Your attitude has everything to do with your ability to be resilient. But it’s more than just having a “positive attitude”. Having a great attitude is one thing. But let’s get more specific. In what areas should you focus on improving your attitude?
Breaking attitude down into an acrostic FOR the word Attitude will help you to remember…
A – Ambition
“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” (Ghandi)
Cultivate an ambitious attitude. Ambition is defined as “an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction”. The appropriate question here is “Who wouldn’t want ambition?” Why wouldn’t you have a desire to achieve? Why wouldn’t you want more? If you don’t want to strive to grow and achieve, then why are you here? “Be like water” as Bruce Lee has said. Take on new forms, new ambitions, new projects, new goals, new SOMETHINGS. Keep moving, as water does, so that you can always look back at yesterday, last week, and last year, and marvel at your movement and growth.
T – Tenacity
“The most successful person is the one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.” (W. Mitchell)
The most powerful person in the world, is the one who persists.
Failure is more common and plentiful than success. Everyone who has 1 success story, probably has at least 5 failures that preceded it. You can even fail at some things at the same time as you succeed at others. But you will probably fail once or twice at something.
The only thing that seems to separate the successful from the rest is an attitude of tenacity. Persist and push through. No matter what. Fall down 7 times, get up 8 as the Chinese proverb says.
Keep going. Why? Because you can’t predict next, you can only plan for now. So keep going.
T – Take Ownership
“We have to accept the consequences of every deed, word and thought throughout our lifetime.” (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)
This is simple. Have an attitude of accountability for EVERYTHING that happens in your life. Sure, sometimes things are out of your control. However, if everyone had a bag in which they could put everything in life that is “not their fault”, we would ALL have a bag that is TOO HEAVY. If you look at most of what has happened in your life and trace back the actions that led you to that point, you would probably find a choice, thought or decision that should you have changed it, would have led to a different outcome.
Own your life. Own your past and present. Do this and you will understand that YOU create your future and life as you will know it.
I – Indebtedness
“As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong with you, no matter what is wrong.” (Jon Kabat-Zinn)
YOU were a choice. Your parents chose to bring you into this world. No matter what your relationship is like with them, it is a miracle that you are here.
YOU are a miracle. And everyone else is too.
When we realize that people are God’s gift to us, and not the other way around, life changes. When we focus on all of the little things that we can do, instead of what we can’t, we adopt a spirit of gratitude and indebtedness.
We owe someone for this life. God, The Universe, Mom & Dad, the people that we share this life and planet with.
How do you pay the debt? By helping other people in as many ways as you can.
That’s life in a nutshell.
T – Time Management
Social media. ARGGGGGGHHHH!
I love the quote by John Maxwell “You will never change your life until you change something that you do daily.”
Your daily habits will determine your future. Here is what I know:
What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done.
Social media and other activities that don’t get you any closer to where you want to go MUST be monitored. We all have 24 hours a day, and even if some of it is wasted, here are 3 ways to get the most out of your day:
- Schedule Your Day
Use your Iphone or a calendar that you look at daily, and schedule what HAS to be done. Do what you NEED to do, then do what you want to do. Work by and adhere strictly to an agenda.
- Work in Timed Blocks
Studies show that we work best in 45-50 minute blocks of time. So when you have a major project that you need to work on, make a game of it. Set your watch or phone timer to 45 minutes, then get to work. When the alarm goes on, STOP! No matter what you are in the middle of, stop, break, walk around, get a snack, then get back to it. The break in the intensity of your work, no matter how small it feels, will do wonders for you when you get back to work.
- Set, Write and Read Your Goals
Humans are goal oriented. We like to work at and towards goals that we have. We are motivated when we set them. And yes, sometimes we will miss them. I’ve missed more goals than I’ve made. But the setting of goals has allowed me to accomplish more than I ever would have had I set none.
The trick is this: Set it and Forget it.
Just get in the practice of writing your goals, reading them, then getting on with the rest of your life. It’s in the dwelling on and obsessing over our goals that discourage us and cause us not to set them anymore. Trust me, I’ve had to learn this lesson the hard way. So write your goals regularly, then stay in action towards them. Don’t worry about the rest.
U – Undeniability
Have an attitude of relentlessness. When one door closes as they say, keep trying the knobs. This one is simple.
Keep on moving.
Surround yourself with people that are moving forward.
Think unrealistically at times.
Push yourself.
Keep going.
D – Development
From the moment that you were conceived, growth was inevitable. You grew from a seed to a form, a form to a baby, a baby to a child, then a teenager, and so on. Physical progression is impossible to avoid. Your body will change and progress until the day you die. You have no choice about that.
Whether you change your mind however, is up to you.
But WHY should you change your mind?
Because it makes life worth living. It gives you meaning. It energizes you.
Imagine that you started school at Grade 1, and at the end of each year you were told, “Next year you will repeat Grade 1.” That would likely disappoint you. Why? Because you want to progress to the next grade. Now imagine that you had to repeat Grade 1 for 18 years and that was your school life!
Boring!!!
But that is EXACTLY how people live their lives. They finish school then they get a job, and that’s it. Now that would be fine, if people chose exactly what they wanted to do, progressed in that job, and set new professional goals every year. But most people don’t do that. They ‘settle’ into a job that is comfortable, and never strive to be anything more.
They essentially repeat “Grade 1” for the rest of their lives.
Poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said “I know that there is room in me, for a second huge and timeless life.”
Live that way. Even in the small ways. People think that in order to grow, develop and feel alive, you have to quit your job, travel the world, and start the next Apple Corporation. It doesn’t have to be that dramatic. Just make some changes, today, in 3 areas:
- What you feed your mind
Read. Listen or watch anything on personal growth. Watch TED talks. Feed your mind with something that is interesting, not just entertaining. 5 minutes per day is a good start.
- Who you spend time with
Find someone else who wants to do something different in their life. Have a coffee with them once per month, every month, and just brainstorm some ideas. Keep each other accountable to following up on some realistic goals whose accomplishments will keep you motivated. Then discuss at least one “unrealistic” goal. What is an unrealistic goal? Ask yourself, “What would I do if I KNEW that I wouldn’t fail?” Get around different people that will stretch you to think differently and make you feel a bit uncomfortable. Why? Because your change doesn’t exist in the same place as your comfort.
- Where you spend your time
Change your surroundings at times. What is your favourite hobby? Can you engage in it somewhere else? Do you like to write? Go to a coffee shop and write. Do you like to read? Go to a library sometimes. Do you like to work at home? Rearrange your office at times. Shaking up your brain can be good for you at times. Change your environment.
E – Empathy & Love
Last but not least, apply 2 rules to your daily life:
- Always think “How can I put myself in someone else’s shoes and think about things the way that they do?”
- Is there someone that I can add value to today?
Author Cherie Carter-Scott, author of If Life is a Game, These are the Rules, says that “The only antidote to rigid judgments is compassion.”
Think of everyone as a child of God or The Universe. If that is the case, then EVERYONE is your brother or sister. No one is better than you, and you are no better than anyone else.
I remind myself of that daily. Especially when I get judgmental, which I do at times.
Everyone is my superior, as Ralph Waldo Emerson says, and in some way, I may learn from him. You can’t make someone feel important, unless you DO feel that they are important.
Spend your life trying to see things from others’ point of view, and your days asking “How can I help?” and your life will be truly great. I promise.
“And now these 3 remain: Faith, Hope and Love. But the GREATEST of these is LOVE.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:13
Attitude, and therefore your level of resilience is in your control. Choose one area from above and make me your accountability partner by answering below: what will you work on today?
