{"id":2778,"date":"2019-09-27T03:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T08:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/?p=2778"},"modified":"2019-09-26T09:16:37","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T14:16:37","slug":"welcome-the-rain2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/welcome-the-rain2\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome the Rain – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Art of Having a Positive Perspective<\/span><\/h2>\n

Living A Life of Focus – Part 2<\/span><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s continue where we left off on our last message, \u201c<\/span>Welcome the Rain – Part 1<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 You get to set your own pace when it comes to establishing your focus statement for the year.\u00a0 You can review it daily, weekly, or as often as you desire, as long as you give it some focused time throughout your year.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Thought or Concept:<\/span>
\n<\/span>Speaking of books, we\u2019re continuing with our takeaways from the book we love called \u201c<\/span>Welcome the Rain<\/span><\/a>\u201d.\u00a0 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 <\/span>focus statement<\/span><\/a> component to <\/span>how we market ourselves<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>Welcome The Rain is <\/span>a reminder<\/span> to me,
\n<\/span>and a gift to us all,\u00a0 that
\n<\/span>we\u2019ve been given the opportunity to choose our attitudes.\u201d \u2013 Eric Harvey<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Practice:<\/span>
\n<\/span>Let\u2019s pick up right where we left off with the remaining six takeaways we have from \u201cWelcome the Rain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Takeaway 7 – We need reminding.<\/strong>\u00a0 Every person needs that occasional reminder to stay on track.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We then ask, \u201chow did I end up here?\u201d Don\u2019t let this be you. Create what I call triggers, similar to how I use <\/span>my favorite words<\/span><\/a> to help me remain where I truly want to be-on course.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Here are two perspectives regarding having the right perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n

The common perspective: Ordinary, average, normal individuals are those who don\u2019t have anything in place to remind them or keep them accountable to having the right perspective.\u00a0 They are the ones who drift off course.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 You take the appropriate measures to monitor where you are so while you might drift slightly, you don\u2019t drift away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Takeaway 8 – Given an opportunity.<\/strong>\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t consider the fact that they are given an opportunity to make a choice.\u00a0 The word opportunity implies that it\u2019s not forced upon you. It also means that you could possibly miss it or even overlook it.\u00a0 In the \u201cA\u201d 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to choose.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The common perspective: Normally we feel the pressures of life and may also feel as if our choices are taken away.\u00a0 Just by the fact that others bring us problems, situations, and even pain-points, it\u2019s easy to feel as if it\u2019s not our choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I have a friend who challenged my thinking upon meeting him.\u00a0 He is a firm believer that everything is your choice. I originally thought like most, common, that I didn\u2019t have a choice.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Takeaway 9 – The Growth Challenge and Benefit.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.\u201d ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How can this be beneficial?\u00a0 Once you know, you can never again not know.\u00a0 The capacity for you to learn and grow is endless.\u00a0 You are forever changed. Knowledge doesn’t lose power or it’s power.\u00a0 You simply become something different. You can no longer see the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can this be a challenge?\u00a0 There are somethings you don’t need to know, but once you do, you can never not know.\u00a0 You are changed forever. There is no undoing or going back. You can become something different.\u00a0 You no longer see the same nor will you be free of the knowledge you\u2019ve gained. <\/span>
\n<\/span>So take caution when stretching yourself.\u00a0 Be intentional; be focused.<\/span><\/p>\n

Takeaway 10 – Given an opportunity.<\/b>
\n<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in <\/span>prosperous circumstances<\/span> would have lain dormant.\u201d – Horace<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

There are a couple of problems I pondered after reading Horace\u2019s quote:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Prosperous circumstances [being comfortable] can work against us utilizing our greatest talents.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Without non-prosperous circumstances, we might reach or unleash our dormant potential.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    “<\/span><\/i>True Character arises when you’re uncomfortable.<\/span>” – Kenneth Johnson<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    What would you be if you took away that which made you too comfortable to see greatness?\u00a0 Questions like this arise when you have a focus statement. You begin to open your mind to thoughts you\u2019d otherwise never have or ask oneself.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Takeaway 11 – Welcome some chaos.<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>“<\/span><\/i>It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” – Chinese Proverb<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    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?\u00a0 The uncommon (49% or fewer), who accepts the chaos, will light the candle and continue the work he\/she were engaged in. Don\u2019t allow anything that you can workaround become an excuse to you being all that you can be.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Takeaway 12 – Your rainpour is coming.\u00a0 <\/strong>\u201c<\/span><\/i>When your rain comes…\u201d<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 What will you choose to do?<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0Don’t be mistaken, “the rain” is coming.\u00a0 What is “the rain”? The rain is the thing that comes up in life that you’d rather not have to deal with.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It’s the unexpected calamities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Knowing that “the rain” is coming, how are you preparing for it?\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Just like my preparing for situations that require a change of clothing, what preparations can you make for “the rain” in your\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

    Life?
    \n<\/span>Home?
    \n<\/span>Career?
    \n<\/span>Job?
    \n<\/span>Religion?
    \n<\/span>Vacations?<\/span><\/p>\n

    What are you doing to prepare for “the rain” that’s coming?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Today is Friday!
    \n<\/span>I hope you\u2019ve enjoyed this first focus statement, \u201cWelcome the Rain.\u201d\u00a0 The point of \u201cWelcome the Rain\u201d is to change your perspective to what may seem negative in your life so that you never again face another negative situation.\u00a0 We may have negative things happen to us, but remember this.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u201cLife is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.\u201d – Charles R. Swindoll<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    Until next week, share this content with your friends and family.\u00a0 I appreciate your support of <\/span>Kerry A. Clark & Co.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/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, we conclude focus-statement-one which is based on one of our favorite books, \u201cWelcome the Rain.\u201d This focus statement has taught us how to have a positive perspective even in the face of what under normal conditions would be considered negative situations. Check it out for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2779,"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":[303,26,253],"tags":[65,254],"class_list":{"0":"post-2778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-living-a-life-of-focus","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-marketing-campaign-for-your-life","10":"tag-focus-statement","11":"tag-marketing","12":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/20190924-TIF-Blog-Welcome-the-Rain-Part-2.png?fit=760%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4jb7V-IO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2778","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=2778"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2782,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2778\/revisions\/2782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}