{"id":2564,"date":"2019-05-10T03:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T08:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/?p=2564"},"modified":"2019-05-16T18:06:37","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T23:06:37","slug":"life-in-stages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/life-in-stages\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Life In Stages"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to Live Life In Reverse?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Measuring Your Length of Time – Part 3<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

When you hear the word decade what does it mean to you?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>If you truly want to have a life of significance and one that makes a difference, you\u2019ll need to perform this uncommon practice of seeing your life in one big picture. \u00a0What do I mean by that, you will need to look at life with the end-in-mind. To help me with this, I\u2019ve come up with a way to put this into perspective. Let me give you way #1 of 3 in which you must view your time to get out of life what you desire. \u00a0Remember your life is a business and for this business, called \u201cyour life\u201d, to be successful you\u2019ll have to do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\"\"The Thought or Concept:<\/span>
\n<\/span>We should live life in reverse.<\/b>
\n<\/b>There\u2019s a movie called \u201cThe Curious Case Of Benjamin Button\u201d. \u00a0In this film, Benjamin is a guy who ages backwards. Can you imagine starting your life old and aging in reverse? He was born an old man and he died a baby. \u00a0He started his life knowing how much time he had to live and as the years went by he\u2019d get younger and younger. After realizing what was happening, experiencing life for all it was worth, and as the end drew nearer, he began to understand he had to make some serious choices. \u00a0He needed a plan for what happens when he is no longer able to care for himself. What plans are you making that will prepare for the time you have ahead of you? I\u2019m not just speaking of planning for retirement or senior care, but for the next stage of your life. Do you even know what the next stage is? \u00a0Let me draw out a picture for you. I like the idea this movie offers, we should live our life in reverse. Plan for how you\u2019d like to see the end of your life and begin to live it with the end in mind. To do this will require some planning.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The Practice:<\/span>
\n<\/span>The decades and their purpose<\/b>
\n<\/b>Let\u2019s pretend that life guarantees you 100 years. \u00a0If you break this down into decades, that will give you 10 decades. \u00a0That\u2019s only 10 distinct categories of time that must be accounted for. \u00a0In order to be significant and intentional you have to be aware of the decade you\u2019re in and what comes next. \u00a0Let\u2019s quickly discuss them, but keep in mind that these are generalizations. The point is to think about where you are in the timeline and put a plan together for that stage of life. \u00a0Your life can and will be different after reading this content.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 1 (Age 0-9)<\/b>: \u00a0This is what I call \u201ctrue childhood\u201d you have very little control of what happens in your life. \u00a0In fact, someone else and other outside influences are directing your path. If you\u2019re a person who has influence over someone in this decade make sure you\u2019re giving some thought to what that influence is doing to this soon to become an adult human-being.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 2 (Age 10-19)<\/b>: We will call this \u201cyour teenage years\u201d. \u00a0While most people take very little advantage of this time for planning and setting a life plan, it\u2019s generally wasted on what doesn\u2019t matter most. \u00a0This decade is the best time to begin figuring out what you\u2019re good at. While society wants to make people in this decade children or child-like, God gives you everything you need to be adult-like. \u00a0You have abilities that are at their sharpest and should be taken advantage of. It\u2019s the time period where \u201cthe child\u201d is being put away and the unique (unlike anyone else) person begins to emerge. <\/span>
\n<\/span>Most of my readers are past this time period which means 2 of the 10 decades are already behind most of those reading this content. \u00a0That leaves us with eight.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 3 (Age 20-29)<\/b>: Let\u2019s call this \u201cthe time for hard work.\u201d \u00a0I know most people in their twenties don\u2019t want to think about the hard work that\u2019s in front of them, but they should so they can better prepare for it. \u00a0In your twenties, this is when you put in much hard work whether you want to or not. You have very little of anything from money to friends. It\u2019s the time you start to build all of this, a way to earn \u00a0a career, a mission, friendships, and other pertinent relationships. <\/span>
\n<\/span>For me these days are in the rearview mirror, but in hindsight I did them very well. \u00a0I worked hard and put in the work needed to be successful in decade 3. If you find yourself over the age of 29 or it\u2019s approaching, I am glad to be the one to tell you that 3 decades are behind you and the 4th one is next. \u00a0How will you prepare? What are your plans?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 4 (Age 30-39)<\/b>: This decade begins what I call the \u201csemi-serious years.\u201d \u00a0When you hit decade 4, you\u2019re far removed from childhood, have begun a career, most have found spouses, and started families. \u00a0In this decade you\u2019ll find that it\u2019s less about you and more about others. You\u2019ll still think about yourself more than others, but the transition begins to swing in a different direction.<\/span>
\n<\/span>If you\u2019re beyond 39, then 4 decades have passed and only 6 remain. \u00a0Isn\u2019t that a sobering thought. That\u2019s why we\u2019re going through this exercise and doing our best to help you make the best out of life and the season you\u2019re in.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 5 (Age 40-49)<\/b>: \u00a0Now we\u2019re beginning to really live. \u00a0What happens in this decade is that life has a lot to offer and you have a lot to offer life. \u00a0Let\u2019s call this decade, \u201cI\u2019ve figured out how to live.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>I must warn you with only 5 decades remaining after this point, the last two decades will probably not be your most productive. \u00a0With that said, you have to consider only three extremely productive decades are in front of you at this point. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>No one gets to live and be productive forever. \u00a0That\u2019s a guarantee, so it\u2019s extremely important to make the most of the time you have to work with. \u00a0Use this decade calendar map, so that your life is all you dreamed it would be and then some. I know mine is.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 6 (50-59)<\/b>: \u00a0This decade is where you give it your best to solidify the mark you wish to leave in life and the world around. \u00a0It\u2019s at this point you begin to really think about how much of life is remaining (4 decades) and what you wish to get out of it. \u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>The purpose of this decade calendar is so that you don\u2019t allow life to happen and this moment in time to sneak up on you.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 7 (60-69)<\/b>: \u00a0This decade is the time you\u2019ve planned to live like you\u2019ve never lived before if all goes well or has gone well in preceding decades. \u00a0You also begin bringing others into what you\u2019ve built, created, and accomplished. I\u2019d like to pause here and remind you that if you fail to plan for this time period, you plan to have a not so successful decade seven.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 8 (70-79)<\/b>: \u00a0This is the time for handing it all off to empower others.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 9 (80-89):<\/b> \u00a0What will you do now? \u00a0There\u2019s no time to play catch up.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Decade 10 (90-99)<\/b>: \u00a0If and when you have decades 8-10, these are the decades that don\u2019t happen as often for some and life gives us no promises. \u00a0Not to say you won\u2019t reach decades 8-10. I believe for those who reach them and are in them, planning is even more important. \u00a0Notice how I\u2019ve bunched decades 8-10 together? If God has given you this much life, I know you want to make the best of it. Your primary focus should be on the current decade you\u2019re in and you\u2019re to be reminded to \u201cnumber your days\u201d so that you live life while you have it to live.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In the words of John Maxwell, \u201cMany have stopped living before they die; they just haven\u2019t made it official. \u00a0I\u2019m going to live until I die.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Today is Friday!<\/span>
\n<\/span>No matter where you might be in my decade calendar map, don\u2019t look back at the decades that have gone by, look only at the ones that lie ahead. \u00a0When you understand what\u2019s in front of you and how much time it gives you, you then know how to treat today. In our next message, we\u2019ll discuss what I learned from the decades that have passed and what I plan to do with those ahead of me. \u00a0Until next week, I ask that you share this message with as many as you can.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Family Plan Binder<\/a>\"\"<\/a> is available now!

<\/p>\nOur team has worked very hard putting it together. We designed it to help you and your family move the needle forward in making your life your business. \nFind out more about the Family plan here.<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this web-post, I lay out what I call my \u201cdecade calendar\u201d. This calendar gives you a bird\u2019s eye view of what to make of one\u2019s life. You should try planning and giving some thought to how you do life based on decades. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,24],"tags":[139],"class_list":{"0":"post-2564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-measuring-your-length-of-time","8":"category-office-administration","9":"tag-decade-calendar","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190510-TIF-Blog-Your-Life-In-Stages.png?fit=760%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4jb7V-Fm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2568,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564\/revisions\/2568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}