TERRI: Now today, I'm gonna share with you why you need to
prepare for what you're praying for. You know,
preparation is a vital key to living your dreams.
TERRI: Hey, I'm Terri Savelle Foy,
your cheerleader of dreams. You know, lemme
ask you: Are you ready for God to do a new thing in your
life? Are you tired of just repeating the same scenario year
after year? Have you thought lately,
How do I stay positive when it appears nothing is changing? If
you answered yes to any of those questions,
I have one word for you that drastically changed my entire
life: Routine. The secret of your future is hidden in your
daily routine. If you'll change your routine,
you'll change your whole life. Well,
one of the biggest and easiest changes that I've made to my
daily routine was listening to inspirational messages that just
pointed my life in the right direction. I wanna ask you to
subscribe to this podcast by pushing the little red arrow so
you start a routine of consistent inspiration and
coaching to help you live your dreams. Today,
I'm gonna share with you why you need to prepare for what you're
praying for. Preparation is a vital key to living your dreams.
We know that. In fact, before I finish today,
I wanna give you the entire seven step checklist for success
so I don't leave you with just one step in today's podcast,
I'm gonna show you how to access that free checklist in jus a
minute. But first, a phrase a heard years ago from Coach John
Wooden was this, he said, "When opportunity comes,
it's too late to prepare." In other words,
you've got to be ready when God brings opportunities your way so
you can seize them, right? Well, in the book,
"Outliers" Malcolm Gladwell wrote that "10,000
hours is the magic number of greatness." Well,
he supported that by saying, "Research shows that for the
overwhelming majority of experts who reach the top of their
fields," like math, chess, tennis,
swimming, music, "They have spent a minimum of 10,000
hours to become great." So, 10,000
hours works out to be about 20 hours per week for 10 years.
Now, 10 years is a long time, but 20 hours a week isn't so
bad, especially when you consider that the average
America watches five hours of TV a day. The point being,
bands like the Beatles who played four,
six, eight hours in gigs all over Europe long before they
invaded America. But think about it,
all that time it felt like, "Nobody is listening." They're
singing to a handful of people, playing pool,
drinking beer, not even watching them. It was all practice. See,
it's the same with you. If you wanna grow and improve and be
offered bigger opportunities, you have to practice. I look at
people like John Maxwell, he grabs a stool,
he puts a mint in his mouth, he holds a bottle of water,
and he just sits there and he speaks to 15,000
people like he's sitting in their den. And people ask,
they say, "How are so comfortable with your mint in
your mouth, you're drinking your water,
talking to 15,000?" This is what he said,
"Because I've done this 10,000 times." Here's my point: If you
desire to be in public speaking, accept every opportunity you
can. Speak for free. Speak to small groups,
youth groups, retirement centers,
juvenile detention centers. See, every time you do it,
you're gaining experience. You're getting more comfortable
in front of a crowd. You're getting prepared for the big
stage. Do you wanna have a successful podcast? A YouTube
channel? You know what my recommendation is? Just start.
Gain experience. Build your confidence. And you know what?
Be glad that hardly anybody is watching. I'm so glad not very
many people were watching my podcast when we first started.
The ironic thing is, my whole life I have been told that I
smile all the time, even in my senior yearbook. It's like,
"Terri smiled to everybody!" And my mom would say ... They would
make bets. My family would make bets whenever I would go into a
store and I'd come out, they'd say,
"I bet she'll be smiling when she walks out." I've just always
smiled. Well, ironically, when we first started the podcast,
the guys who were working with me,
they told me later, they said, "Terri,
you need to smile more." I thought,
"Smile more? I have never, in my whole life,
been told I need to smile more." But I was so nervous that I
forgot to smile. Well, thank God we averaged 22 views a day in
the beginning, but now I've done over 600 podcasts. I've filmed
TV shows for 12, 13 years. God was preparing me for this today.
I think about when I became a youth pastor. The first meeting
that my husband and I had with our youth leaders,
this wasn't even with the teenagers on stage. This was
with our youth leaders before we started speaking publicly. We
walked into this restaurant to meet with these youth leaders,
and I said to my husband, "You do all the talking." Because I
was too nervous to talk to youth leaders. But you know what? God
was preparing me in a little 1,000
sq.ft. Warehouse in Crowley, Texas with 75 teenagers week
after week after week, speaking for free,
speaking Wednesday nights, to one day stand on a stage to
10,000 14,000 people. But you know what?
It was all preparation. So no matter how
big or how small, it's practice. It's preparation
and it's needed to take you to the next level. Maybe you're not
a speaker. Maybe you're a designer or a decorator or a
stylist. Maybe you're a party planner. Offer to give some of
your services to your friends for free. Build your portfolio.
Take photos. Get them to write a review. Sow some seed,
do some things for free, get some seed in the ground,
get the experience. I heard a story about one of the top sales
coach trainers in the United States,
a girl named Lisa, who said she was starting her business as a
success coach in sales training, and she would set up meetings at
the local Olive Garden. She said,
"It didn't even have four walls. It was three walls and a little
accordion." But she said she was committed to meeting with 10
people consistently week after week and training them. Well,
one day, she got invited to speak at an event in Santa
Barbara. She lived in Phoenix. And she said because word got
out about her local talks, it began to spread. This was the
first time she left her newborn and her toddler at home to go
after her dream. When she flew to Santa Barbara,
she walks in and she realizes there's gonna be 60 people
there. That was her big break. She got so excited. But then she
discovers that she's going to be speaking to about eight people
in a break out session. Now, think about it,
she left her kids, arranged child care,
booked a flight, ready to give her speech,
and it was to eight people. That's okay,
but she took a deep breath, and she took a chance. She went up
to the host of the conference and she said,
"I'm gonna do a great job in my break out session,
but I just wanted to say, if any of your main stage speakers
don't make, I'm your girl." She said,
"Or, if you can just add a slot at the end of the day,
I'm ready." Sure enough, they added a slot at the end of the
day. Why? Because she was ready from all the local talks she had
done at the Olive Garden to 10 people. She gave her sales pitch
and she signed dozens of new clients. She didn't make 10,000
in a month like she used to do when she was starting out.
She made 10,000 in 90 minutes. She said,
"Not only did it change my life, but it changed my family's
life." She said, "I was ready for my big opportunity because I
had done all those little talks in the side rooms at Olive
Garden." Well, what I'm telling you today is that when God sees
you doing your part, He will open doors that no man can shut.
I think about David in the Bible. He was just a shepherd
boy out there taking care of his sheep,
and he could have thought, "I don't need to develop my skills.
I'm stuck out here with these sheep,
these few sheep." But while he's out there,
alone, he got his slingshot and he started practicing day after
day, month after month, slinging that stone again and again. When
a coyote tried to attack his sheep,
he nailed it. He became a sharpshooter. He was so precise.
Well, when God needed someone to slay a giant,
He looked to see who wads prepared,
who had developed their skills, who was practicing in private? I
heard Joel Osteen say, "When God is looking for people to promote
today, He doesn't just close His eyes and randomly pick someone.
No, He chooses someone who has developed their skills in
private." You have skills that can lead to an abundant life,
and everyday you spend learning, growing,
improving, you're getting prepared. The Bible says,
"Your gifts will make room for you and bring you before great
men," So, before we close out, I wanna recognize our YouTube
subscriber of the week. This week,
it is Malachi Dawson. Malachi says "Amazing Terri!" Says,
"I was at your NEXT conference and it changed my life." Oh my
gosh, I love this. Says, "I have written a book at age 13."
Malachi is only 13 and he's written a book. "Thanks for all
the encouragement." Oh, my goodness. You are never too old
or never too young to go after your dreams. Malachi,
we are so proud of you and we are cheering you on. I wanna
give you the entire seven step checklist for success that I've
practiced in my life and learned from the most successful people
in the world. So, all you have to do is click the link in the
description or go to terri.com/sevensteps to get your
free seven step checklist. Now, this free download that you can
access today will become your go-to list to keep you on track
to your dreams. And for more consistent motivation,
follow me on Instagram, Facebook Twitter,
and Pinterest. You can find my handles below or click the
little red subscribe button for weekly videos to make this your
best year yet. Thanks for watching,
and remember, I'm cheering you on.