Have You Checked Your Attitude Lately?
”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." -Thomas Jefferson
How true is that statement? Ever achieve anything you knew you could not? It is highly unlikely. Our attitude is a key driver in what we choose to achieve or choose not to achieve. Unfortunately, attitude alone will not get us across the finish line. We cannot always will our way to victory, but I am certain we can will our way to defeat.
What is Attitude?
Attitude is the way you look at life. It is the way you choose to see and respond to events, situations, people, and yourself. Your attitude is not something that happens to you. You choose your attitude. Your attitude is created by your thoughts, and you choose your thoughts. You are the architect of your frame of mind. You decide how you will perceive and process the events of life and work. You make the decision if your mindset is positive or negative. If you want to feel better you have to think better. In order to be positive in the way you feel, it is necessary to be disciplined in the way you think.
Three Quick Things that Can Help Improve Your Outlook and Attitude
Need a way to improve your mood and your attitude? Here are three simple things you can do anytime in less than 10 to 15 minutes to help you pause and take a fresh perspective.
Write down two to three things you are grateful for right now. What have you taken for granted lately that you should be thankful for? Think about what those mean to you. I bet this will put a smile on your face.
Get some fresh air. Go for a walk, get outside and get away from whatever it is you are doing right now. Take time to specifically notice things around you. The temperature; hot or cold or just right? A cool breeze. The smells in the air. The clouds and the patterns they are forming - yes, look for cloud animals. Take some deep breaths. Relax for a few moments as you walk around. Take notice of your surroundings and all the wonderful things that we tend to walk by every day.
Drink some water or eat something healthy. Again, do this purposefully. Don’t just grab a ‘snack’ and jump right back into something. Enjoy the cool water as you sip it down. Taste and enjoy some fruit or nuts or your favorite energy bar. Think about that water coming from a mountain spring. Rain falls from the sky, and is filtered through the land and rivers to be cleaned. Now, you are enjoying its refreshing feeling as you drink it. (I do understand that not everyone has mountain spring water in their faucet or access to bottled water at any given point. But, just imagine it.) If you are eating some fruit, think about how that started. A seed, in the ground, surrounded by dirt. The dirt and rain from the sky nourishes it. Finally, growing into a plant and a flower that becomes the very thing you are now enjoying. When you think of it that way, it sure seems as though anything is possible.
Attitude is a muscle
Attitude is like the muscles in our body they will begin to remember what has been done in the past. If we are constantly looking at things with a negative attitude, it becomes all we remember. But if we are working on flexing our attitude muscle and working it positively on a regular basis, it grows and strengthens. That will spread and impact your ability to lead and influence others around you.Performance begins within you. Your mind has enormous power. Indeed, your mind is your most important performance resource. How you see and respond to the events of life and work is shaped by your mindset and patterns of thinking. Therefore, an essential key to success is to train your mind and use it wisely.
Attitude is always a choice. How we get to that choice and what people see and feel from us is something that we can always be working on. It is like anything else that is important or gets measured. Ensure you take a moment to check your attitude.
What does your current attitude meter read?
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