Become Exceptional

Daniel 6:3 (NIV 84) Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

I hear it all the time, “I just want to be normal,” and “I just want to be like everyone else.” However, it is amazing that when we find out what everyone else is like we don’t want to be like them anymore. They mistreat people, they are messy and they aren’t very disciplined. We all want above average results but we must remember that in order to get exceptional results we have to work at it. No one is an overnight sensation. Everyone has to put in the work if they are going to make a difference. It doesn’t take much more to be exceptional but it does take more. You must learn to become exceptional if you want to find out what the King has planned for you. So let’s find out how to do that. 

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it shows up in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Edison

You have to do the work and put in the time if you are going to excel in whatever you have found to be your life’s work and purpose. No one is good the first time they do something; everyone fails or does sub-par work. But, that is when you need to get up, shake the dirt off and learn to improve. 

Discover your uniqueness and your purpose.

• First of all, you must discover your uniqueness. You must find your purpose and live it out daily. People cannot live intentionally if they do not discover why they exist. Alice Bloch expressed what I so often see in others: “We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.” Quit wasting time trying to do stuff that makes you feel good about yourself and start doing the things that will make you a better person. 
• It is disgusting when people always talk about what they want to see in others but never change themselves. “Be the change you want to see in the world”. - Gandhi 
• Consider what I have heard others say, “It’s all about souls.” Yes, it is. But when you say that and never witness, never work in an altar and never pray intercessory prayers then you don’t truly embrace the virtue and it makes you a fake. If you want to be about souls, then be about the Father’s business and become all that you want to be. If we say that we need more worship and yet do not apply ourself to increase our own worship, then we are just being judgmental and critical. If you are leading the charge then you are at least investing energy and time to influence others to follow your example. If you say that we should live holy and a separated life, you need to make the change in your own life to reflect the values that you say you have. If not, then all we have are good intentions rather than an intentional life. 
• Most everyone I know wants to make a significant difference but few ever do. Great ideas have to be backed with consistent daily actions that are reflected upon nightly. You have to quit playing Monday Morning Quarterback and get out of the bleachers and into the game. Yes, you may get knocked down; you may fumble the ball but get up and keep at it. Don’t just go to church, but get into it. Stay with it. If you hit a stronghold don’t relent but keep the pressure on. If you want amazing grace and results then you need to do things that are unamazing. Practicing, studying, reading, trying, changing and yes, even failing are not amazing. But when you learn to do these unamazing things with passion you will begin to improve and then you will discover just how amazing grace can be. 
• “I possess the greatest power ever bestowed upon mankind, the power of choice. Today, I choose to persist without exception. No longer will I live in a dimension of distraction, my focus blown hither and yon like a leaf on a blustery day. I know the outcome I desire. I hold fast to my dreams. I stay the course. I do not quit.” - Andy Andrews

Set your own standard of excellence.

• If you are waiting for someone else to motivate you, lift you, encourage you or do it for you, it will never happen. You must set the standard higher than what others expect of you. If you are only interested in meeting other’s expectations you will find they can change with the wind and you will be like a chameleon that blows up sitting on a bold plaid pattern because he didn’t know which color to relate to. So, set the bar high; move it up not down, declare it, write it out, hit it and then learn to leap over it into a greater tomorrow. 
• Develop a winning attitude. Learn to grow from the inside out because your root system is going to determine the longevity of your fruit. Your attitude is either your best friend or your worst enemy. It is the librarian of your past, the speaker of your present and the prophet of your future. So, choose it carefully. Work on it daily. Let God change it if necessary. 

Exceptional people invest in themselves.

• Learn to invest in yourself. Spend time with God, keep up your rule of five and allow God the chance to speak a word of power into your life that can create something that didn’t exist before. 
• “Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desire to reach their potential.” - John Maxwell

What is important to you?

• You cannot find the passion to do the grunt work if you don’t know what it is you truly want to see. Where and from whom do you get your feeling of importance? This is the wellspring that your values, your morals and your choices will flow from. Change what is important; change the source of your significance and you will change yourself either for the better or for the worse. That is why we need grace so much because our significance needs to come from the Lord. 
• “If you tell me how you get your feeling of importance, I’ll tell you what you are. That determines your character. That is the most significant thing about you.” - Dale Carnegie

Become exceptional and let’s together discover what the King has planned for us.