the face id, and basically it says, Hey, you know, you might have, um, a bug, you know, in [00:13:00] your software and download the newest version of the software.
So now I'm terrified because, yeah, the previous version caused this, and a friend of mine went and downloaded the newest version, and then he said he had a whole screen issue [00:13:15] and at the end of the day is he had to get a new phone. So he was warning everybody don't do it. So I didn't do it, but I did what everybody else does.
When you go to, um, solve a problem, turn it off. Yes. And then start it up again [00:13:30] and maybe it'll reboot itself and everybody would be happy again. So I turned it off, waited the traditional 30 seconds, which is probably the same rule of the six foot rule we had during Covid, where it came outta thin air.
That's a great analogy. Yes. And [00:13:45] oh. We hit the two buttons again to crank it up and the Apple logo comes on, I think, okay, I'm gonna, I'm getting ready to rock here. Mm-hmm. And then the Apple logo goes off about 15 seconds later it comes back on. Then it goes off. So it's basically fading in and [00:14:00] out. Oh.
Oh. So stuck. So I do what everybody does. Turn it back off, Uhhuh, try it again, repeat myself for about three or four times, and I'm still in each time with a little hope. Still in no man's land. Mm-hmm. This is December [00:14:15] 29th, by the way. So I get on to my, desktop, which is not a Mac, and I plug in my iTunes password and do everything I'm supposed to do.
And basically it's [00:14:30] telling me now, um, I gotta hit top button for. Quick, the bottom button quick, then the right button quick and then that should reset everything. Well, it doesn't, no, you still got the thing just fading in and out. I think that's when they tape you through the camera. Probably. Probably.
And played at their Christmas [00:14:45] party. But yes. So then, um, I decide, well it's time to talk to somebody online 'cause we are dealing with a tech company and maybe they can solve my problems. Wow, you went there. So I went there and um, basically this individual hopefully was a person, it wasn't artificial [00:15:00] intelligence.
Um, seemed like a person or they got really good ai. Mm-hmm. But they decide, um, that I need to do the same thing over and over again that I've just done, assuming that I haven't followed the directions already. Of course. So after we get through the, the, you know, iPhone for dummy [00:15:15] portion of it, um, now we're going to onto bigger and better things and that can't be fixed.
Um, I get my daughter who is a MacBook iPhone self-proclaimed specialist. She can't get it fixed. So the last thing [00:15:30] we could possibly do is set up an appointment with the genius back at the mall that I vowed never to go to again in my life. And I was really good in 24. I don't think I rested up foot in a mall until, well, I didn't actually in 24 because I had to go on January 2nd to the mall to [00:15:45] meet with the Genius at 2 0 5 in the afternoon.
So I get there and the place is a freak is a mob scene. Oh, it's terrible. Unbelievable. Yeah. And um, they tell me to go sit by the big screen, you know, after I check in and so I'm waiting for about 15 minutes. The funny thing is I have [00:16:00] nothing to occupy my time because my phone doesn't work their phone.
So I'm just observing people and I'm observing the employee base at Apple Hires in these stores. Mm-hmm. I was in the store probably five or six years ago, and um, I know these people are trying really hard, but I thought to [00:16:15] myself that the, um, must be difficult trying to find people at this point in time to work in the store.
I'll just leave it at that nonetheless. Um, finally get somebody to help me out. He asked me the same questions that, that I've already tried to do for the last three or four days, brings me over and. [00:16:30] He started analyzing the software and he says, if it's gonna be a hardware problem, we're gonna know. And I said, what's gonna be a hardware problem?
I'll just lay you not know that right now. And sure enough, within maybe a minute, the big old skull and crossbones comes up and says It's a, a hardware problem. So I said, [00:16:45] well, how much to fix? So then he is gotta go through his whole, you know, little database there. Mm-hmm. And, you know, basically tells me it's $599, there's no guarantee, um, et cetera, et cetera.
You know, it'll take a day or two to fix it, so on and so forth. [00:17:00] So I said, the natural question is, well, how much to buy a new phone? And they said, for a whopping $799, you get a brand new, you get a brand new phone. Wow. You know, with AppleCare for a year, et cetera, et cetera. I think we know which direction you went.
Yes. So I decided to [00:17:15] buy the new phone, which then brought me to a different table. I had to wait for a phone salesperson to come over and help me pick the phone. They're all the same price. By the way, the fourteens, the sixteens, at least they were on January 2nd. The good [00:17:30] news is they were able to connect with Verizon, my provider and I could get this stuff, you know, knocked out within a half an hour or so.
And as I'm sitting there downloading my backup, you know, onto my new phone, I'm, I'm kind of looking around wondering if anybody's hacking me at this point in time. [00:17:45] 'cause there was a woman sitting at my table who was playing with her phone the entire time she was not. You know, getting a new phone. Yeah.
And I was just wondering, maybe she's, you know, but who knows so far it hasn't been hacked. So, um, all good. At the end of the day [00:18:00] she says, do you want an Otter case? 'cause I love Otter cases 'cause I always drop the phone. Right. And never broke a screen, by the way. And um, like, I just want the same exact phone size-wise that I had before.
Right. She goes, well the sixteens the same size as a 12. I [00:18:15] said, great. I don't need to spend another 20 bucks on an auto case then. I do have to spend another 20 bucks on a new plug because the cord now is different in 16 than all the other ones, of course, which drove [00:18:30] me crazy, by the way. So I know I could probably go on an Amazon and gotten it for a little bit cheaper, but I wanted to get the charger.
So anyhow, I leave after spending over $800 if you throw in tax and everything else, and, um, go home to put the phone in my otter. [00:18:45] Case and it doesn't fit because the camera actually on the 16 is a little bit bigger. Isn't that So it won't fit. Um, or if you, you can't make it fit, but then it's all awkward on the table and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah. So I have to buy a new [00:19:00] case along with a new screen protector. 'cause I thought I had a screen protector. I at home, but I didn't. So after all of this, and I said to the person, does this happen a lot? And his response is, yes, it does. I'm really sorry, man. [00:19:15] That's all they say. I'm really sorry man. But what do you want to do?
And I felt like Apple, along with all these other big tech companies is literally like dealing with the government. You are in a box and there's nothing you could do about it unless you want to get rid of the phone. [00:19:30] Right. And what would your life be like without it? So, you know, I, yeah, it's a great, great question.
So not having that phone working from the 29th through the second I. It was actually good. I didn't need [00:19:45] to take it anywhere. I need to do anything because I knew it wouldn't work, right? So my pants felt better because it wasn't in my pocket, you know, I didn't have to look at text every five seconds.
Like it was good. And I realized I. Even [00:20:00] though I was very annoyed about my Apple experience, the fact that these phones really only last three years. Right. Which I did the math by the way. So you're basically spending 73 cents a day to use a phone. Mm-hmm. Assuming that's gonna go belly up after three years.
And so it's not that big of a [00:20:15] deal. Right. Um, but I also learned that, um, after having this experience, the phone no longer stays with me. 24 hours a day for you, it stays in a different room at night. Um, and I don't take it with me [00:20:30] a as many places anymore and I'm no longer plugging into the auxiliary cord 'cause it doesn't work right now.
Yes. Because it doesn't fit Uhhuh. So therefore I'm not being podcasted to death every single day as well. I'm actually listening to some music on the radio [00:20:45] and I'm just driving. You're going back to older, simpler times. Yeah. Yeah. I often, I remember. Being able to drive in the car, and that was almost an escape no one could reach you.
Well, this is back in the old days now, [00:21:00] before you know, the pagers and all of that. I mean, you were basically, it felt free and quiet and, and now that is not true at all. In fact, it's become what? You know, I noticed that stoplights, it takes longer for people to move. I don't know if you've noticed this. Oh, yeah.
[00:21:15] And I know exactly what the problem is. They're down there playing on their phone. Right. So, ah, well, I guess, what, what do you, what's your takeaway from this? Are you a little saddened that you have the phone? Have you now decided that I'm going to [00:21:30] I'm gonna change my lifestyle and maybe use it far less than I have?
For instance, maybe you, you'll use your, um, well, let me ask you, did you look it up on your phone, the 2.3 million pounds of Chris? I did. You did? I did, yes. So I've always, I do this little [00:21:45] entrepreneur thing at the local high school here, and I always tell the kids that the phone should be your a tool.
Mm-hmm. Um, but it should not be something that's. Ingrained in your life, per se. And so tool for information, [00:22:00] tool for communication. Um, but it shouldn't be your entertainment tool. You know, it shouldn't be your life tool. Um, and I thankfully never have gone down that road. You're never gonna see me scrolling through Instagram 24 7.
I don't look at [00:22:15] YouTube videos through the, the phone all day long. I don't download movies onto it. I don't do any of that stuff, right. I just use it mostly for communication and information, but nonetheless. Once you get stuck with that phone and it's with you all the time, then you're almost addicted to the communication [00:22:30] part of it.
You know, if I get a text, I gotta answer right away, you know, Hey, let me check to see if somebody texts me. You know, it's that kind of mindset. And so I'm gonna try to change a habit. I'm not gonna do a New Year's resolution. Next topic, yes. Where I'm gonna give up the [00:22:45] phone, but I'm gonna try to change the habit of how I use that phone.
This is just a weird thought. Um, I used to have the old flip phone and that sort of thing, and they got to a point where the carriers would no longer provide [00:23:00] service for those kinds of phones. In other words, you were almost forced into becoming more high tech, which gave you more information, more entertainment, which made you more addicted to the phone.
I don't know if they should put a warning label on the phones or not at this point, but I mean, a lot of studies do show [00:23:15] that this is quite harmful for children Yeah. As well. So. You mentioned New Year's resolutions. Yeah. This one, it looks like you've already made your, your decision on Well, we have what?
Well, [00:23:30] I just. I feel as my wife says, Hey, you can't get upset about things you can't control. But it just drives me crazy that I'm stuck with this iPhone because I like it. Right. And I don't wanna go learn. I tried learning a droid once and it [00:23:45] was a pain in the neck, so I went back to the iPhone. Right. But droid's the same thing.
Yeah, it is. You're just stuck. You can't. You can't break out, you can't negotiate, you can't, there's not a lot of competition. Um, so at the end of the day, they don't, [00:24:00] I mean, they're nice about it, but they just don't care. It's like, okay, here's my phone. Take it or leave it. Right? Yeah. We software upgrade.
'cause it's supposed to help you. I think it's done maybe to help you a little bit, but it's ultimately done to put more and more junk into your [00:24:15] phone. So eventually you gotta. Keep up with the apps. So the apps won't work anymore unless you get a new phone 'cause you have more space and it's faster, et cetera, et cetera.
Well, I agree and a lot of people, uh uh, will stand in line. For that opportunity to, to get the latest grace. I did [00:24:30] notice though, after about an hour and a half of being there, that the three 30 to five o'clock window was the empty window. Oh. So if you ever do need to go to the Genius, you wanna go to the store, especially during the middle of the week.
Um, I would certainly go after three o'clock. [00:24:45] Well, there's some good advice. Yeah. Well worth watching the podcast over. Yeah, seriously. 'cause you too, in a matter of, well, times ticking, who knows. But within three years you'll also be at the Apple store if you have it. Yes. [00:25:00] [00:25:15] [00:25:30] New Year's resolutions. I know that's [00:25:45] something you want to talk about.
I I've kind of fallen away from doing it because I've been terrible at keeping any of 'em. How, how do you do, do you even make 'em? I don't, not anymore. Um, I think they're, they're frustrating in a way. 'cause I, as you know, I exercise a lot and yes, my [00:26:00] gym is really crowded now, and it will be until mid part of February, then it'll get back to normal again.
And it happens every single year. Sure. And I think everybody has really good intentions. Uhhuh, um. I, I don't think New Year's resolutions work for most people, not all. [00:26:15] So don't go attack me on social media, but just for most people, because you're changing significant things that you've been ingrained in doing for the last 50, 60, or 30 [00:26:30] or 20 years of your life, right?
And it's impossible to draw a line in the sand for most people and suddenly just. Change. And that's why you see after a month or six weeks, people fall back into their habits. [00:26:45] You know, whether it's work it out, whether it's, I'm quitting drinking, everybody talks about dry, dry January, but then it's probably a monsoon in March to make up for the dry January.
Right? That's true. So, you know, no matter what it is, it's just difficult [00:27:00] for people to change because. That's what they've been doing their whole life, and their whole life is their norm. But they think their norm is to be better and something different. When in reality what they're actually going through is their norm.
Right. It's like me playing [00:27:15] golf, right? Right. I stick at golf. I'm gonna a 90 to a hundred golfer. Mostly it's 95 to a hundred, probably 80% of the year. Right. But every time I go out in that course, I'm like. Man, I hope [00:27:30] today I'm gonna get back to what I should be doing, which is an eighties golfer. But every time I go out, I do the same exact thing, maybe two rounds a year.
I might break 90. And I might have a low round. I had one this year when I shot 81. That gives you hope. [00:27:45] And while I'm shooting this round, I'm like, I have no idea what I'm doing. Today's just one of those days. Right, right. But you're thinking this is gonna be me from now on. Well, it's not the norm is you being a bad golfer.
Even if you work at it, you're still gonna be a bad golfer. Sure, right. You might get a little bit better around the margins, [00:28:00] but you're still gonna be a bad golfer unless you want to invest significant amount of time in it. So I realized that. For me, I'm just a, that's my norm. Mm-hmm. You know, I still may look in the mirror and think I got a full head of hair.
Well, no, my norm is un bald. Right. [00:28:15] But I think a lot of people think that what they can be is gonna be their, is the norm as opposed to what they are right now. So if you want to then break out of the norm, then you have to change your habits. That's true. And that's what I talked about with this phone.
I'm not [00:28:30] gonna get rid of the phone, I'm not going cold Turkey, but I'm just gonna change the habit of how I use the phone. If I love Diet Coke, right. And I get, I drink, and I know a guy knew a guy that used to drink like 25 Cokes a day. Oh, wow. So, but now he just drinks water. [00:28:45] But he had to change his habit.
So he still drank Diet Coke for a while. He just started reducing it from 25 a day to 23. Eventually he stopped drinking it at lunch. Then he switched to tea in the morning. So he didn't. [00:29:00] Drink Diet Coke, you know, in the morning as his little pick me up. And eventually he'd said, you know what? I don't really, I don't miss it anymore.
It's time to, then he can cut the, cut the line. But he had to change his habits to break his norm. And the key there, of course, is you [00:29:15] want to do that, right? I mean, you have to be motivated to do something right. And a lot of these New Year's resolutions, it's just simply, you know. I think you said good intentions, but it's, it's not as though you really, really desire [00:29:30] to do it.
It, it'd be a good idea, but, and that's why so many people fail and there's a lot of easy options out there now too, you know, to, to get the same result and maybe the long run that's even worse. So, yeah, I, I, I [00:29:45] failed at every one of them, Jim, and I was tired of being a failure. I said, this year.
Resolution is to not be a failure. No New Year's resolutions. So then you're a hundred percent That's, that's so far. I'm, I'm batting hit 'em all. [00:30:00] I got, I got all, yeah, but I mean, you take the person who's 30 pounds overweight, right? Yeah. Right. And it's December 15th and they're like, I'm going to go crazy during the holidays.
'cause January one, I'm, I'm gonna get up at five 30 in the morning when I normally get up at seven. Yes. And I'm gonna [00:30:15] go walk four miles and I barely walk up around the block at this point in time. Right. That person's not gonna make it? No, most of them aren't. Um, but if they just change the habit, they said, okay, why wait till January 1st?
Lemme go walk now. Right, right. I'm not [00:30:30] gonna walk four miles, but I'm gonna take my dog, or I'm gonna just go out by myself, or I'm gonna go out my wife and I'm gonna just gonna walk. Up and down, down the street two times. Yeah. Right at five o'clock at night. Right. Instead of having a cocktail. Right. Still have my cocktail at six, [00:30:45] but I got my walkin.
Right, right. So you're just incrementally, slowly changing. Um, and then if that person's gonna wait January one, they're ready to go. Um, fine. I always say make your resolution about changing some of your habits, [00:31:00] not about drawing a line in the sand and totally trying to change. What you've been doing for the last 30 years.
'cause most likely it's not gonna work. Some great advice. It really is. Um, you have another [00:31:15] topic you'd like to talk about and and I'm all for it. I really am. Um, and I think this year you can't talk about it more, because I think there was some people who would be offended. Which [00:31:30] sadly is I think, um, wrong to be offended by the mention of God.
That's with a capital G now. Right, right. We're talking about Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I, I'm amazed how important God has become in my life, and maybe [00:31:45] that's because of age and, and maybe we embrace things or I do embrace things differently than when I was young. But what, what is the glory of God to you?
Yeah, I think it's, um. You know, as a, and probably 'cause you and I are older, you know, we're naturally, I think most people [00:32:00] will get closer to God as you get closer, closer to God knowing that you don't have a lot of time left, you know? Right. You're in the third or fourth quarter of your life. And, um, but I think for me it's a more of a, you [00:32:15] know, a doer and, hey, if I go to church, you know, if I try to be a good person, if I do acts of kindness, I.
If I donate money, um, that's all gonna help me, [00:32:30] you know, with God. Mm-hmm. Because I'm doing good things. Um, at least in my mind I am. And I think that's where it kind of changed for me, where I'm doing these things. 'cause it makes me feel good. [00:32:45] And I know based on doing, reading the Bible and. Gonna church and hanging out with people that are way more spiritual than I am, that they're gonna, that's gonna help.
But am I really putting God first? You know, [00:33:00] or am I putting myself first? I'm a believer, but am I putting myself first over God? And the question is, what does that mean? Right? I I, I completely hear what you're saying, so maybe you could tell me what that means. 'cause I'll tell you. But what does that mean?[00:33:15]
What does that mean? But I, I'm in the same boat where oftentimes I'm thinking, well. Um, am I really doing this because it is the right thing to do or because somehow in a selfish way, I'm gaining something from it? I don't have the answer for you, Jim. Did [00:33:30] you use your iPhone and Google something? You have the answer, please don't let me hang.
Well, I don't think there's any simple answer to it. I don't think there is. I think it, it's kind of, you know, God gave us these bodies, right? And some [00:33:45] bodies are. They could do anything to it, and they're gonna live to a hundred. Mm-hmm. And other bodies, you're, they're gonna fall apart and they're gonna go at 20.
Um, and it's through no fault of your own just what it is, what it is. Right. Then there's a lot of bodies, you know, [00:34:00] that you, that God's given you that, um, you abuse. Mm-hmm. You know, over time. That's right. Um, not necessarily in a, in a catastrophic way, but you just simply over time, you know, just get into bad habits like we talked about before.
Right. [00:34:15] So for me, I obviously am big into health and I spend a lot of time, you know, exercising and whatever, and I thought to myself, well, am I really putting God first? Because how much time do I spend a week thinking about God [00:34:30] compared to going to the gym, running, you know, sitting in a sauna, doing cold plunges, all these podcast things they tell you to do.
Sure. Right. So then for me, again, it's changing the habit, you know, in [00:34:45] 25, which is, you know, let's, I gotta devote more time, you know, to understanding. Um, but it's really more of a mindset of, you know, putting God first and recognizing anything ultimately, that we're all here [00:35:00] on Loan Rush Limbaugh used to say it on loan, on loan from God.
Right, right. None of this stuff is ours. Like, I can't take this, this. Tea with me when I die. I can't drink it in heaven, hopefully. Um, I can't take anything in this building. [00:35:15] I can't take my money, I can't take my family. I can't take anything. Like you're born in this world with no clothes and you leave this world basically with no clothes.
Um, so everything is on loan. So by the grace of God, I have this beautiful [00:35:30] family. Right. But it's not mine. I'm a caretaker. That's right. Right. And I think if. And I'm struggling with that still. It's not something that like, I'm gonna sit here and give you this great advice today. 'cause I'm not, I'm just hopefully getting you to think about, you know, [00:35:45] things a little bit differently and this is a process for me, but you know, none of this stuff is ours.
And I think if you could start with that concept, then hopefully over time then, you know, some of your mindset changes where it becomes less about [00:36:00] you, um, and all the good things you do. And you know more about. What can I do, you know, for God, what can I do indirectly for my family that God has given me?
You know? And then [00:36:15] there's, I think nature's a big thing too. People kind of, you know, give RFKA hard time every once in a while when he talks about the God being in nature. But I think I may, when I first heard that, like, well, what's weird? A tree's a tree. Well, actually, it's not [00:36:30] like, you know, this whole earth that we have was created by something I.
And you know, I got into a debate with somebody once and they were talking about, he's a chemist teacher, you know, well, chemicals did it. Well, great. How did the chemical start? [00:36:45] There has to be a beginning. That's somewhere at some point in time. So something had to have started this whole thing. And maybe there's 15, you know.
I'm not saying this in a bad way. Maybe our God, [00:37:00] there's a God somewhere else in the universe that's their brothers or something. I don't know, right? But, or maybe he did everything. I don't know, you know? But I do know this. It had to start from something, and if the premise is you, if you believe that, [00:37:15] you know, then, okay, what's the next step then?
And gotta be a good person. You gotta do all these wonderful things, hopefully in your life. You have to have a purpose, et cetera, et cetera. Really, you know, are you putting yourself first doing all these things or are you putting God first? Yeah. And I [00:37:30] think that's where, that's my journey. That's one of my habits that I'm gonna try to continue to, change, you know, in 25 and we'll see how it goes at the end of the year.
Well, I wish you luck with that. I'm on the same journey, and I hope a lot of other people join us [00:37:45] because I think ultimately you're right, the, the word purpose with a beginning means there was intent. That this should happen, which I think gives us purpose. Without that, I, I mean, what would life be like if you felt, well, [00:38:00] there's really no reason to be a good person really to do anything.
Right. Right. So I, I think it's well worth the taking the first step if you haven't already. That was deep thought. Yeah. And you know, it's obviously bad things are gonna happen. [00:38:15] Sure. You know, bad things have happened. And, you know, yes, I know they're coming. Um, hopefully I'm strong enough to get through them.
And I think my wife and I were talking the other day and, um, her brothers had diagnosed with stage four [00:38:30] cancer. Oh my. And he needs a liver transplant, you know, to survive. And, um, so he is on the list which is great. Um, but, you know, we were kind of talking about that. And, um, you know, I said to her, I said, do you [00:38:45] love.
God more than me and more than our kids. Do you know what, Jim? Guess what? I didn't finish first. I, no. Oh, well that's good, right? I didn't finish second. Oh, nope. That's good too [00:39:00] though. And she, and she's a phenomenal person. I love her to death. Yeah. But you know, she thought about it for a little while and she said, I Not sure about the kids, but you know.
So God's two, right? Maybe in her mind. Mm-hmm. Or one and a [00:39:15] half or one. But I, I can't, I don't know if I can answer that question honestly right now. Either. My daughter asked me that question, my 9-year-old, do you love me more than God? And I wanted to say I love God, but Jim, I would go [00:39:30] to hell for her.
Right. Right. So I, I, so that is a tough question. That is a tough question. I, I wish I could say yes. Because I guess that is the appropriate. At the same time, [00:39:45] Jim, let me put it this way to you. If, if one of your kids were being threatened with their life and all you had to do was say there's no God and they'd be fine, would you?
It's a tough question. See, that is a [00:40:00] tough question. Yeah. But that think maybe it's a little easier if you really, truly believe there's a God than you believe. There's a better place. I, I, this was too deep for me, Jim. I'm sorry. I'm gonna go back to your t but, but it was, that we did [00:40:15] agree on Yes. Was that, God forbid something happened to one of our kids, our grandkids.
Yes. Um, we would obviously be devastated, um, but we would survive. Mm-hmm. [00:40:30] And I think we would survive because we have faith. Yes. And so to me that was an interpretation. Of loving God. I think we have human love, which I think is totally different than the love of God. [00:40:45] 'cause God's not human. So I think ultimately, you know, I gotta, I wanna feel more human, I guess you could say, with God, with love.
Yep. Um, but it's, it's that type of an example. I think that there's [00:41:00] two ways you can go. You know, if you have a tragedy, you can. You can hate, you can hate mad hate. You could be angry or you can, you know, accept it, um, and look for the positives and, you know, listen to God and understand what he is trying to tell you.
[00:41:15] And, and did you appreciate everything else you have, the other kids that you have still, whatever it is, your life that you have. Um, hopefully none of us have to ever go through it. Mm-hmm. But to me that. After we talked about it for a while, that [00:41:30] kind of gave me this interpretation of a different definition of love.
Well, as I not, I don't wanna end on, on a morbid note, but it, it, I'm just gonna stress what you already have kind of mentioned is that as [00:41:45] we all go through life eventually we are going to be at that, that moment where we're going to die. And you mentioned you don't take anything with you and you don't.
There's nobody with you, [00:42:00] when you die. I watched my father's house sell just recently. There's no longer any evidence that the man even lived other than memories. So having said that, I think your [00:42:15] topic is, is very appropriate because without that, that would be a very difficult thing, I think even to grieve and go through that, if we didn't believe.
That there is something more and I, and I do so. Yeah. Yeah. So, so yeah, [00:42:30] this wasn't meant to be a no no. And I, I say super deep conversation, but I'm thrilled you know, that I have the opportunity to, to, to love him and, and learn how to love more, right. Because I believe I'm with you. And I just think [00:42:45] people out there could think about that.
'cause I gotta believe that, you know, people that don't believe there, there's gotta be some emptiness there that can't be. Fulfilled unless they, they turn, you know, and, and accept maybe that there's something [00:43:00] else out there that, you know, can help them. That's not Yeah, I agree with you. Jim's not a phy in physical form.
I agree. Um, may I also weigh in on the T? Yeah, please. It's very good. Yes. Very, very good. And I like the, the, the fact that it's, well, it was hot [00:43:15] now it's warm, but it's it's very good tea. And hopefully it'll prevent that. Illness that'll be coming from elementary school sometime in the next month or two.
Kids are germ factories. Well, absolutely happy 25 to everybody and, um, [00:43:30] hopefully we'll see you again soon and, um, enjoy your iPhones. Just be careful on the downloads. Um, and good luck with that wrapping paper next year. I hate the resolutions. New software that comes in. And by the way, use your iPhone.
Go [00:43:45] to 50 cups tea.com. Is that where we go? There it's, yeah. There you go. Get some tea, Jim. Always good to see you. Yeah, you too. Thanks for everything. Thank you. [00:44:00] [00:44:15] [00:44:30]