Written By: Michael Sandoval

The Importance of Organization

“Plan your Work…Work your Plan”

There are certain lessons in life that make long lasting impressions. I may not have always been the most organized nor clean individual. As normal, growing up, cleaning my room and staying attentive to daily chores was a bit of a headache… There were more important things to focus on like chatting with friends, going to the mall or playing video games etc…

I could never imagine being excited about doing homework or cleaning up after myself. It “Just” wasn’t a priority.

I remember disliking the feeling of going into my room when it was dirty or disorganized. It felt as if I was inside of “The Temple of Doom”. There could have been crawling critters at the bottom of all of those unwashed clothes that kept being pushed underneath my unmade bed. For some reason, regardless of my discomfort towards the circumstance, I still wouldn’t clean it… I would wait until my mother got sick and tired of walking passed seeing the disaster that I used to call a room. I reflect on her words… “One day you will realize and appreciate the reason why I get on your case about cleaning”!  

Every Sunday my mother had her relentless ritual! It was deep clean day. I remember the smells of the cleaning materials, the sounds of Latin American music playing in the background just loud enough to ensure that your weekend slumber was cut shorter than you intended it to be. You could hear the sizzling noises of frying pans as breakfast was being prepared by my father. The pressure cooker was in full operation and meats were being prepared for the evening’s meal with our family. There was a lot that went into this day. At that age, I never realized the importance nor appreciated the level of organization that it took to get it all accomplished.

As some of you may know from my previous posts, I started working inside of a kitchen at the age 17.  It was getting the first glimpse of the professional environment that made me remember those Sundays at my parents’ house and the conversations that my mother would have with me about cleanliness and personal management. I didn’t know it then, but the time in the kitchen would impact my life entirely.

For years, as a young cook I was drilled in the art of mental planning. Organization was a must in the kitchen structure and without it we would not succeed; our team and product would suffer.

Slowly throughout the years, I began to realize that I was becoming a master of organization and cleanliness. I found that my life couldn’t function without an action plan. I noticed that I was applying “it” to every piece of my life. It was making me happier.  I was growing in many ways and I was excited. I felt as if I was administering what I loved and was good at to the things that I would never excel in within society.

Years later, I realized that it was never about the cleaning!! It was about the discipline. The relentless efforts to strive for perfection in everything you do. That was the blessing in disguise.

This Blessing has motivated me on my journey striving towards perfection. I am thankful for the incredible experiences within and outside of my professional environment that have guided me through tough times and have allowed me to be personally successful.

I have realized that the word organization is a lot more meaningful to me now. It has been difficult to have the desire to wake up every day and pursue a level of standards that go beyond anyone’s normal ability. A complete grasp on structure and assembly is much like cleaning my room when I was a child. It is not convenient and there isn’t an advantage to shortcuts within the process. I’ve learned to take my time, plan with deliberation, commit, execute and realize through results ……

The Importance of Organization.