Attitude change requires attitude actions

You are the sole architect of your attitude, whether positive or negative. It’s your choice.

I define attitude as ‘the way you dedicate yourself to the way you think’. Negative or positive thinking is a choice and a process.

Negative is (unfortunately) an instinctive process, while positive is a learned self-discipline that must be studied and practised every day.

To achieve a positive attitude, you must take physical, verbal, and mental actions. Here are a few short chunks of attitude ‘awareness and actions’ that will help put you (or keep you) on the positive path.

1. Admit that attitude is no-one’s fault but yours. The more you blame others, the less chance you have to think positive thoughts, see a positive solution, or take positive action towards solution. The opposite of blame is responsibility. Your first responsibility is to control your inner thoughts and thought directions.

2. Understand you always have (had) a choice. Attitude is a choice, and most people select from the negative column. Reason? Negative is more pervasive in society and media. It’s more natural to blame and defend than it is to admit and take responsibility. Ask any politician.

3. If you think it’s ok, it is; if you think it’s not ok, it’s not. Your thoughts direct your attitude to a path.

4. Invest time, don’t spend it. Ignore the media you cannot control; find a project, or make a plan to sell something, or meet with someone who buys (or teaches) instead. Spend (invest) an hour a day working at or studying anything, and in five years you will be a world-class expert.

5. Study the thoughts and writings of positive people. Read Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich, twice. Read The Power of Positive Thinking. They are priceless, timeless gems of wisdom that you can convert to your own success thoughts. The secret is to read a little each morning.

6. Check your language; they are just words, but they are a reflection of how your mind sees things, and an indication of how you process thoughts.

8. Avoid confrontational and negative words. The worst ones are ‘why’, ‘can’t’, and ‘won’t’.

9 Say why you like things and people, not why you don’t.

Think about your winning and losing words. Be aware of ‘loser’ phrases and expressions. Lose with: ‘They don’t pay me enough to’ or ‘that’s not my job’. If you say, “I'm not 'cause he's not,” who loses? Think ‘learn’, ‘lessons’, ‘experience’, ‘help’, and ‘solutions’ before you make a statement.

10. Celebrate victory and defeat. In my early days of selling I would go to a department store and buy myself something every time I made a sale. It made me feel great. When I started to buy myself something after I lost a sale, too, it felt great. After a while I was feeling great all the time. Winning and losing are part of life and apart from attitude.

11. Visit a children’s hospital. Get comfortable with the plight of others, and feel good about the minuteness of your problems compared with theirs.

12. Count your blessings every day. Make the list as long as you can. Start with health if you are fortunate enough to have it. Add the love of children and family. From there it’s easy to build the list.

And then there are those Eureka moments. Many (many) years ago I was riding down the road listening to a tape by Earl Nightingale (one of the founding fathers of personal development). The topic was enthusiasm.

“Enthusiasm comes from the Greek entheos meaning the God within,” Earl said.

Eureka. All of a sudden all the other quotes and advice made sense. The strength of self-belief is within your own spirit, if you hunger for the feeling.

Want an instant lesson? Go out and buy a copy of The Little Engine That Could. Read it regularly. It’s not a book for kids; it’s a philosophy for a lifetime.

Positive attitude is a self-imposed blessing. And it is my greatest hope that you discover that truth and bless yourself forever.

Jeffrey Gitomer is an American author, professional speaker and business trainer, who writes and lectures internationally on sales, customer loyalty and personal development.

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