"YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE"
i rem our sec 3 POA tcher, Mr Lee Kim Tai, used to say dis phrase to 'motivate' us to do better in our a/cs.. although we din take much heed to his words.. cos he totally suck in teaching us POA.. anyway now i understand dis pharse totally.. yupz.. n it is so true.. w/o e rite attitude to do e ting u wish to accomplish, no matter how much u do, ur work wun be as gd as expected..
dis particular phrase has the following meanings...
[A dream without a positive attitude produces a daydreamer.
A positive attitude without a dream produces a pleasant person who can’t progress.
A dream together with a positive attitude produces a person with unlimited possibilities and potential.]
"WHO AND WHERE YOU ARE TODAY RESULT FROM YOUR ATTITUDE"
dis phrase.. another way of saying "you reap wad you sow"..
Your attitude not only directs your future but also affects who you are today. Psychologist-philosopher William James said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that people can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” The choices you’ve made up to now have come as the result of your attitude. Your attitude determines your actions, and your actions determine your accomplishment. You may or may not like to think about it, but the person you are and where you are today are the result of your attitude.
When you’re born, everything is out of your control: You don’t choose who your biological parents are, when and where you’re born, or any of your circumstances. But as you grow older, you start making decisions, and you become accountable for what happens in your life. In adolescence, the number of decisions you make multiplies, and by about the time you reach the end of your second decade, your choices are all your own, whether you like to admit it or not. Right now, if you’re over 21, you’re completely independent and responsible for your choices—and your attitude..
"YOUR CURRENT ATTITUDE IS A CHOICE"
Your attitude is not based on
• Circumstances: You may not be able to control what happens to you, but you are completely responsible for your reaction to what happens to you.
• Upbringing: The past is gone and outside your control. You are responsible for not allowing it to control you in the present.
• Limitations: Since everyone faces limitations of some kind— whether lack of talent, limited money, few opportunities, or poor appearance—you need to learn to live with them. As Robert Schuller said, your limitations should be guidelines, not stop signs. They should direct and guide your path on the journey, not prevent you from taking it.
• Others: No one but you is responsible for the choices you make today. You may have been hurt or abused in the past, but it’s up to you to overcome that injury—just as you would a physical one—and move beyond it.
The truth is that anyone, no matter how good the circumstances are, can find a reason to have a negative attitude. And everyone, no matter how bad the circumstances are, can find a way to maintain a good attitude.
"YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES HOW YOU APPROACH THE JOURNEY"
interesting story ther've got:
Several years ago, an experiment was performed in a school in the San Francisco Bay area. A principal called in three teachers and said, “Because you three teachers are the finest in the system and you have the greatest expertise, we’re going to give you ninety selected high-IQ students. We’re going to let you move these students through this next year at their pace and see how much they can learn.”
The three faculty members, the students, and the students’ parents thought it was a great idea. And they all especially enjoyed the school year. By the time school ended, the students had achieved from 20 to 30 percent more than the other students in the entire San Francisco Bay area.
At the end of the year, the principal called in the three teachers and told them, “I have a confession to make. You did not have ninety of the most intellectually prominent students. They were run-of the-mill students. We took ninety students at random from the system and gave them to you.
The teachers naturally concluded that their exceptional teaching skills must have been responsible for the students’ great progress.
“I have another confession,” said the principal. “You’re not the brightest of the teachers. Your names were the first three drawn out of a hat.”
Why, then, did the students and teachers perform at such an exceptional level for an entire year? The answer can be found in their attitudes. They had an attitude of positive expectation—the teachers and students believed in themselves and one another. They performed well because they believed they could.
Your attitude toward life determines life’s attitude toward you. How you think affects your approach to the success journey in a powerful way.
"What I believe about life determines
How I perceive life, which determines
What I receive from life.."
If you expect the worst, you will certainly get it. If you expect the best, even when negative circumstances come your way—and they will because a positive attitude doesn’t stop them—you can make the best of it and keep going.
"THE BETTER YOUR ATTITUDE IS, THE FARTHER YOU WILL GO"
If you talk to people in the top organizations across the country, the higher you go, the better the attitudes you’ll discover. A Fortune 500 study found that 94 percent of all the executives surveyed attributed their success more to attitude than any other factor.2 That just goes to show you that if you want to go far, have a good attitude.
Attitude affects more than just your ability to succeed in business. It affects every aspect of your life—even your health. An article about a study at King’s College Hospital in London, England. It was conducted among cancer patients who had undergone mastectomies. Researchers at the hospital tracked the progress of fifty-seven women. Of the ones who had a positive attitude when they were diagnosed with cancer, 70% of 'em were alive ten years later. But those who felt a sense of hopelessness during diagnosis, 80% had died. And ongoing medical research continues to present similar findings. You can go a lot farther in life—and live longer—with a good attitude than you can without one.
"YOUR ATTITUDE MEANS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE"
A good attitude makes it possible for you to be successful. It gives you fuel so that you want to pursue your purpose, grow to your potential, and sow seeds benefiting others. It can give you the staying power to improve. But it also makes the journey more enjoyable along the way— no matter where it takes you. As former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
You can change your attitude. You may not be able to change other things about yourself, but you can definitely make your attitude more positive. If you try, you’ll soon discover that the best helping hand is at the end of your own arm..
"SEVEN SIGNS OF A GREAT ATTITUDE"
What does it mean to have a great attitude? You’ve probably heard the old expression that a positive person sees a glass as half full instead of half empty. That’s true, but it tells only a small part of the story. I believe positive people share seven qualities:
[1. BELIEF IN SELF]
Herb True observed, “Many people succeed when others do not believe in them. But rarely does a person succeed when he does not believe in himself.” He was exactly right. Positive self-worth is a prime characteristic of a person with a good attitude.
Anyone who doesn’t believe in herself expects the worst not only of herself but also of others. If you have low self-confidence, you will likely have to struggle to focus on anything but yourself because you will always be worried about how you look, what others think about you, and whether you’re going to fail. But when you believe in yourself, you’re free to see yourself in a more objective light and focus on improving yourself and reaching your potential. And that makes all the difference. No wonder psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers said, “It is no exaggeration to say that a strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.”
[2. WILLINGNESS TO SEE THE BEST IN OTHERS]
The ability to do this with others is significant for a couple of reasons. First, you usually see in others what you expect to see. If you constantly expect and see good things in others, it’s much easier to maintain a positive attitude. Second, people generally rise to meet your level of expectation. If you treat them positively, they tend to treat you the same way. If you expect them to get the job done and you show your confidence in them, they usually succeed. And on the relatively rare occasions when people don’t treat you well, it’s easy for you not to take their behavior personally because you know you have done your best, and you can move on without letting it affect your attitude.
[3. ABILITY TO SEE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE]
Greek philosopher Plutarch wrote, “As bees extract honey from thyme, the strongest and driest of herbs, so sensible men often get advantage and profit from the most awkward circumstances.” No matter what the circumstances, positive people see opportunities everywhere. They understand that opportunities aren’t based on luck or position. They are the result of the right attitude. Opportunity exists where you find it.
[4. FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS]
Likewise, people with a positive attitude focus their time and attention on solutions, not problems. Just about anybody can see problems. That doesn’t take anything special. But positive people maintain a solution mind-set, seeing a solution in every problem and a possibility in every impossibility. As noted by Louis D. Brandeis, the Supreme Court justice after whom Brandeis University was named, “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.”
[5. Report Junk E-Mail
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HOW FAR CAN I GO?
By Dr John C Maxwell
Whenever I travel to Washington, D.C., I try my best to get to the Smithsonian Institution. I love history, especially that of the United States, and the Smithsonian houses incredible artifacts and displays from our nation’s two hundred plus years. Of all the exhibits, my favorite shows a video clip of a speech made by President John E Kennedy to Congress on May 25, 1961. Every time I see it I get goose bumps. It records the moment that Kennedy called America to execute the most incredible and improbable real-life journey ever conceived. He cast the vision for the achievement of an idea that had been written about as early as A.D. 160 by Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata and thought about for eighteen hundred years since then. Kennedy said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before [the] decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.”
With today’s popularity of science fiction stories, traveling to the moon seems almost mundane. After all, on television you can see people living in deep space or trekking around the galaxy every day of the week. But in 1961, it was just about the wildest goal imaginable. Today it would be like proposing that a person swim the Pacific Ocean from California to Japan—and back again.
Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, America was in a space race with the Soviet Union, and we were falling way behind. I was about ten years old when we heard that the USSR had launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. It felt like going to bed one night as the best athlete in your school and waking up the next morning only to find out that Babe Ruth was the new kid in class. What a shock! Then they launched Sputnik II, which carried the first space traveler, Laika the dog. And in 1959, they sent off Luna I, the first spacecraft to escape the earth’s gravitational field and fly by the moon. The Soviets seemed to be landing one knockout punch after another. They also sent the first man into space, and one of their ships made the first orbit of the earth. The Soviets were winning.
In the midst of the hopelessness of the situation, President John F. Kennedy came forward, stood before the United States Congress, and said we would see a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Most people thought it was impossible. Even some of the people running NASA thought it couldn’t be done. They were the ones who told Kennedy they wanted to do it someday, but it had been only a dream. The technology required to make it happen didn’t exist, and they weren’t sure that it could exist. But that didn’t stop Kennedy. He not only made the impossible our goal, but he gave it a deadline.
Despite all the doubts, on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 lifted off from pad 39 at Kennedy Space Center and began a journey of 244,930 miles to the moon. Four days later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Jr. landed the lunar module Eagle on the surface of the moon, and 500 million people watched on television as Armstrong took his first step into the powder-fine gray dust of the moon and uttered his famous line, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” We had done it. We had achieved the impossible! It’s unfortunate that President Kennedy didn’t live to see it.
What an awesome event in human history! You may find this hard to believe, but it was such an incredible event at the time that in the small rural community of Indiana where I lived, many people refused to accept that it was really happening. I talked to people who were convinced that the black-and-white images on their television screens were being broadcast not from the moon but from a sound stage on some secret base in the United States.
YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE
That trip shouldn’t have been possible, but it happened. Incredibly, the Soviets (and now the Russians), who were so far ahead of us in 1961, still have not put anyone on the moon. What propelled us to accomplish such a feat—and in record time? It wasn’t the strength of our technology or the Cold War threat of Soviet superiority. We put people on the moon because we believed we could do it. In the blink of an eye, John F. Kennedy’s speech took the idea of a lunar landing from an impossible dream to an obtainable target. It hardly mattered where we were technologically. A moon landing became a reality because of a change in attitude. You see, when our attitudes outdistance our abilities, even the impossible becomes possible.
I’ve talked to people who worked in the space program, and they have told me that the atmosphere was electric with expectation back then. Every day as they worked, one thought was foremost in their minds: We’re putting a man on the moon! The president’s goal contained the dream and prompted the positive attitude needed to make it happen.
That’s the power of a dream coupled with the right attitude. If you have one without the other, you can’t go very far on the journey.
• A dream without a positive attitude produces a daydreamer.
• A positive attitude without a dream produces a pleasant person who can’t progress.
• A dream together with a positive attitude produces a person with unlimited possibilities and potential.
To go far (and in the right direction), you need both. Kennedy knew that. A dream by itself won’t do it. In fact, your attitude isn’t just a necessary contributor for you to be successful. Your attitude—not intelligence, talent, education, technical ability, opportunity, or even hard work—is the main factor that determines whether you will live your dream. Attitude determines how far you can go on the success journey.
Yogi Berra, whose comments always seem to contain both humor and truth, said, “Life is like baseball; it’s 95 percent mental and the other half is physical.” Despite the unusual math, Berra knew how much the average person underestimates the role of the mind in the success process. If you have intelligence, talent, education, technical know-how, opportunities, and a strong work ethic, yet lack the right attitude, you will never enjoy the success journey. That may be a revolutionary idea to you, so I’m going to say that again: If you don’t have a good attitude, you will never enjoy the success journey. Having a good attitude makes all the difference in the world. Lowell Peacock remarked, “Attitude is the first quality that marks the successful man. If he has a positive attitude and is a positive thinker, who likes challenges and difficult situations, then he has half his success achieved.”
WHO AND WHERE YOU ARE TODAY RESULT FROM YOUR ATTITUDE
Your attitude not only directs your future but also affects who you are today. Psychologist-philosopher William James said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that people can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” The choices you’ve made up to now have come as the result of your attitude. Your attitude determines your actions, and your actions determine your accomplishment. You may or may not like to think about it, but the person you are and where you are today are the result of your attitude.
When you’re born, everything is out of your control: You don’t choose who your biological parents are, when and where you’re born, or any of your circumstances. But as you grow older, you start making decisions, and you become accountable for what happens in your life. In adolescence, the number of decisions you make multiplies, and by about the time you reach the end of your second decade, your choices are all your own, whether you like to admit it or not. Right now, if you’re over twenty-one, you’re completely responsible for your choices—and your attitude.
I read a funny story about President Abraham Lincoln that shows the relationship between our choices and their effect on who we are. An adviser to Lincoln recommended a particular person for a cabinet position, but Lincoln balked at the suggestion. He said, “I don’t like the man’s face.”
“But, sir,” said the adviser, “he can’t be held responsible for his face.”
Lincoln replied, “Every man over forty is responsible for his face.”
Who you are and how you think can be read in your face too. When you look in a mirror, if you see a sour expression, you’re seeing the outward expression of your attitude.
YOUR CURRENT ATTITUDE IS A CHOICE
Most people with bad attitudes usually point to something other than themselves to explain their problem. But you can’t rightfully blame your attitude on anything or anyone but yourself. It’s not what happens to you but what happens in you that counts. Your attitude is not based on
• Circumstances: You may not be able to control what happens to you, but you are completely responsible for your reaction to what happens to you.
• Upbringing: The past is gone and outside your control. You are responsible for not allowing it to control you in the present.
• Limitations: Since everyone faces limitations of some kind— whether lack of talent, limited money, few opportunities, or poor appearance—you need to learn to live with them. As Robert Schuller said, your limitations should be guidelines, not stop signs. They should direct and guide your path on the journey, not prevent you from taking it.
• Others: No one but you is responsible for the choices you make today. You may have been hurt or abused in the past, but it’s up to you to overcome that injury—just as you would a physical one—and move beyond it.
The truth is that anyone, no matter how good the circumstances are, can find a reason to have a negative attitude. And everyone, no matter how bad the circumstances are, can find a way to maintain a good attitude.
Take a look at the cartoon below from the popular “Crock” comic strip by Bill Rechin and Don Wilder. It illustrates the point that attitude is a choice. Background and circumstances may have had an influence on who you are, but you are responsible for who you become. What you do today determines who you’ll be tomorrow.
In his book Go for the Magic, Pat Williams recounts a story told by St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg about baseball Hall of Fame player Stan Musial, who was known as one of the game’s most consistent players. One day when Musial was playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, a teammate came into the clubhouse whistling. He turned to Stan and said, “I feel great. My home life is happy. I’m in a groove. I feel like I’m going to get two hits today. Ever feel like that, Stan?”
Smiling, Musial looked at him and said, “Every day!”
One of the greatest discoveries you can ever make is that you can change. No matter where you were yesterday or how negative your attitudes have been in the past, you can be more positive today. And that makes an incredible difference in your potential and life.
A quote over a door in the Phoenix Suns’ locker room sums up the importance of choosing a positive attitude. It came from former Boston Celtic Bill Russell. It says: “The game is scheduled, we have to play it— we might as well win.” What a wonderful insight—and from a real winner. While Russell played with the Celtics, they won an incredible eleven NBA titles in thirteen years. Having a positive attitude worked for him, and it can work for you.
YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES HOW YOU APPROACH THE JOURNEY
Several years ago, an experiment was performed in a school in the San Francisco Bay area. A principal called in three teachers and said, “Because you three teachers are the finest in the system and you have the greatest expertise, we’re going to give you ninety selected high-IQ students. We’re going to let you move these students through this next year at their pace and see how much they can learn.”
The three faculty members, the students, and the students’ parents thought it was a great idea. And they all especially enjoyed the school year. By the time school ended, the students had achieved from 20 to 30 percent more than the other students in the entire San Francisco Bay area.
At the end of the year, the principal called in the three teachers and told them, “I have a confession to make. You did not have ninety of the most intellectually prominent students. They were run-of the-mill students. We took ninety students at random from the system and gave them to you.
The teachers naturally concluded that their exceptional teaching skills must have been responsible for the students’ great progress.
“I have another confession,” said the principal. “You’re not the brightest of the teachers. Your names were the first three drawn out of a hat.”
Why, then, did the students and teachers perform at such an exceptional level for an entire year? The answer can be found in their attitudes. They had an attitude of positive expectation—the teachers and students believed in themselves and one another. They performed well because they believed they could.
Your attitude toward life determines life’s attitude toward you. How you think affects your approach to the success journey in a powerful way.
What I believe about life determines
How I perceive life, which determines
What I receive from life.
If you expect the worst, you will certainly get it. If you expect the best, even when negative circumstances come your way—and they will because a positive attitude doesn’t stop them—you can make the best of it and keep going.
THE BETTER YOUR ATTITUDE IS, THE FARTHER YOU WILL GO
If you talk to people in the top organizations across the country, the higher you go, the better the attitudes you’ll discover. A Fortune 500 study found that 94 percent of all the executives surveyed attributed their success more to attitude than any other factor.2 That just goes to show you that if you want to go far, have a good attitude.
Attitude affects more than just your ability to succeed in business. It affects every aspect of your life—even your health. I once read an article about a study at King’s College Hospital in London, England. It was conducted among cancer patients who had undergone mastectomies. Researchers at the hospital tracked the progress of fifty-seven women. Of the ones who had a positive attitude when they were diagnosed with cancer, seven out of ten were alive ten years later. But of the ones who felt a sense of hopelessness during diagnosis, eight of ten had died. And ongoing medical research continues to present similar findings. You can go a lot farther in life—and live longer—with a good attitude than you can without one.
YOUR ATTITUDE MEANS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE
A good attitude makes it possible for you to be successful. It gives you fuel so that you want to pursue your purpose, grow to your potential, and sow seeds benefiting others. It can give you the staying power to improve. But it also makes the journey more enjoyable along the way— no matter where it takes you. As former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
A while back I was playing golf with my friend Zig Ziglar, one of the most positive people I’ve ever met. And he told me a story about a boy named Jeb. Every day when Jeb was growing up, his mother would come into his room and wake him at 5:30, saying, “Jeb, it’s going to be a great day.”
But that wasn’t what the boy wanted to hear at that time in the morning. It was his job every day to go outside first thing and get coal to start the fire and heat the house. And he hated it. One day when she came in and said, “It’s going to be a great day,” Jeb snapped, “No, Mom, it’s going to be a lousy day. I’m tired. The house is cold. And I don’t want to get up and get the coal. It’s a crummy day!”
“Sweetheart,” she replied, “I didn’t know you felt that way. Why don’t you just go back to bed and get some more sleep?”
Jeb thought he had hit pay dirt. “Why didn’t I think of this before?” he asked himself.
He woke up about two hours later. The house was warm, and he could smell breakfast cooking. He rolled out of bed, put on his clothes, and went out to the kitchen table. “Boy, am I hungry,” he said. “I’m all rested up. Breakfast is already cooked. This is great.”
“Sweetheart,” his mother said, “you don’t get any food today. Remember how you said it was going to be a terrible day? As your mother, I’m going to do my best to make it a terrible day for you. You go back to your bedroom and stay there all day. You’re not allowed to come out, and you don’t get anything to eat. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 5:30.”
Jeb walked dejectedly back to his room and got into bed. And he was able to go back to sleep—for about an hour. But there was only so much sleeping a person could do. He spent the day moping around his room, getting hungrier and hungrier. And when it finally got dark, he went back to bed again and tried to sleep.
He woke up hours before daylight, and he put on his clothes. He was sitting on the edge of the bed when his mother opened the door to his room at 5:30. Before she could say a word, Jeb jumped up and said, “Mom, it’s going to be a great day!”
What was true for Jeb is also true for you. You can change your attitude. You may not be able to change other things about yourself, but you can definitely make your attitude more positive. If you try, you’ll soon discover that the best helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
SEVEN SIGNS OF A GREAT ATTITUDE
What does it mean to have a great attitude? You’ve probably heard the old expression that a positive person sees a glass as half full instead of half empty. That’s true, but it tells only a small part of the story. I believe positive people share seven qualities:
[1. BELIEF IN SELF]
Herb True observed, “Many people succeed when others do not believe in them. But rarely does a person succeed when he does not believe in himself.” He was exactly right. Positive self-worth is a prime characteristic of a person with a good attitude.
Anyone who doesn’t believe in herself expects the worst not only of herself but also of others. If you have low self-confidence, you will likely have to struggle to focus on anything but yourself because you will always be worried about how you look, what others think about you, and whether you’re going to fail. But when you believe in yourself, you’re free to see yourself in a more objective light and focus on improving yourself and reaching your potential. And that makes all the difference. No wonder psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers said, “It is no exaggeration to say that a strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.”
[2. WILLINGNESS TO SEE THE BEST IN OTHERS]
I’ve never known a positive person yet who didn’t love people and try to see the good in them. And an effective way to help you see the best in others is to do what I call putting a “10” on people’s heads. Here’s what I mean: We all have expectations of others. But we can choose whether the expectations are negative or positive. We can think that others are totally worthless or absolutely wonderful. When we make the decision to expect the best, and we look for the good instead of the bad, we’re seeing them as a “10.”
The ability to do this with others is significant for a couple of reasons. First, you usually see in others what you expect to see. If you constantly expect and see good things in others, it’s much easier to maintain a positive attitude. Second, people generally rise to meet your level of expectation. If you treat them positively, they tend to treat you the same way. If you expect them to get the job done and you show your confidence in them, they usually succeed. And on the relatively rare occasions when people don’t treat you well, it’s easy for you not to take their behavior personally because you know you have done your best, and you can move on without letting it affect your attitude.
[3. ABILITY TO SEE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE]
Greek philosopher Plutarch wrote, “As bees extract honey from thyme, the strongest and driest of herbs, so sensible men often get advantage and profit from the most awkward circumstances.” No matter what the circumstances, positive people see opportunities everywhere. They understand that opportunities aren’t based on luck or position. They are the result of the right attitude. Opportunity exists where you find it.
A statement in Success magazine made by Lois Wyse, president of Wyse Advertising, Inc., impressed me because it displayed an understanding of the importance of a positive attitude and how to apply it in everyday life. She said, “I tell my daughter, ‘Always say yes, because nothing ever happens to people who say no.”’ That can be very good business advice. It’s obvious that she believes there are opportunities waiting to be seized.
[4. FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS]
Likewise, people with a positive attitude focus their time and attention on solutions, not problems. Just about anybody can see problems. That doesn’t take anything special. But positive people maintain a solution mind-set, seeing a solution in every problem and a possibility in every impossibility. As noted by Louis D. Brandeis, the Supreme Court justice after whom Brandeis University was named, “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.”
[5. DESIRE TO GIVE]
Nothing has as much positive impact on people as giving to others. Karl Menninger, psychiatrist, author, and one of the founders of the Menninger Foundation, said, “Generous people are rarely mentally ill people.” And they are also rarely negative people. People who have a giving spirit are some of the most positive people I know, because giving is the highest level of living. They focus their time and energy on what they can give to others rather than what they can get from them. And the more people give, the better their attitude.
Most unsuccessful people don’t understand this concept. They believe that how much people give and their attitude about it are based on how much they have. But that’s not true. I know many people who have very little but are tremendous givers. And I know people who have been blessed with money, good families, and wonderful careers who are stingy and suspicious of others. It’s not what you have that makes a difference. It’s what you do with what you have. And that is based completely on attitude..
[6. PERSISTENCE]
Don B. Owens Jr. stated, “Many people fail in life because they believe in the adage: If you don’t succeed, try something else. But success eludes those who follow such advice... The dreams that have come true did so because people stuck to their ambitions. They refused to be discouraged. They never let disappointment get the upper hand. Challenges only spurred them on to greater effort.” Those characteristics—the ability to stick with it, overcome discouragement, and keep going in the face of disappointment—are all the results of a good attitude.
When you have a positive attitude, it’s easier to be persistent. If you think success is just around the corner, you keep going. When you believe everything turns out for the best, you don’t mind a little discomfort. And when everything goes haywire, you remain persistent if you have a positive attitude; after all, you believe help is already on the way.
[7. RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR LIVES]
The final characteristic of positive people is their willingness to take responsibility for their own lives. Unsuccessful people duck responsibility. But a successful person understands that nothing positive happens until you’re willing to step forward and take full responsibility for your thoughts and actions. Only when you’re responsible for yourself can you look at yourself honestly, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and begin to change.
*psst~ all these +ve attitudes stuff.. does it reminds u on the spirit of being a gd entrepretreur? lolx~!*
TOP TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR ATTITUDE IN TIP-TOP SHAPE
W. W Ziege said, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” If I could share only one thing that I possess, it would be my way of thinking, for that more than anything else has helped me the most on the success journey. Attitude has always been my greatest asset, and it can be yours too. Andrew Carnegie asserted, “The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.”
If you’re constantly in a battle to keep your attitude positive, you can use some help. Here are some tips to assist you in taking full possession of your mind and making your thinking positively powerful:
CLAIM RESPONSIBILITIES, NOT RIGHTS
A predominant source of discontent among people is caused by their fight to secure their rights. Think about your situation. Have you ever been wronged? Have there been times when you haven’t gotten everything you deserved? Your answer to these questions is almost certainly yes. We live in an imperfect world, and because of that, as long as we live, we won’t see a time when everything we do is rewarded justly.
So you’re faced with a decision. Are you going to spend your time and energy on what should have been, or are you going to focus on what can be? Even when truth and justice are on your side, you may never be able to right your wrongs. Continually fighting for your rights in an imperfect world can make you resentful, angry, hateful, and bitter. These destructive emotions tap your energy and make you negative. And besides, when you focus on your rights, you’re often looking backward rather than forward. You can’t make any progress when you’re facing the wrong way. Glenn Clark remarked, “If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.”
When you stop worrying about your rights, you turn your focus in the right direction, and you can move forward on the journey. You recognize the wrongs, but you forgive them and focus on what you can control—your responsibilities. Doing that increases your energy, builds potential, and improves your prospects.
ASSOCIATE WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE
Charles “Tremendous” Jones said that the only difference between who you are today and the person you will be in five years will come from the books you read and the people you associate with. Who you spend your time with especially influences your attitude. The old adage is true: Birds of a feather do flock together.
Think about the people you spend your time with. Although you are born into a family, and you may not be able to choose the people you work with, you can choose your closest friends. If you choose negative friends, you are also choosing to have a negative attitude. But when you spend time with positive people, you help yourself to see things in a better light. Henry Ford maintained, “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” Think about what your friends bring out in you, and if it’s not your best, it might be time for you to make some changes.
MAKE THE PRESENT MOMENT YOUR HAPPIEST
U.S. diplomat and former child star Shirley Temple Black told a story about her husband, Charles, and his mother. When Charles was a boy, he asked his mother what the happiest moment of her life was.
“This moment—right now,” she responded.
“But what about all the other happy moments in your life?” he said, surprised. “What about when you were married?”
“My happiest moment then was then,” she answered. “My happiest moment now is now. You can only really live in the moment you’re in. So to me, that’s always the happiest moment.”
Charles Black’s mother showed wisdom in that statement. Whenever you focus on the past or the future, you rob the present of its potential. But when you give your attention to what’s happening at the moment and try to have a positive attitude about it, you open yourself up to all the possibilities that the present holds.
FIND WAYS TO RELIEVE STRESS
Stress fatigues people and pushes them toward negative thinking. That’s why it’s so important to find ways to release tension and regroup mentally.
Find a positive way to release stress in your life. I recommend something active that requires both mental concentration and physical effort. Play golf, shoot darts, hit baseballs, play raquetball, dig in your garden, or go for long walks with a friend. What you do is not important as long as it relieves stress and has a positive impact on your thinking and health.
DON’T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY
I heard a story about three business professionals who were comparing ideas on what it meant to be a success. “I’d say I had arrived,” said the first, “if I were summoned to the White House for a private, personal meeting with the president of the United States.”
“To me,” said the second person, “success would mean meeting with the president in the Oval Office, having the hot line ring during our talk, and watching the president ignore it.”
“No, you’ve both got it wrong,” said the third one. “You’re a success if you’re privately consulting with the president, the hot line rings, he picks it up, and he says, ‘It’s for you.”’
The problem with many unsuccessful people is that they take themselves too seriously. They think of success in the same way the three people in the story did. But success depends more on your attitude than it does on how important you think you are. Life should be fun. Even if your job is important and should be taken seriously, that doesn’t mean you should take yourself seriously. You’ll go farther in life and have a better time doing it if you maintain a sense of humor, especially when it comes to yourself.
TAKE ACTION TO CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE
The quality of your life and the duration of your success journey depend on your attitude, and you are the only person in this world with the power to make it better. Dr. William Glasser maintained, “If you want to change attitudes, start with a change in behavior. In other words, begin to act the part, as well as you can, of the person you would rather be, the person you most want to become. Gradually, the old, fearful person will fade away.”
Change requires action. Most people wait until they feel like it to change their attitudes. But that only causes them to keep waiting because they have the whole process backward. If you wait until you feel like it to try to change your attitude, you will never change. You have to act yourself into changing.
"An act of your will
Will lead you to action;
And your positive action
Will lead to a positive attitude!"
According to Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t—you are right.” The mind, more than anything else, determines how far you can go on the success journey.
What is the condition of your attitude? Will it take you very far on the success journey?
[STEPS TO TAKE ALONG THE WAY: HOW FAR CAN I GO?
Now is a good time to take a look at your attitude. Respond to the following questions and statements as honestly as you can.
1. RIGHTS OR RESPONSIBILITIES: Which am I more likely to think and talk to others about? If the answer is “rights,” what can I do to change that attitude?
2. PEOPLE: Who is the most positive person I know? Write his or her name below. Make an appointment to talk to that person and ask what he or she does to remain positive.
3. STRESS: Name some positive ways you can relieve stress, and schedule some time in the next week to do at least one of them:
4. HUMOR: During the next week, tell at least one person a funny story about something that you recently did wrong or an incident that made you look foolish. Enjoy the joke together. (If the person is a friend and looks shocked or uncomfortable, you may have a history of taking yourself too seriously.)
5. ATTITUDE STATEMENT: Write a positive attitude creed for yourself, stating your intention to become a positive person.]
--> hope u manage to squeeze sum 'cheese' outta dis long topic.. hee~~ i happen to be a +ve gal.. so i really lyk dis attitude ting.. haha~ anyways cya peeps~~ back to projects.. now in sch library lor.. *yawns* v tired..
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