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TERRI: Hey, I'm Terri Savelle Foy, your cheerleader of dreams.
Hey, if you've never subscribed to this podcast, just push the
little red button right there to get consistent teaching tools
and tips to help you live your dreams. In fact today I want to
talk to you about get your life organized. Well, why does that
even matter that you get your life organized? Well, I've
noticed that successful people are organized. There is a link
between organization and success. Now, you may have heard
me say before that the way you do anything is the way you do
everything. That's a strong statement. In other words, if
you always pay your bills late, you probably show up late. If
your bed is always half made, perhaps your book is still half
written. Peter Daniels says it this way. "If you have a dirty
desk, you probably have dirty undies." That's not what I'm
saying. But the point is the way you do anything is the way you
do everything. Now, I didn't make this statement up but I
found it to be true in my life. Well, why is this so important
that we get things together and get organized? I love what
Steven Furtick says, he says, "What's next in your life is
always connected to what's now." What's next is connected to
what's now. In other words, how you care for the small areas of
your life determines how you'll also care for the big areas of
your life. Well, God is the one who said, "If you're faithful in
the little things, you'll be ruler over many things." I've
shared stories in the past of how before I was promoted as CEO
of a global organization, God instructed me to clean up my
house. Now, that sounds so ridiculous, and you might even
wonder, "Could God really instruct someone to get
organized, to declutter, to scrub, to clean?" Absolutely.
Why? Well, again, the way you do anything is the way you do
everything. If that's true, if I was a mess, and I was, then my
leadership would be a mess. If I couldn't get my house in order,
how could I get an organization in order? See, I had to adapt
the standard of excellence in my life before I could expect
excellence from my team. Well, once I got my house in order, a
few months later, I received a major promotion and it
absolutely changed my life. Well, on this podcast in
particular, I want to point out that sometimes it can feel like
you are having to do so much while others are just coasting
along, living sloppy and getting by with it. It's just not fair.
Well, let me point out that there are different degrees of
clutter and disorganization, and it's unique to each person. In
other words, what one person considers orderly, another
considers a catastrophe and they tend to marry each other. In
fact, I've had many people ask me just out of curiosity,
they'll say, "Terri, does anything get you upset?" Well,
I do have a pretty easygoing personality, and I don't tend to
get too disturbed or agitated by much. However, the main thing I
identified what upsets me, the main thing that ruffles my
feathers, or as I like to say, steals my peace more than
anything is coming home to a messy, cluttered, disorganized
home like that seriously just takes my peace. Well, in the
past, there were many times when I would get home late at night
from traveling all week and speaking at conferences, and as
soon as I would walk in the backdoor, I would be greeted by
empty pizza boxes stacked on the kitchen counter, dishes piled in
the sink, coats hanging across the kitchen table chairs and
backpacks on the table. I would just like gasp in disgust, and I
could hardly even put my luggage down from my arm before I was
grabbing trash bags, disposing of the pizza boxes. That's not
the best way for me to return from a trip with the best
attitude for my family. Well, being married now for 26 years,
my husband knows how important a clutter-free kitchen is to my
arrival that he consistently make sure I'm welcomed home to
order. Now this isn't everyday. This is only when I come home
from trips. Let me make that clear. Well, it makes me happier
than I can express when I walk in and see dishes put away,
countertops wiped clean and a birthday cake scented candle
burning. In fact, I'll text Rodney when I get on the plane
headed home just to alert him that I'm en route. I'll say,
"Hey, what you doing?" He'll respond, "Making peace for you."
Well, the reason I'm telling you this is because we all have
different tolerance levels for disorganization and clutter.
Mine and Rodney's are completely different and the person with
the lowest tolerance level will end up doing most of the work to
get things in shape. Well, some people have no qualms about
leaving their dirty clothes in the bathroom for a solid week or
walking over a pile of laundry for several days. Maybe I'm
referring to Rodney, maybe not. In fact, I read a story recently
about a woman whose husband was so messy that she want to do a
little experiment just to see how long he would go without
noticing clutter. Well, when she returned from her trip, she left
his suitcase full of dirty clothes right in front of the
front door. She said he literally had to step over the
suitcase to even get in the house. After a solid month, she
called off the experiment and emptied the suitcase. Well, it
may not be totally fair that one spouse has to maintain most of
the order and do most of the tidying up. Here's the thing. In
most cases, they're not trying to be rude or disrespectful. It
just doesn't even bother them. They don't even see what you
see. Well, that's when you have to hold on to scripture that
say, "Do everything as unto the Lord." In other words, make the
bed, pick up his or her underwear, clean the bathtub,
load the dishwasher, do the laundry, file the bills as unto
the Lord. Why? Because your Father in heaven is watching,
and he sees every act as preparation for promotion. All
those tedious acts in private will bring you rewards in
public. Getting your life organized, cleaned up could be a
major prerequisite for your breakthrough. I know it was for
me. Your personal standard of excellence, it's all about
preparation for something greater. Remember what I said
earlier? What's next in your life is always connected to
what's now. God's watching, observing, noticing how you care
for the little things in your life and I'm telling you when he
sees someone paying attention to details such as picking the
trash up off the floor rather than just walking over it or
putting things back where they belong rather than leaving them
out for somebody else to pick up or hanging things back rather
than just leaving them laying there, he's getting ready to
promote. In fact, in the Bible, it says that Daniel became
distinguished above all other high officials because an
excellent spirit was in him. That's Daniel 6:3. Think about
that. His personal standard of excellence brought him from the
lowest one to the highest position in society back then.
See, Daniel wasn't just your average Joe working an average
job. He was a slave. He wasn't married. He didn't have kids.
This guy had nothing. He wasn't someone that was like being
groomed for success or to be in the public eye. He was
considered a nobody. I think we get the picture that he was like
the lowest ranking guy on the totem pole, so to speak, but
God's favor was on him. Why? Simply because he had an
excellent spirit. He was actually promoted as head over
three presidents and in charge of overseeing the king's
financial affairs. Now, I want you to think about that. A
slave, a former slave, had oversight of the king's money.
Scripture says, "Daniel was preferred above the presidents
and princess." Well, that word "preferred" means to be
handpicked, approved, favored, adopted, liked and endorsed.
Your standard of excellence can pave the way for you to be
promoted when you seem to be the least likely person, the last
choice, the shock of the season to those around you. I believe
it will cause you to be set apart and promoted above all
others who may even be more qualified than you, more
educated, more experienced. I'm telling you excellence opens
doors in your life that no man can shut. Excellence puts you on
a path for success. Let me just tell you this real quick. When
you feel like complaining because of all that you're
having to do while others aren't doing much ... I love this
statement I heard from Joyce Meyer, because I've felt that
way many times. She said she was starting to complain about
everything she has to do while others don't have so many
standards. One day the Lord said to her, he said, "Joyce, you've
asked me for a lot. Do you want it or not?" Well, you've asked
the Lord for some big dreams, some big prayers and it's going
to demand a big commitment. Do you want it or not? I want to
encourage you. Make a decision to get organized and do it as
unto the Lord. He's watching and he's ready to promote. I want to
mention real quick that we have a YouTube subscriber this week
and they go by this name got2bme todd, got2bme todd, I like that.
This is what they wrote, "I organized my kitchen and what a
difference it made. It gave me peace of mind." It says, "It
might be old but it's clean and orderly and now it's a joy to
cook dinner." Well, I am so proud of you for taking action
and decluttering, got2bme todd. I want to help each and everyone
of you with not only getting your surroundings in order but
get your life in order. That's why I'm giving you the first two
chapters of my latest book Declutter Your Way to Success
completely free. All you have to do is find the link in the
description to download your book and get the first two
chapters free. Now, for more consistent motivation, be sure
to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
You can find my handles below or click the little red subscribe
button to get weekly videos to make this your best year
yet. I want to thank you so much for watching
this week and I'll see you next week.
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