5 Things Successful People Do Before 8AM [FULL MESSAGE] | Terri Savelle Foy

well thank you y'all can be seated my goodness I didn't expect all that well I do want to say you know having the honor to get to travel to different churches and stuff I hope y'all realize how blessed we are to get to come here every week and learn from the best I mean they're constantly challenging us to think bigger dream bigger expect bigger make our biceps bigger I told the first service I've never seen so many bodybuilders in one church sometimes like Pastor Sheila told us to hug or shake hands while IO I've had

some of you nearly pick me up okay put me down y we got some big people in this church but um how many of you have never heard me before would you raise your hand okay how many of you ladies were at the she night Friday night yay did you warn your husbands your boyfriends well I always have to address the obvious because otherwise you're n your friend going is this serious she sounds like she's seven so I always have to address the voice because when I call dominoes to order pizza they'll go does your

mommy know you're doing this I always go no but my husband does so I read a scripture that says God speaks in a still Small Voice I have the voice of God just want to throw that out there I have the voice of God but anyway I just want to share a very practical message with you you know pastor's been talking all year about advancing and advancing in your life in every area and I just want to share Five Habits with you that will advance your life I believe in record time that what should take

five years God can do it in one year if you'll do this because that's exactly what happened in my life so y'all ready for a practical message okay so let me just start out by telling you this story that I heard about John Maxwell how years ago he was hosting his own conference and he agreed at the end to do a Q&A with the audience and there was this young guy who had just graduated with an MBA and he was just admiring everything about this conference so I want you to imagine 2,000 people in attendance

who paid $2,000 each so I like to just sort of get my pocket calculator and do the math okay so 2000 time 2000 is $4 million in one weekend so this kid said to John Maxwell he said um I want to do what you do and Maxwell said well what do you think I do he said well you speak at events like this you write bestselling books you impact lives he said I want to do that and John Maxwell said young man it's not a matter of doing what I do he said the question is

do you want to do what I did so you can do what I do and then the kid said well I want to lead a company or a department or a team he said where do I start Maxwell said good question start with you he said if you wouldn't follow yourself why would anyone else want to follow you so here's my point this morning you can't have a million dooll dream with minimum wage habits you can't have a million dooll dream with minimum wage habits second service is livelier because y'all slept in first service just

kind of stares but so I I just want to share with you these five habits but first let me explain this how many of you have ever heard John Maxwell's rule of five he teaches a message about the rule of five okay what that message is is he says imagine that there's a tree in your backyard and you go pick up an axe which I have and you swing at that tree five times and you put the axe down and the next day you pick up the axe and you swing at the tree five times

put it down every single day you swing at the tree five times he said not 500 not 50 what eventually will happen to the tree if you swing at it five times every single day he said it's going to fall we don't have to debate that there's no question about it so then John Maxwell says simply find your tree like what is your dream your goal that if you were to do five simple things every day in the direction of that dream mountains of impossible POS dreams would begin to fall down so that's what happened

in my life and just to kind of give you some backstory because there's a lot of people who've never heard of me before and you have to really appreciate what God has done you know we're so grateful I feel like the least likely person to be doing what I'm doing and you know like David they pick the least likely person because no one ever saw me doing this um but God has done big things like I think we have 35 36 million views on YouTube now almost 300,000 subscribers 14 or 15 books I've written now

we have a weekly TV show called live your dreams so many amazing things but to appreciate it you have to know the backstory don't you so just in summary real quick I was telling the first service that um I grew up in such a strong word of faith home some of you may know my dad Jerry sevel he's my favorite preacher your second and but you know I grew up knowing the word of God I was a cheerleader all through school was the homecoming queen but I was hiding so much behind a big smile and

hiding it from everybody when I was 14 years old I was raped by a guy at a fitness center in shreport Louisiana never dreamed in a million years I would lose my virginity on a gym floor by a complete stranger and Satan took tot full advantage of that moment the moment that happened I instantly took on the self-image of I literally thought I was the ugliest person in the world I thought I was fat I thought I was worthless I thought I'm I'm too shy that's why that happened I'm too insecure and you know you've

probably heard that phrase that you behave in a manner consistent with how you see yourself if you see yourself like trash you'll let people treat you like trash so I did got into an abusive relationship ship with a guy stayed with this guy for over two years um everything from throwing me on the dirt strangling me locking me in a car and banging my head on a steering wheel several times and I just stayed with him because I felt so worthless finally got out of that relationship and when I was in college at Texas Tech

my last semester of college right before I graduated I got pregnant before marriage so I just felt like the biggest failure the biggest loser I borrowed my sister's wedding dress uh got married 3 weeks after I found out I was pregnant imagine walking down the aisle and there's your dad Jerry sevel and Kenneth copelan performing the wedding and I was so ashamed I literally walked the whole aisle with my head down 3 weeks after my wedding I lost the baby so I just felt like a loser and I just sort of slid into a rut

without realizing it for 11 years so all of a sudden in 2002 that was 11 years after my wedding 2002 I just looked at my life I was separated from my husband on the verge of divorce I'd been living paycheck to paycheck had no money in my savings account I had no vision for my life my house was a mess I was a mess and at that time I had a 5-year-old little girl looking to me for a role model and I like to explain it like this I kind of just looked into my future

and just realized unless I start making some decisions to change this isn't going to be a season of regret this is going to be a whole lifetime of regret and I didn't have someone like Pastor Keith craft come to the house and give me a personal growth track I just got desperate for Change and one of the first things I did was I said my dad's taught me when you're going through trials that's not the time to run from God that's the time to run to God so I just set a goal I said I'm

going to make myself listen to a faith-building message every single day for 21 days that was my big goal in life CU I'd heard if you do something consistently for 21 days you can break a habit and start a new one right so I said I'm going to do this every day for 21 days well at the end of 21 days I thought I don't want to stop I'm going to go for 30 days then at the end of 30 I said I'm going to go two months then I went for three months y'all ready

for this that was in 2002 and I've never stopped I woke up this morning in Rockwell Texas and I listened to a faith building message but here's what happened in that first 21-day period as I'm listening to messages I heard John Maxwell make this statement that changed my life he said if I could come to your house and just watch you for 24 hours I could tell whether or not you're going to be a success or a failure he said you pick the day but let me just watch you from the moment you wake up

until you go to bed that night he said just by observing you in one full day I can tell you what direction your life is going to go I thought how in the world he said the reason I say that is because the secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine The Secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine I am absolutely 100% convinced that if you'll change your routine you can change your whole life so do y'all want to know what the five habits are of the most successful people in

the world I see some of my friends here okay so let's get started the first habit number one that I started making myself do was pray and meditate pray and meditate of course praying is talking to God meditating is listening for god well I had no idea that successful people meditate I'm talking about Jennifer Aniston Cameron Diaz Lady Gaga Katy Perry Orlando Bloom Steve Harvey Jerry Seinfeld they meditate now keep in mind most of them communicate with the universe but we communicate with the creator of the universe right but here's something my dad taught me

he said when you go into your prayer time with the Lord he said always take two things with you take a journal and take a pen Texas size pen but he said practice hearing the voice of God he said God wants to speak to you even more than you want to listen and he said most people never listen but here's the thing what ever comes up in your spirit my dad said write it down even if you're not sure is that God or is that just my own head he said write it down and you're

going to start practicing hearing the voice of God and you'll start getting direction and wisdom for your life right well Jim ran who was one of the greatest motivators he said a life worth living is a life worth recording he said if you want to be successful influential sophisticated keep a journal well I started doing this and this right here became one of the most valuable things in my life because it gave me direction it was like a GPS programming it in my car and now I know where to go so successful people pray and

meditate and they keep their thoughts in a journal you ready for the second habit okay number two is successful people read now I was telling the first service about this because honestly true story I hated reading and the only books I ever read outside of school was a book about gymnastics and the Dallas Cowboy cheerleader manual those are the only books I ever read for pleasure I hated reading in fact at my college graduation I did graduate that disgusting painful semester but we were in LEC Texas El Chicos I had my cap and gown on

and I think I said the dumbest thing I've ever said to my whole family I said I will never study again I thought I've paid my dues I graduated with honors I will never pick up another book now the sad thing is I kept my dumb promise for 11 years of my life so for 11 years like I told you I lived paycheck to paycheck no money in my savings account no vision or dreams in fact my schedule was like this I would wake up at the last minute to go to work I would jump

in my car turn on the radio and listen and dance and sing all the way to the office work all day and I worked hard on my job I was a ghost writer I wrote 25 books for my dad but then when work was over I jump in the car turn on the radio sing all the way home come home turn on the TV and watch it for hours and just do it again the next day and do it again the next day for 11 years my life was average all of a sudden one day

when I decided to make myself read it literally felt like torture I picked up one book I set the alarm on my phone for 20 minutes and I made myself read and I kept checking the the clock and I'm reading this book but all of a sudden something surprising began to happen the more I read the more I begin to learn the more I learned the more I begin to earn do you know what happened the next 11 years of my life my income more than quadrupled I got a massive promotion I went from Ghost

writing books for my dad to authoring books I went from attending conferences to speaking at conferences I went from just watching TV for hours to hosting a TV show what in the world happened as I began to grow everything began to grow my relationships grew my house grew my vacations grew my salary grew my opportunities grew Everything grows when you start to grow I like to kind of say it like this I finally discovered the key to success which I happen to have and it spells key which is keep educating yourself keep educating yourself I

guess I think I have time I'll tell you the Jim Ron story because we like that story right okay so Jim ran who was one of the greatest motivators and our pastor got to meet him but when he was first learning about success he said he had pennies in his pocket he had nothing in the bank he's blaming everybody for where he was in life he blamed the government his boss taxes he blamed everybody well this very wealthy man began to Mentor him and teach him success and he was very blunt with him but he

said Jim what you have at this moment in your life you have attracted by the person you've become he said if you don't have much perhaps you haven't become much that's kind of offensive isn't it and it hurt his feelings so he said he held up his paycheck to that wealthy man and he just said you don't understand he said this is all they pay his Mentor said no this is all they pay you he said they pay others more in your company if you were to qualify for more you would get paid more but

then he began to teach him in a loving way he said Jim don't wish it was easier wish you were better he said don't wish for Less skills he said wish I mean don't wish for less problems he said wish for more skills but then he began to teach him this and I love this phrase because it can absolutely change your life he said learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job he said if you work hard on your job you'll make a living if you work hard on yourself you can

make a fortune you want me to repeat it okay he said oh they fell asleep I thought y'all were the hyper ones oh they're just listening real good okay they're leaning in but he said learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job if you yes I can't handle the Applause okay so he said said if you work hard on your job you'll make a living if you work hard on yourself you can make a fortune well within 5 years Jim Ron was a millionaire so I love this and I don't know

who came up with this but I like to share it somebody described the word poor like this passing over opportunities repeatedly passing over opportunities repeatedly and you might say Terry I haven't had any opportunities that's my problem but here's what I'm saying every day is another opportunity to get up and invest in yourself to read to listen to journal spend time with God every day don't pass up the opportunity right okay so my third habit that I began to apply and that I found out later successful people do is they listen to audio messages every

day in fact 88% of the wealthiest people in the world use their drive time to learn and to grow and only 2% of poor people they turn their car into a classroom so I started thinking okay if I'm really going to do this and be consistent when am I going to do this because I was very undisciplined okay so I thought well I could do it in the morning while I'm getting ready I got to get ready anyway takes a long time so I I got a little posted it's frightening but I um I got

a little posted and I wrote push play and I put this on my bathroom mirror because that's how how undisciplined I was I got a giant CD player this is back in 2002 went to my parents house stole a bunch of their audios and I put this on the mirror and I walked in there the first morning I was like oh yeah push play so I push play and I'm hearing God's word hearing God's word Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing by the word of God right well I was telling the

first service when you're hearing God's word it's not like having the Wheel Of Fortune or prices right on in the background God's word gets down on the inside of you and it changes you from the inside out you start thinking differently you start dreaming differently you start wondering things like I wonder if God could ever use me then I would think I don't I've never wanted to be in front of people not with this voice but I would just start wondering I wonder if I'll ever help young girls I wonder if I'll ever write a

book but I would just start wondering those things as I'm hearing God's word hearing God's word well I remember hearing one example was somebody said don't share Big Dreams with small minds don't share your big dreams with small-minded people because small minds have a way of sucking the ambition and the faith right out of you but big Minds like our pastors have a way of elevating you to reach your Highest Potential right so I was listening to this story and this guy was talking about how he was struggling in life life and he was just

so fed up with it and one day he said he just looked at his closest friends and realized two things they hated hard work and they had no intention or desire to improve their lives so he said he asked this very wealthy man he said how did you become so successful and the wealthy man just said four words he said keep the right company keep the right company so this guy said he went home and he took it literally he made a list drag and improve he said if someone one could drag me down I

put their name on the list and I spent no more than five minutes with them if someone could improve my life I put their name on the list and I spend as much time as possible he said after following yeah he said after following this Make It or Break It List within three years he was a millionaire keep the right company told the first service how did I learn stuff like this as I'm gluing these eyelashes on okay but it changed my life right we can do this right I am your poster child that there's

hope for us all okay so number four the fourth habit this is the one I think I'm known for the most and it was the habit of taking the time to write and review your dreams and goals take the time to write your dreams and goals it's so important obviously that you have a dream but Proverbs 298 says where there is no vision the people perish if you don't have a dream for for your life you're just perishing you're just existing let me kind of explain it like this let's just imagine church is over and

you it's pouring down rain outside and you jump in your car to go eat but first of all you turn on the car and it works fine pouring down rain the lights work today we need the heater the heater works the radio everything works is pouring down rain except for one thing the windshield wiper how many of you know you're not going anywhere right see as long as long as your vision is impaired you'll stay where you are it's the same with life as long as your vision is impaired you're not going anywhere Mary Poppins

is almost finished I promise but but I just begin to listen and think gosh if I'm supposed to take the time to write my dreams and goals and God's the one who said this but successful people do it Lady Gaga does this Beyonce does this then how much more should we as Believers take God at his word when he's the one who said write the vision make it plain so just to give you a couple examples one of the first things I wrote was I speak at events with John Maxwell because John Maxwell was changing

my life and so i' never met him so I put a fake picture of me and John acting like we're buddies this is totally fake but I said I speak at events with John Maxwell I put all kinds of stuff I put um pictures of books I wanted translated this is a fun anyone I said I'm invited to speak at the largest conferences in the world and I said and I have my own Women's Conference so I went to Joyce Myers's website printed out her picture speaking of thousands I chopped off Joyce's head and I

put little terry on the stage I'm wearing Joyce's shirt and it's it's a cute shirt but there's that but even when I shared this with my friends they were laughing like you are and because it looks so ridiculous then I just Googled one day what's the biggest church in America well Joel Ting's Church popped up Lakewood so I printed out the logo and I when I was at Lakewood just visiting I posed by Joel's Podium as if I was getting ready to go speak but what was I doing I was making the vision come alive

I was seeing it right seeing with the eye of Faith well I found out there's a principle in God's word that you become what you behold whatever you keep before your eyes it will eventually show up in your life we move towards what we consistently see so just to give you proof here I am speaking at events with John Maxwell it's not fake and like Pastor said he's my guest speaker which I'm still freaking out but here I am speaking at conferences to thousands of people last year I spoke to 20,000 entrepreneurs they allowed me

to give an alter call in over 2,000 businessmen and women is that amazing only God can do that here I am actually speaking at Lakewood Church in fact the night I spoke at this conference Victoria was driving me in and we pulled into the garage and I just happen to glance over and there was the very sign that I Googled years ago I whipped out my phone took a picture and I was having a fight back the tears what am I saying take God at his word write the vision make it PL and let me

just give you this example real quick because you may be like Terry I really don't care to hear about your dreams I don't know where to start this is how I like to explain to people where to start let's just imagine that it's December 31st of next year not this year next year and it's New Year's Eve you got your party hat on girls you got your sequin dress and you turn to your friend and you go 2024 has been the most amazing year of my life what would need to happen for you to say

that whatever it is write it down don't leave your goals in your head write it down did you know your chance of success increases by 42% just by the fact that you grab a pencil and paper and you write your goals so it could be you put a picture of money and you find out how much debt you have and you say I declare by faith I am debt free $1 4,756 193 that's a Clear Vision isn't it or I'm living in my Dreamhouse and you've got a picture of it or I weigh my perfect

body weight I told the ladies I have pictures in here of some girl with a great figure I chopped her head off and put my head on there but write your dreams and goals and show God you're serious about it you got it does that help okay and my last Point number five which I told the first service I'm kind of embarrassed to even tell y'all this habit the fifth habit is exercise the most successful people in the world exercise and I know this whole church is full of bodybuilders and men and women I see

your bicep staring at me right now but but I had to tell myself back in 2002 when I was changing my habits Terry stop looking at the one hour you don't have look at the 20 minutes you do have and go for a walk do something and you know you would say well 20 minutes is not going to change my body but 20 minutes times 30 days in a month is 10 hours of physical exercise you're going to feel better after 10 hours but I want to share this with you real quick CU I told

the first service this one of the biggest things I learned when it comes to health and fitness was 14 years ago when I turned 40 people started telling me Terry your metabolism is going to drastically change when you turn 40 they'd say watch out you're going to have to work out twice as hard as you did when you were 30 and then stuff like you're not going to get to eat all those cupcakes you love and all that you know and I really was like I bind you Satan in the name of Jesus I just

have this real love for cupcakes but but people were telling me this like a lot and the more I heard it the more I begin to agree with it and the more I agreed with it the more it started coming out of my mouth well you know God's word says that life and death are in the power of the tongue if you want to know where your life is headed listen to the words coming out of your mouth right so all of a sudden I started realizing okay yes it's important what's coming or what's going

in your mouth as it pertains to Fitness but what's more important is what's coming out of your mouth so I just made a list of positive declarations and I I stopped speaking negatively and I started saying I am fit firm and muscular I'm in the best shape of my life I have a fast metabolism I'm enthusiastic about life I'm full of energy I love to work out I'm disciplined Spirit soul and body then I backed it up with God's word and I started saying so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth

it shall not return unto me void but it will accomplish that which I please I am in the best shape of my life in Jesus name you like that I forgot to tell you this one this is one of my declarations I eat whatever I want to eat and I maintain my perfect weight that's a good one isn't it but do you know the more I started doing that the weight started falling off of me now here's something I want to challenge you with if if you're not sure if what you're saying is helping you

or hurting you practice making this statement after every phrase and that's just the way I want it no matter what I do I can't lose weight and that's just the way I want it I guess we'll never get our house and that's just the way I want it I lost another baby guess I'll never get pregnant and that's just the way I want it at this rate will be in debt forever and that's just the way I want it if it's not the way you want it don't let it come out of your mouth right

so so I want to challenge you to speak in the direction you want your life to go in fact that book of dreams that I showed you every single morning even this morning before I leave the house I get my book of Dreams out and I call those things that be not as though they are so let me wrap it up with this um I told the first service I was watching something and they were talking about this famous bankr ber named Willie Sutton I don't know if y'all have ever heard of him but he

was just robbing all these Banks over and over and over and the police couldn't catch him finally they caught him and they just asked him why do you keep robbing all these Banks and do you know what he said because that's where the money is I just want you to know success is in your routine if you will change your routine you can change your whole life you can't have a million dooll dream with minimum wage habit does that help you today [Music] okay