The Art of Having a Positive Perspective
Living A Life of Focus – Part 2
Let’s continue where we left off on our last message, “Welcome the Rain – Part 1.” You get to set your own pace when it comes to establishing your focus statement for the year. You can review it daily, weekly, or as often as you desire, as long as you give it some focused time throughout your year. One of the things I like to do is find a book on the subject of my focus statement so that I can pick up some new ideas as I learn and grow in this intentional area of my life.
The Thought or Concept:
Speaking of books, we’re continuing with our takeaways from the book we love called “Welcome the Rain”. Let me state this again; it was this book and our decision to focus on it for a year that led to the practice of having a focus statement component to how we market ourselves.
“Welcome The Rain is a reminder to me,
and a gift to us all, that
we’ve been given the opportunity to choose our attitudes.” – Eric Harvey
The Practice:
Let’s pick up right where we left off with the remaining six takeaways we have from “Welcome the Rain.”
Takeaway 7 – We need reminding. Every person needs that occasional reminder to stay on track. Without it, we tend to drift off course and at some point in the future we turn around and come to the realization that we are way off course. We then ask, “how did I end up here?” Don’t let this be you. Create what I call triggers, similar to how I use my favorite words to help me remain where I truly want to be-on course.
Even regarding our attitude and perspective about anything and more importantly about life, we need to have triggers to ensure we have the right perspective. Here are two perspectives regarding having the right perspective.
The common perspective: Ordinary, average, normal individuals are those who don’t have anything in place to remind them or keep them accountable to having the right perspective. They are the ones who drift off course.
The uncommon perspective: When you take actions to ensure that you have the right mindset and challenge your own perspective about anything, you have set yourself up for overcoming the norm of drifting off your course. You take the appropriate measures to monitor where you are so while you might drift slightly, you don’t drift away.
Takeaway 8 – Given an opportunity. Most people don’t consider the fact that they are given an opportunity to make a choice. The word opportunity implies that it’s not forced upon you. It also means that you could possibly miss it or even overlook it. In the “A” portion of the above quote, we also need reminding that we are presented with an opportunity-daily, hourly, and at every moment-that we can choose. The point I wish to stress is that we can choose and we have a choice. Never forget that. Your attitude today is your choice. How you choose to respond in any situation is a choice you get to make. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to choose.
The common perspective: Normally we feel the pressures of life and may also feel as if our choices are taken away. Just by the fact that others bring us problems, situations, and even pain-points, it’s easy to feel as if it’s not our choice.
The uncommon perspective: Having an ability to choose returns the authority given to you to control your life and the outcomes that result in your life.
I have a friend who challenged my thinking upon meeting him. He is a firm believer that everything is your choice. I originally thought like most, common, that I didn’t have a choice. For instance, I told him I had no choice but to come to work today. There was no choice about it. He disagreed and told me that I had a choice, I just made my choice based on the outcome I so desired. I didn’t want to face the outcome that came with me choosing not to show up for work. You have a choice and are always presented with an opportunity to choose.
Takeaway 9 – The Growth Challenge and Benefit.
“Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
How can this be beneficial? Once you know, you can never again not know. The capacity for you to learn and grow is endless. You are forever changed. Knowledge doesn’t lose power or it’s power. You simply become something different. You can no longer see the same.
How can this be a challenge? There are somethings you don’t need to know, but once you do, you can never not know. You are changed forever. There is no undoing or going back. You can become something different. You no longer see the same nor will you be free of the knowledge you’ve gained.
So take caution when stretching yourself. Be intentional; be focused.
Takeaway 10 – Given an opportunity.
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” – Horace
There are a couple of problems I pondered after reading Horace’s quote:
- Prosperous circumstances [being comfortable] can work against us utilizing our greatest talents.
- Without non-prosperous circumstances, we might reach or unleash our dormant potential.
“True Character arises when you’re uncomfortable.” – Kenneth Johnson
What would you be if you took away that which made you too comfortable to see greatness? Questions like this arise when you have a focus statement. You begin to open your mind to thoughts you’d otherwise never have or ask oneself.
Takeaway 11 – Welcome some chaos.
“It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” – Chinese Proverb
Did you know that most people (51% or better) would rather sit there with a candle and match in hand and do nothing in the presence of darkness? The uncommon (49% or fewer), who accepts the chaos, will light the candle and continue the work he/she were engaged in. Don’t allow anything that you can workaround become an excuse to you being all that you can be.
Takeaway 12 – Your rainpour is coming. “When your rain comes…” What will you choose to do?
Don’t be mistaken, “the rain” is coming. What is “the rain”? The rain is the thing that comes up in life that you’d rather not have to deal with. It’s the thing that makes life a little unpleasant when viewed with a negative perspective. It’s the situations that pop-up or pop-off. It’s the unexpected calamities.
Knowing that “the rain” is coming, how are you preparing for it? I intentionally carry an extra change of clothing in my car because I never know when I’ll need to change my clothes to do something I wasn’t expecting. Just like my preparing for situations that require a change of clothing, what preparations can you make for “the rain” in your…
Life?
Home?
Career?
Job?
Religion?
Vacations?
What are you doing to prepare for “the rain” that’s coming?
Today is Friday!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this first focus statement, “Welcome the Rain.” The point of “Welcome the Rain” is to change your perspective to what may seem negative in your life so that you never again face another negative situation. We may have negative things happen to us, but remember this.
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
Until next week, share this content with your friends and family. I appreciate your support of Kerry A. Clark & Co.
[…] Welcome the Rain – Part 2 | Kerry A. Clark & Company says: September 27, 2019 at 3:09 am […]