When I was very young I used to attend a program at my church called AWANA. If you (like me) grew up in a Baptist church you may be familiar with it. Every Wednesday night my friends and I would go to our church to play games and memorize Bible verses. As an 8 year old, one of the things I looked forward to most was Bible memorization, because if you got your verses right, you could get a prize. I will never forget my first time going to the prize bucket. My treasure was my choice: a brightly colored bracelet with four letters on it, or a giant bag of Skittles…

I chose the Skittles. But I remember those four letters really clearly: WWJD?

Whether or not you were a churchgoer in the 90’s, you probably remember this too. On bracelets and t-shirts everywhere were those four letters – WWJD: What would Jesus do? 

Fast forward to the summer of 2015. I was newly married, and I was leading the largest team of my life. I was working in a job that I loved, getting to pour into young leaders. It was everything I had ever wanted. The problem? I was a nervous wreck. 

I was working so hard to balance work, play, and life as a whole, and I just couldn’t keep up. I had my priorities completely out of order. I thought if I could just convince everyone that I was competent, that I was the smartest guy in the room, I could get by. It wasn’t working. But during that season someone introduced me to a new variation of those little colorful bracelets. WWJDIHWM? 

What would Jesus do…if he were me? 

If he had my life, my job, my car, my family…what would Jesus do? How would he live? The question absolutely changed my life. 

This week on The Daily Leader, Brad and Taylor interview Brandon Schaefer, Founder of Five Capitals and the author of Build a Better Life: Practical Tools and Strategies to Develop Your Life and Business the Way Jesus Would. 

Brandon starts his book with that question: what would Jesus do if he were me? Would he go for that promotion? How would he talk to his coworkers? What if Jesus had my job?

You may wonder how Jesus could relate to you in your work. Schaefer goes on to ask the reader to ponder the idea of Jesus the businessman: 

“Consider this: the business Jesus built is over 2,000 years old and has three billion followers in the present day alone. It’s staffed by many employees who volunteer their time and finance the enterprise. People have freely given their lives rather than quit this business. Jesus wasn’t just a great teacher, but also a great businessman and leader. It’s safe to say that he can teach us how to build a life worth living for.”

A builder by trade, Jesus of Nazareth built a story that changed the world, and is still changing the world today. Build a Better Life is a practical guide to building that kind of story. The kind of story that prioritizes the right investments in order to live with wisdom. A life that not only hears from God, but does what He says. 

In the book and in this week’s podcast, Brandon walks through The Five Capitals model, a framework for life that empowers leaders to invest the five kinds of capital that we have (Spiritual, Relational, Physical, Intellectual, and Financial) and how to prioritize them. 

Maybe you’re like I was in that summer of 2015. Maybe your capitals are all out of order, and it’s causing you stress in your life and work. Or maybe you feel stuck in your leadership, and think there has to be more to it than this. If that’s you, listen to this week’s episode above and learn from Brad, Taylor, and Brandon as they talk about The Five Capitals, leading with purpose, how to address key struggles in modern leadership, and tons more. 

If you’re a leader who wants to “Build a Better Life” pick up a copy here and be sure to check out The Daily Leader on YouTube. For more information about Pattern Talent, visit patterntalent.co or contact Brad here or email brad@patterntalent.co.