Essential Habits Of A Healthy Worship Leader

Alex Enfiedjian 00:10 Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the worship ministry training podcast. My name is Alex Enfiedjian, your host, if you’re new to the podcast, We exist to give you worship leaders, practical training and tools that you need to succeed Excel and feel confident in this calling that God has placed in your hands. He wants you to do a good job. And some of us don’t know how we haven’t been trained. And so this podcast has for six years been training worship leaders in the practical tools that you need to succeed. So if you’re new, hit subscribe. So you can get free content delivered to you monthly also look through all the old episodes because I try to stick to one topic per episode. And I try to be as in depth and practical as possible so that you can actually implement the things that you learn immediately into your ministry. So with all that said, welcome, and I’m excited about today’s episode, because it’s actually a role reversal. I’m usually the one interviewing people. But on this episode, I am being interviewed by Casey classic from the local worship project. And that’s a new podcast new YouTube channel that you should check out and see what he’s doing to equip worship leaders. But you might be helped by that. But he’s interviewing me about how to be a healthy worship leader, how can we be healthy, and I’m by no means an expert in this. But I will say that your health will directly impact the health of your ministry. If you’re healthy, your team has a chance of being healthy. If you’re unhealthy, your team has no chance at all to be healthy, because your ministry is a mirror of who you are, it’s going to reflect you your strengths and your weaknesses, for better or for worse. And so we should strive to be holistically healthy in every area of our life. And so in this episode, I share about how I tried to take care of my body, soul, mind and spirit, and talk about a lot of the practical ways of doing that and how you can do that as well in your life. You’ll also hear in this episode about the mentorship that I’m offering the 10 week worship leader mentorship, or I’m taking a small group of worship leaders through 10 weeks of high intensity training and development so that they can just really rock their ministry. And so if you are feeling stuck or in need of assistance, or help, I would encourage you to apply for the next mentorship. We’re probably going to be doing it in February 2021 you’re listening right now we’re already right in the middle of it, but you can jump into the next mentorship. next February. And so go ahead and apply. You can go to worship ministry training, comm slash mentor, that’s worship ministry training, comm slash m e n t o r. Okay, with that said, let’s talk about being healthy. And let’s hear Casey’s interview with me.

Casey Klocek 02:42 All right, Alex, thank you so much for jumping on the podcast with us today. I want you to just go ahead and tell us a little bit about who you are. where you came from. What do you do now? Just you got the floor. Man, you take it.

Alex Enfiedjian 02:56 Thanks, Casey. Yeah, man, and I’m excited for you to be starting this podcast and this video channel that you’re starting. I think you’re gonna bless a lot of people I know, you’re gonna bless a lot of people. And I just think we need more godly voices in this space serving people. So I’m excited for all that God has for you. And I know it’s gonna be awesome. So thanks for having me. And who am I? What am I doing? My name is Alex Enfiedjian. I’m 34 years old. I live in Los Angeles, California. I serve as the worship pastor of a large church called Calvary Chapel, South Bay, and just maybe 15 minutes south of Los Angeles airport, if anybody knows where that is. And what do I do I lead worship most weeks, and I lead lots of teams of volunteers. Throughout our church, we have multiple venues and multiple services and different venues for different purposes. So I kind of just I oversee that giant herd of cats called volunteers and try to point them in the right direction, try to make sure people are spiritually healthy and musically excellent and serve the Lord with an upright heart and skillful hands. And so that’s, that’s my role. But lately with the COVID stuff, I’ve been doing a ton of like creative communication for web and social and all of our, you know, email platforms and all that. So my role has shifted a lot. So I would I don’t even know who I am anymore. But and besides like local church ministry, like Casey said, I have a I have a podcast called worship ministry training podcast and a website with a bunch of free resources for worship leaders. And so I just love getting to serve people help people encourage people and you know, who am I am nobody but the Lord likes to use nobody. So

Casey Klocek 04:38 there you go. That’s awesome, man. As we really talk, in the local worship project, what our whole projects about is equipping, training and uniting local worship leaders with each other. And part of that training really comes out with just again, how do you live healthy, you know, and you do this really practical thing with how do you play the bass Sir, how do you do a rehearsal nights and there’s so many gems of episodes that you have. But for you, when you’re thinking about practically, how do you live a healthy life as a worship leader, you’ve moved a lot, you’ve got a family, you’re doing a lot of you’re juggling a lot of balls before COVID. And now during COVID, it’s even crazier with this communication stuff. So what is practically healthy habit look like, for a worship leader today?

Alex Enfiedjian 05:28 Yeah, well, I will start by saying that I don’t have it all figured out. And that it’s very hard. I don’t know how you feel, Casey. But I feel it’s very hard to live a completely balanced life. I don’t think there is such a thing. I’ve heard somebody say this once. And I really like the word picture. But balance is just what you swing through as you swing from one extreme to the next. And like you just pass through balance for a little window of time. And then you you know, oh, yeah. So like, kind of like those little pendulum things on your desk. So right. Yeah, exactly. But we’re always trying to be balanced. And it’s, it is hard. I mean, think about it. It’s hard to be physically fit and healthy and to eat healthy. And to exercise regularly. It’s hard to maintain a regular disciplined focus time with the Lord that stays authentic and refreshing it, it’s hard to, you know, make sure you’re connecting with your spouse or your children. It’s hard to lead your ministry, like nothing is easy. God didn’t design life to be easy. anything worth doing is usually hard. And so I just want to start by confessing that and affirming any worship leaders who are feeling discouraged, because like they feel out of balance, it’s hard. But the the key is that it’s worth it. And we need to fight for healthy habits, healthy rhythms. Casey, I don’t know, if you want me to share what healthy habits I have. Or if you want me to share some of the things that the worship leaders should be focusing on to be healthy. What What would you like me to lean into here,

Casey Klocek 06:58 I think what would be great is first kind of looking into the focus of it. And I’d love to get around to how you model that in your own life. And when are some of the times that you’ve seen it just this, this is how I found balance as I’ve swung the pendulum kind of there. But for right now, I think it’d be good to start out with just understanding the concepts, you know, as I’m sure so what are some healthy mentality to have?

Alex Enfiedjian 07:21 Yeah, so I think a lot of worship leaders focus on the things that excite them. So maybe it’s music, maybe it’s creativity, maybe it’s standing on stage, and singing your favorite song, or developing amazing lighting, you know, for your church or whatever, like everybody has their little favorite pet project. But I think a healthy worship leader has just some central simple focuses that they are always thinking about. So I would say healthy worship leader is always focusing on the Lord. And I know that sounds stupid, but like I said, so many worship leaders. And I see this a lot in the younger worship leaders, like their focus is the music, all they care about are the latest songs, or, you know, the coolest new bands, or the coolest fashion or whatever. And I’m sorry, we’re not fashionistas, we’re not rock stars. We’re not even artists were church leaders, right. And so like a healthy worship leader, His focus is on the Lord, and on spending time in the Lord’s word, and on growing in the things of God and fighting for a godly life. So that’s one area that I think a healthy worship leader should be focusing on, obviously, is just regular, committed time set aside to be in the Lord’s presence. The other one, if they have a family would be that they’re focusing on their family, because I think a lot of us get it out of order where I do, where I put the church first, and then my family. Second, you know, sometimes I put the church before the Lord, and then my family is third. But you know, God says we’re supposed to care for a shepherd serve our families. First. They are our first ministry. And a lot of times I think I have an episode. I don’t know when this is gonna go live. But I have an episode with Paul blush coming out July 1, where we talk about how so many worship leaders lose their ministries because they first lost their family, you know, so it’s like, you can’t get the order. We’re backwards. It’s got to be Lord first, family second, and then your ministry third. So for me, I think what that means is, and again, I struggle with this because I’m I like to work I’m a workaholic, but my family shouldn’t be getting my leftovers. I shouldn’t come home drained. To my family, I should be serving my family with as much vigor as I’m serving somebody after church service who needs prayer. Like when I when that person steps up with a need, I’m right there to meet them. Well, why don’t I do the same thing when my wife has a need, you know, and so I think family is really has to be focused if you have a family. And then the last area of focus, I think of a healthy worship leader is their team, that they’re focused on their team, meaning they’re caring for their team members, they’re connecting with their team members texting, calling, checking in, hey, you want to grab coffee? Hey, how you doing? Hey, how can I be praying for you, you’re encouraging your team. So you’re trying to cause each member to grow in the Lord and in their craft and in their calling. And then also you’re exhorting them. So you’re having like, you know, what I would call difficult conversations with them, or, hey, like, you know, this isn’t Okay, what I’m seeing in your life, you know, and so the Lord, the family of the worship leader, and then the team of the worship leader, I think those healthy worship leaders are focused on those areas first, and then music and lighting and stage design, that all comes after those three things. Add so good, you know, I’m

Casey Klocek 10:53 writing it down, right, because like, that’s just good for me to remember and, and to keep in, in my mentality, just as I go, you’re ministering to the Lord, when you’re spending time with him. And that’s something that that I, you know, for the first five years of leading in ministry just did not get that concept that as a royal priest in the priesthood, I didn’t understand that one of the one of the key duties of a priest is to minister to the Lord. And that was huge for me. So when we worship, we’re ministering to God. And when we do that, privately, we’re ministering to God. So that that is my ministry, my family and man, that’s it. That’s my first ministry, other than God is like, I’ve got a wife, I’ve got several kids, and that are very little. And it’s really hard to balance work here, because I’m kind of like you. I’m like, a workaholic, too, you know, if you let me be like, I won’t go nuts with working, but with my family, trying to keep them centered. It’s so hard, you know, trying to work out of that relationship. When you do it. Well, everything around you seems to make sense. When you don’t do it, well, nothing makes sense. You’re feeling pulled constantly. And yeah, having that mentality is fantastic. Because then that’s what helps you treat your team members so well, because you know how to do it in in your more important relationships first, right? You’re kind of working out inside the Lord, my, my spouse, my kids, and then out from there is going to be the other people that I’ve been learning how to have a relationship the right way. So that when I’m giving them my relationship, giving them my attention to my time and ministering to them, it’s the right way, and the appropriate way. Because if you put those things out of order, all sorts of weird stuff can start happening with inappropriate behavior and all sorts of weird stuff. But worked out from that inside out. It’s pretty cool. And you’ve got to get off about that, too.

Alex Enfiedjian 12:48 Yeah. And I think what you’re saying, Casey, and correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s, it’s an overflow. So if you’re if you’re going and spending time with the Lord and filling up with his infinite love for you, then you’re I don’t know, I’m not a nice person, when I don’t spend time with the Lord. I’m grumpy. I’m short. I’m, you know, snappy, I’m critical of others. But when I’m when I spend that time with the Lord and man, I just I see my wife in the morning, I give her the biggest hug and kiss, I love her so much. And then my kids get my best. And then my team gets my best, you know? So I think we have to start there. And I’m just too unkind of a person without the Lord. And so I need, I need him to, you know, fill me every day. So it’s got to start there.

Casey Klocek 13:31 That’s exactly right. That’s the most practical way that I can look at why you do your daily devotional time with God, why you live with him in your mindset first. And when I don’t do it, I’m like you. I’m grumpy. I’m kind of isolated by myself. And I’m just get away from me, you know, you’re talking to me, I’m kind of crabby and not aware of it. And so it just it is that overflow. But I mean, we’re talking about that stuff. Is there anything else like when it comes to, you know, this prioritizing the Lord, your family and your team that you want to go over before we walk into some practical habits and steps?

Alex Enfiedjian 14:04 No, I think I mean, I could say that it’s easy to understand why we tend to put the people at church above our own family. And that’s just because, like our family has needs, they see us at our worst, they don’t cheer for us, like you know, the people do after service or whatever. So it’s just, you know, checking the motive and being aware of flattery and being aware of just like, Who am I really serving? Am I serving myself by getting these Pat’s on the back and like aiming for more Pat’s on the back? Or am I serving people out of just a pure heart and if if that’s the case, then serving my family will be easy when my kids need their diapers changed, and my wife needs me to do you know, 18 things around the house like I won’t complain about it on my day off because I just want to serve her and serve people you know. So that’s the last thing I would say about that.

Casey Klocek 14:59 That’s Great, I feel like on all that stuff, let’s get into this this habitual stuff. So let me start by asking what what was the best time of life for you the best season where you felt like you were just in the zone with all of these healthy habits? And then what did that look like? You know, for worship later, they’re starting on sometimes they start on Sunday. But for me, you start on Monday. What does that look like walking through the week with some healthy habits in mind? Sure,

Alex Enfiedjian 15:27 well, I can tell you the best time when I felt like everything was firing on all cylinders was recently pre COVID. Like, the few months leading up to COVID, like everything was dialed in. And I was like, I had great boundaries, and every everything was in its place. And I was consistent in all the areas of health that you need to be as a human being and, and then COVID hit and like it all, you know, melted away into nothing. And now I’m just a heaping pile of mess. You know? No, it’s not that bad. But, but it is more of a struggle. So let me tell you a little bit about what it looks like or maybe what the habits are. For me. Again, this is just my experience, everyone might have a different experience. But I think if you’re going to be healthy, I think needs to be holistically healthy. I think Jesus came to bring perfect Shalom, you know, like wholeness. And that’s, that’s spiritual wholeness, but it’s physical wholeness, it’s, you know, it’s everything. It’s our whole mind, body soul strength, put together who we are as humans, he wants us to, to live in abundant life, right. And so that means I need to have healthy habits in every area of my life. And so I think there are some just like, duh, like key ones, which is like daily scripture, reading and prayer. And we can we can go into details about all these if you want, but daily scripture reading and prayer, physical exercise, at least, at least four to five times a week, right? Like you got to get sweaty, got to get your heart rate up, take care of your body, because your brain is part of your body. And you know, you’re just one whole integrated human. So that and then weekly Sabbath, this is probably the biggest struggle for me. But when I was in a good rhythm, it was very life giving good boundaries with technology. And then mental fuel. I think a good habit for a leader is mental fuel. So I can break each one of those down if you want. Because there’s a lot in there.

Casey Klocek 17:23 Yeah. So let’s start with physical health. Some people just totally underestimate this, including myself, you know, and actually have this this run in, I was starting to do this, because COVID is happening, like I’m not even healthy physically. So I started working out. And then I got something called rhabdo meiosis or something like that. And I was in the hospital for like two and a half weeks, like, but I was just done, like, and I couldn’t get any strength back from this. And basically, like, there’s something that’s in your blood called CPK that rises when you work out, you know, and it’s just gave me that toxins in your muscles as they’re breaking down. They’re normally supposed to be around 100 for a normal Caucasian male like myself, they raised about 500 when you do a heavy workout, mine was at about 80,000 when I hit the hospital, when I was like, swollen and couldn’t move like it was painful. And, and yeah, they just had me an IV for like a week just in a bed. But that’s what happened when I tried to get physically healthy, right. So like, when do I do that again? How do I do it in a healthy way? So for me, I mean, it’s the same question, how do I do that? Four or five times a week? I get that? How do you do that in a healthy way to get

Alex Enfiedjian 18:37 Yeah, well, I’m glad you’re well, and you recovered, you know, praise God. But I mean, Casey, can I ask you, were you any good to anybody when you are physically sick? Absolutely not. That’s absolutely not. And I think that’s the point, right is like, we have to take care of ourselves, if we’re going to take care of others. Like we have to be full and full of energy and full of life and full of the things that the Lord wants us to be full of in order to give to others. And like, if we don’t take care of ourselves, then we’re useless to everybody else. And so physically, for me, I think my biggest struggle is eating I don’t eat very healthy, I eat healthy, but I eat too much. Okay, I just eat too much because I love putting food in my mouth. It’s just the most joyous occasion. It’s probably because I’m Armenian, and it’s like Armenians love food. But so for me, that’s that’s the hard struggle. But like exercise I do very regularly, five days a week. I just have a rule. It’s pretty easy, Casey, it doesn’t matter what my exercise is. But it has to be at least 30 minutes and I have to be sweaty when I’m done. If I’m not sweaty when I’m done, it doesn’t count. So there’s like some apps like the seven minute workout app, it’s just called seven. I love that. If you do three of those, you’re like done for the day. You know, go for a 30 minute run. You’re pretty sweaty at the end of that go for like a high intensity bike ride at 30 minutes of that like You know, so Jump Rope for 30 minutes, whatever it is, but like, between 30 minutes and an hour of exercise five days a week, like, your heart’s gonna be healthy, you’re gonna sleep better at night. And sleep is important too. I, I don’t get enough sleep probably. But you know, they like literally your body is recharging. So just physical exercise, eating right and sleep. There’s nothing hard about this habit. Now, if you want to talk about rest and Sabbath, though, because that’s kind of the opposite of working hard. We can talk about that, because that’s something that I did a little bit of a study on that recently, because I, like you work too hard work too much. And I was never turning off. You know, my wife and I have a photography business, I run a really large, busy ministry, I have the podcast, we launched an Amazon business that kind of failed. We have two kids, we have a house that always needs work, you know, so it was like, man, we are so busy. And you know, I don’t want to wear that as a badge of honor, because that’s like the wrong thing to be prideful about. But pretty much I never really took a day off. And so he L and we were homeschooling our kids, too. So I was helping with that. So I was just like insanity. So what we did is we learned about Sabbath, which I’ll just give it like a little kind of summary of what I learned. Sabbath is about the light, okay, it’s about the lighting. And it’s about taking a break from the normal routines and rhythms of life, and putting a pause on all the never ceasing responsibilities that are never going to go away, you’re never going to get to the end of your to do list, it’s always going to keep perpetuating. So you just choose to take a break in the middle of it of it all and say, today, I trust the Lord. Today, I’m gonna have fun. Today, I’m going to eat bad food. You know, if I eat good food all week, I’m gonna eat bad food today. Today, I’m going to watch a movie with my family, my kids. Today I’m going to read a book and anything that brings you enjoyment and fulfillment and like replenishment, you do that on Sabbath. So we started a thing called free Friday, because for us Friday worked best. And so we just call it free Friday, the kids don’t have to clean up the house, you know, we don’t do our dishes, we don’t take the trash out. We don’t really cook, we make easy kind of food, you know, and we just, we do that. And we don’t expose to not answer emails. But again, with the whole COVID thing, it just blew that up. I just I lost that habit. But when I was doing that, I felt so good. And so refreshed going into each week. And somebody said, Sabbath is not to rest from work, it’s to rest for work, like it gives you the fuel you need for your upcoming week, you know, and I think that’s a really helpful way to think about it. Because I I don’t know about you, but I feel lazy when I’m not doing something productive. But my wife has to always remind me that it’s actually productive to rest. Being rested is productive, when you’re resting your brain is in a different state, it’s coming up with solutions to problems you probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. And you’re able to just like, replenish so that when you do hit the ground running, you’re more effective, more efficient than just being drained and empty. So those are my that’s the exercise and then the rest part of that.

Casey Klocek 23:23 And that’s that’s beautiful. I’ve been I’ve been learning a lot about Sabbath this last year too. And that’s what I’ve been coming to the same conclusion for it’s this this delighting in God, and him delighting in us. So it’s basically like, for me the way I think about it is, whatever I enjoy doing it or enjoy doing, I’m gonna do it with God today. And so we’re just gonna like with my dad, we would play baseball, you know. So like, it’s like playing baseball with my dad. We’re both enjoying our time together, because we’re doing something we enjoy. And, and he’s delighted in the fact that I’m enjoying time, this blessing that he’s given me life. He’s given me the desire to do things and the talents of doing things. And when I’m doing those with him, it’s just really cool. And it’s pleasing to Him. And it’s delightful for both of us. And this idea of Sabbath providing life. That was another cool thing too. Because I mean, if you look in Genesis, you see God blessing things, right. And he blesses the animals to procreate. He blesses the humans to procreate. He blesses the trees to procreate. And then he blesses Sabbath and nothing else. And so do you think there’s maybe some kind of theme that goes on there of procreation, right, when it comes to what is Sabbath give you does it create life? I think so. I think Sabbath creates the life in the rest of your week. And what I’ve heard is that starts where you’re, you’re kind of focused on trying to create Sabbath, and so you’re working to make Sabbath happen and then it starts When the flip switches, you start working out a Sabbath. And it’s like every bit of life comes out of there. But you got to stop all these habits that keep you away from resting first. And I don’t think I’m quite there yet.

Alex Enfiedjian 25:12 Hmm. Yeah, I mean, what is recreation come from? It comes from re creation. So yeah, it’s like, when you recreate you are recreating you are re energizing, reinvigorating, and preparing yourself for whatever God has next for you. So, those are the first two. Do you want me to talk about the last two that I mentioned? Oh, yeah, yeah, keep you thinking man. Yeah. Okay. So I think for me good boundaries with technology has been so important. I think the smartphone is probably the worst invention of the last, you know, since the history of the face of the earth, you know. That’s obviously like a bit of sarcasm. But I don’t think I don’t think it has made us smarter. It has not made us deeper. It has not made us better human beings. I think it is fragmented, all of our tiny bit of focus that we ever had in the first place. And now none of us can really get any deep thinking done. I honestly think Casey that like people like Tolkien, and CS, Lewis and dust, I have ski and these incredible deep thinkers, I think they’re extinct. I think that generation of thinkers will never come back again, because of technology. I think we have shorter attention span than goldfish. Okay. That’s like a scientifically proven fact, that’s, that is scary. I know the feeling of wanting to constantly check my smartphone when I walk down the hallway, because my brain is afraid of being bored. It’s uncomfortable, right. And so I’ve had to put some boundaries in place in my life, I was addicted to my smartphone. And I had to figure out how to get away from that. And so for a while, I just rocked like a Blackberry, I switched from an iPhone to a Blackberry. But then I there were a couple apps like Planning Center that I actually needed on my phone. So I actually recently don’t hate me, I switched to an Android phone. Because Android phones you can customize and I downloaded like a minimalistic launcher, which only has like six apps, and it’s just black and white. And it’s like, the own the seven apps that I need on my phone. And like it’s just words, it’s not even an icon, it’s like super interesting to look at. And then I just keep my phone on Do Not Disturb. And I use it as a tool. And it makes it hard for people to get a hold of me That’s true, but uh, well. And then the other thing I learned is like keeping email off your phone is like a godsend. So email, the tiger lives in its cage, it’s on the computer only. So the tiger can’t come ripping out of the cage and rip your head off whenever it wants to know, you go and you open the cage and you deal with your email. So that has been another huge benefit, or a huge help to me, is having some of those boundaries of the technology. And I also take it I’m a little bit extreme. And that’s just because I have such bad self control. But like my wife, there’s an app that she put on her phone that she like, she can lock my phone whenever she wants. And actually, every night at 9pm, my phone goes to sleep and I can’t open it, I can’t unlock it. And it won’t open until 732 in the morning, I don’t know why 732 I just picked that number. But at 732 it unlocked. So that means that like that morning time, if I wake up on time, is really dedicated to the Lord without me have been even able to check my email or texts that have come in over the night. And so that’s been really, really healthy for me. Maybe people don’t need to be as extreme as I am. But I have bad self control. So I have to

Casey Klocek 28:36 do what I have to do. Man, there is so much there. I mean with technology. And so like for me, I just gotta admit, I am still a slave to my device. I’m in the nice little apo ecosystem to that makes it super convenient to, you know, as a worship leader, right? you justify these things. And so what I’m saying to myself is, this makes my workflow just like this, right? I’m able to move I’m able to go between, you know, I can send people this on my phone, and then on the computer, I could do the same thing. It’s all communicating together. It’s beautiful. And, man, what a scary, scary lie. That is. Because there’s so much truth to it. It’s so much more convenient to work with your teams. And yeah, and so I I’m paralyzed by that. I guess that that fear of dumping? And I think it’s also was looking into recently, what would it cost to switch over to like a flip phone or something a dumb phone. It’s not the same. And so

Alex Enfiedjian 29:36 it doesn’t really work. And I’ll tell you why. Because there is a level of apps because I’ve done I’ve done the dumb phone thing. The blackberry was like a sort of hybrid version because you could still send like pictures and you could navigate and stuff like that. But the dumb phone thing. It’s not realistic. I mean, some people make it work, but like if you’re over a group of people, it’s very hard to make that work. So, I think, and I don’t think it necessarily has to be that you switch to Android, or I’m not saying anybody needs to do anything, I’m just saying, is the smartphone and the constant connection actually making you more effective? Is it actually making you more productive? I doubt it. I bet you You’re so fragmented that it takes you 10 times longer to do one task than if not you, not you, Casey personally, but just in general people, you know, I bet you it takes you longer, I bet you you do. So what I’m trying to learn how to do, as I’m juggling more and more in my life is I want to do the task at the right time in the right way to get the right results. So I want it to be effective, efficient. And you know, I want to be fast, I want to do it fast. And I want to do it well, and just constantly bouncing between tasks is an impossible way to do anything fast or well. And so yeah, I just I don’t know, that’s just been something for me that one thing that has helped me so much, Casey is this beautiful planner that I actually left at home today. It’s called the full focus planner by Michael Hyatt. And it’s a paper planner, it’s a physical book they send you for per year, it goes in quarters, and the fact that you sit down. So I still use digital, I have a digital Task Manager, I have a digital calendar. But then every Sunday night, I sit down and I map out my entire week on paper. And then each day, I go take from that master list and map out each day. And I come up with my big priorities for each day. And working off of that, instead of like working off of my phone and then getting a text message and then getting distracted by that text message and this and that, like, oh, and I’m not on social either. Like, you know, you’ve been trying to communicate to me through Facebook, like my wife, she manages my Facebook for me like I don’t have Instagram. Well, I do but I don’t use it on my phone. I have somebody else who posts for me. So I’ve just I you know why Casey? It’s not, it’s not because I’m better than people. It’s not because it’s just because I want my life to count for something. And I don’t think when I get to heaven, God’s gonna say, Hey, good job wasting eight hours a day on Instagram. Like, he’s, he’s never gonna say that to anybody. He’s gonna say, what did you do with the one precious life that I gave you? And if I say, oh, Lord, I spent most of it doing things you want. But I also wasted six hours a day on social media. Like, I don’t think he’s gonna be pleased. I’m not saying God is an angry God that like, you know, hates us. But I’m just saying like, he wants us to use this one precious life. This one precious life. Casey, my neighbor died last night. My dentist died last night. And somebody that we know, decently well, their father died last night, three people died, like life on earth is short. And I don’t want to squander it. And so that’s why for me, I want to be the most effective version of myself possible. Because I want to do something for the Lord, I want to use this life that he’s given me. So that’s why I’m kind of weird about like, making sure I don’t use technology poorly. Yeah, I

Casey Klocek 33:08 think. So technology. And I’ve heard you talk about this before. And we actually do this in our church, we make sure that when we play, right, so like when we actually lead the congregation, we use things like tracks and click and things like that. But the rule is, we can’t be a slave to the technology. So whatever we have that can enhance what we’re doing. It needs to be our tool to use and not the other way around. And so we’re not going to become a slave to it and learn how to play with it to the point to where we forget how to play by ourselves. Most of the time, we don’t use anything, right? But it’s, it’s because it can enhance or it can take away from our experience and actually participating what’s going on. I think that’s kind of the same same mentality here. Like, when you’ve got so much automation going on in your life, you forget where you’re at in the mix. And that technology can be helpful. It can really be an asset to you and your workflow and for your teams and all that stuff communication, or, like you’re saying scatters you so much, that you’re just taking forever to get anything done and that I see the symptoms of everywhere in my life. And it’s definitely because there’s too many tools to use, you know, there’s too many ways to accomplish it. Instead of simplifying your life and being focused,

Alex Enfiedjian 34:25 right, and I think I was feeling extremely overwhelmed. I had my digital to do list like super dialed in, like reoccurring tasks on each day doing the right things. But then I was kind of like a slave to my task list like it was telling me what to do. Whereas when I sit down in the morning with that paper journal, I’m being the one who’s in control, I’m being proactive about my day and my time and it helps me like write down the thing and in the act of writing something down. It’s proven like scientifically it you connect with it more and it better lodges into your brain. You have more of a sense of purpose and direction for your day. And so I highly recommend everybody get the Michael Hyatt planner, I’m not paid to say that. Well, I’m not either, so I’ll clarify that. And the last, the last habit that I mentioned earlier was mental fuel. So filling up our minds with good fruit bearing information. So like books, podcasts, you know, listening to things that are edifying, that are encouraging that are going to help you grow. And and then a part of mental fuel is downtime for reflection. So like that time in the mornings, that you’re like processing and praying, you know, if we don’t have mental margin to think, how are we supposed to lead? Because leaders have to be thought leaders, right, and leaders have to be learners. And so the last habit that I think is, like vital to being a healthy worship leader is like, oh, and we didn’t even talk about daily scripture reading, did we? Maybe we did, but anyway, kind of glossed over it. Okay, books and podcasts and learning leaders are learners. And so you have to be learning, you have to be growing, you have to be putting fuel into your mind, not just like, trivial junk, you know, sorry, I’m so passionate.

Casey Klocek 36:17 So, I mean, when it comes to, I guess that’s a good question. I mean, what is something that’s been teaching you a lot lately other than this journal, and all that, that habit and stuff? Is there something that’s maybe on like a reading list or something that, you know, you’re pumped about getting into right now.

Alex Enfiedjian 36:34 I have a whole list of books about being a better manager that I want to buy and read. Because I I’ve taken over the creative department at our church, or it was given to me I didn’t take it over wasn’t hostile takeover. But I’m leading, you know, a whole bunch of staff, and all of their departments. And I want to be the best and most kind, caring, loving and effective manager possible. So I have a whole bunch of books that I want to read one book that I was telling you about earlier, before we hit record that I love as a communicator, as a digital, you know, marketing type person, like the book story brand by Donald Miller is something that I’ve learned a ton about, and how story is just such a great framework for communicating. And so that has no spiritual bearing whatsoever. So forgive me for the shallow answer. But you asked what what I had been learning recently. And that’s, that’s what I’ve been learning.

Casey Klocek 37:34 I think that’s important to you, though, it’s to understand that self development, like I think I grew up in a way where if it wasn’t written by a pastor or somebody like that, it was almost taboo to read it and to develop yourself because it’s like, I mean, I think one of the biggest things that ever taught me anything in life was start with why by Simon Sinek you know, like, that was huge for me. Because it gave me purpose for the ministry. It gave me purpose for what I do in my family and how I live my day. Right? And it was, if I look at anything good is from God. Right? When people have these genius ideas that are that simple, you can track where that is, in the Bible, actually, you could see people discovering truth and wisdom about life. That’s, that’s hochma, right. And Proverbs, that’s what wisdom is, it’s knitted into the fabric of life that God created. And so people are going to discover that they’re going to stumble on it. And sometimes it’s not a Christian who discovers it. So I think reading resources like that can sometimes just, it not only gives you that, that excitement about some new facet of understanding of what God has done, but it also helps you understand how, how people in the world really think about things too, so that you can communicate better with them as well and and help point them to Oh, you know, where that came from? Right here.

Alex Enfiedjian 38:53 Right? It’s right, like, Well, yeah, and another book that was like that for me. For you. It was Simon Sinek book for me, it was essential ism, essential ism, by Greg McKeown basically says, like, you have one life to live like, what is the core center of your life? And and are you going to focus on doing that, and it was able to really take me from being all scattered, and I was doing a lot of songwriting. And I was going to Nashville and like starting to write with different people, blah, blah, blah, who cares? I’m not that good of a writer, like, should I invest my life into that? No, I should invest my life into the thing that I’m good at. And that’s where I really focused in on worship, ministry, training and all that stuff. So that’s awesome.

Casey Klocek 39:33 I appreciate that man. And we’re getting kind of close here on time. So I want to go ahead and start giving you this last little little time to talk. Thank you so much for clarifying on all those things that is huge and hugely valuable, I think, for us to think through all of those facets on what health really is for a leader and even for somebody who’s just part of a team. This is helpful for us too. So this would be a good thing to share with teams, I think as well. But the last question that I had for you is at the local worship project. Again, what we’re about is is trying to equip, train and unite local worship leaders with each other. So you mentioned a little while ago that you’re kind of getting into this, this training for leadership and, and mentorship kind of deal that you’re you’re going to be presenting? What is it that you’re doing right now that you can offer other worship leaders? Just some help and training and equipping them?

Alex Enfiedjian 40:27 Yeah, thanks for asking. You know, for six years, I’ve been training worship leaders through the podcast. And honestly, it’s a selfish experiment to learn from the best people out there. So I get to talk to them and ask them whatever I want, which is like such a, you know, genius move. I don’t know who thought of that. But super, super love being able to learn myself, but also to offer that content to people. And I’ve been doing it for six years for free, every month that there’s like, tons of free resources on my website, worship ministry, training calm. And you know, the podcast, obviously, if you want to search in your podcast app. And that’s, that’s my heart is to give worship leaders, the practical training tools that they need to succeed, and in their calling, right. But now, I am actually beginning to offer something that’s it’s a paid investment into yourself. So you’re going to pay some money to invest into yourself in a more intentional way instead of just passively consuming content. So I’m offering a 10 week mentorship for worship leaders. And by the time this airs, I don’t know when it’s going live, Casey, but I’m guessing that the mentorship will already be started, registration will be closed, because it’s actually starting this coming Monday, you know, June 29, to 2020. So, but what it is, is it’s basically I’m taking 10 to 20 worship leaders from around the world through a 10 week program, that’s going to teach you pretty much all the leadership and organizational principles you need. In order to be a successful worship leader worship pastor, it’s kind of taking a hesitant, you know, thrown in their worship leader and teaching them everything they need to know to be a confident worship pastor. So that’s kind of the the framework, and we’re starting June 29. But if people are interested, and they want to apply, they can apply for the next mentorship, because we’re going to be doing this probably on a somewhat regular basis. So they can go ahead and apply anyway, if they want to go to worship ministry training, comm slash mentor, they can do that, and they can get signed up for the next one. So that’s what we’re offering right now.

Casey Klocek 42:27 That’s exciting. I love the fact that you’ve put in so much time, like just providing so much free value to people right now. But I mean, this this mentorship, if if I can take anything of the gleaning that I’ve had over the last four years listening to your podcast, and growing through the practical steps you’ve offered, this mentorships just going to be on fire, it’s going to be a fantastic resource for anybody who joins into it. So I will make sure that, you know, everybody has the ability to just go straight to those links on here and connect with you. If they want to connect with you just have a conversation maybe to learn more about it. Other than just the website itself. Is there any kind of I mean, you don’t do a lot of social media. Is there anything they can get through your wife through its touch with you? Yeah. How can people contact you?

Alex Enfiedjian 43:13 Yeah, that’s a great question. Again, I think worship ministry training, comm is the best central place because you can find all my social media stuff there. I do post to social media, but I don’t really like I don’t check the inboxes or things like that. So if they want to contact me directly, they can just email me Alex at worship ministry training calm.

Casey Klocek 43:31 Fantastic. Well, I’ll make sure I put all that on there. Is there anything else that you want to say before you take off for today, Alex,

Alex Enfiedjian 43:39 everybody, whatever God has called you to do, he will equip you to do it. And he will help you to do it. Well, as long as you are reliant on him. And Casey, you’re gonna blow up on YouTube. I believe it. And thanks for having me on today.

Casey Klocek 43:53 Thanks so much, man. I appreciate you. We’ll talk to you soon.

Alex Enfiedjian 43:56 See it. Alright guys, that’s it for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Again. If you enjoyed it, pass it on to someone who needs to hear it, and subscribe to the podcast so that you can get the latest episodes for free every month. And I will see you next month for another helpful episode. God bless you guys.