Would you want to have an employee who is extremely good at his or her job but has a bad attitude or an average employee who has a positive attitude? Experienced CEOs understand that bad attitudes can reduce the effectiveness of their organization. Skills can be taught. Attitude is difficult to change.
People with positive attitudes are winners. They build an environment that values employees, suppliers and customers. They think positively. The words don't and can't are not in their vocabulary.
How do we identify winners? It is hard to tell by casual observation. Winners dress the same as everyone else, eat at the same restaurants and work at the same companies. Successful people come in all personality types, physical characteristics and professions. We identify them by their attitudes, behaviors and results.
Winners don't give up. The sad truth about people who give up is they are just as capable as those who don't. The main difference is their attitude.
Conscious thoughts precede actions. By choosing our thoughts, we act our way into certain circumstances. Positive attitudes help us be more productive. We are who we think we are. If we think we can, we can. If we think we can't, we can't. Attitude Defined
What is an attitude? Some say it's a mindset, a way of thinking, which is partly right. In simple terms, an attitude is a habit of thought. Usually we think of habits as behaviors; the way we do something. Habits can be mental as well. Therefore an attitude is our habitual way of looking at our world.
We develop attitude habits through conditioning. Conditioning begins at a very early age and continues throughout our lives. Sometimes our conditioning is negative, for instance a mother's admonitions to a young child. This negativity may generate many self imposed limitations.
The elephant provides a simple example. An elephant is staked to the ground. As a baby it isn't strong enough to remove the stake. Later when the elephant is full grown and could easily pull the stake, it doesn't because it "knows" it can't.
Our attitudes are the key to our health, relationships, happiness and achievements. They determine how we live and whether we succeed in life.
We control our attitudes. We alone have the responsibility to shape our life. Walt Kelly said: "We have met the enemy and they is us. We are all that is holding us back."
Attitudes of Winners
Winners have many positive attitudes. Three that are particularly important in professional lives are enthusiasm, persistence and desire.
Enthusiasm produces the confidence that announces to the world, "I have what it takes."
Enthusiasm is often misunderstood. It is frequently confused with the temporary exuberance seen at sporting events.
Long lasting enthusiasm is different. It is a confident commitment, a wholehearted action, an ardent belief. When you possess enthusiasm life is more enjoyable and work is always part play no matter how demanding. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Persistence is critical. Faced with difficulties, you can quit or keep pushing on. The choice is yours. But if you want to be a winner you will stay with the task and see it through.
Modern technology has taught us to expect instant gratification. We become discouraged if we have to wait. Many people give up when faced with delay. Time, dedication and commitment are always the minimum price tag we pay to complete projects that are important.
How do we project persistence? Never, never, never give up!
Intense desire creates opportunities and reveals new personal talents. Desire is much more than wishing or wanting. Desire differentiates between mature commitment and unfocused daydreaming.
Those who lack desire are always too busy to do what needs to be done. Desire pushes you to work harder in a positive sense. People with strong desire understand the pure joy of work. Their success comes not at the end of a battle, but as the culmination of a game. Every day they work towards their long range goals, reinforcing their desire to do more and do it better each day.
Desire is the attitude that transforms us from average to outstanding achievers.
Attitude and Work Environment
Many employees believe that their employer is solely responsible for the conditions that lead to job enjoyment. This is only partially true. Both the employer and employees have a shared responsibility for building positive workplace expectations.
Yes, the company and management have responsibility. Effective CEOs build a culture where people want to work and want to excel. They ensure, by leading with a Servant's Heart, that their employees feel appreciated and know the company has their personal best interests in mind.
Employees also have responsibilities. If they have a positive productive attitude they will to be happy. Conversely those who always complain create an environment that drags their coworkers down. Employees are responsible for creating their personal satisfaction on their job.
Employees with positive attitudes make their work environment a positive experience. They strive for an attitude of excellence and exude excellence in the way they work.
They go the extra mile. Instead of thinking "I did my part, someone else dropped the ball," they ensure a positive outcome by refusing to accept the alternative.
We can choose to do the minimum required or we can decide to excel. This decision to make a difference is a personal attitude that desires us to be the best we can be.
Summary
Experienced leaders understand how positive attitudes play an important part in driving the success of their organization. They build a culture where positive people can thrive and reach their personal goals. These leaders understand that when both the organization and employees reach their goals great accomplishments are possible.
People with positive attitudes are winners. They think "I can," not "I can't."
Attitudes are the mental habits through which we view our world. They are key to all the success and happiness we gain in our personal and professional lives.
People with positive attitudes overcome problems. They don't accept mediocrity. They view their work as a game helping them reach their long term goals.
People with positive mental attitudes exhibit personal leadership. Regardless of their professional responsibilities, they live their lives in a manner that inspires others.
James Boehm
Showing posts with label attitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attitude. Show all posts
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
7 Keys to Having a Positive Attitude
Why do some people have such a great attitude and others a negative one? Well, I wondered the same thing and through my research I found seven keys that those with a positive mental attitude all share. How do you rate?
1) Choose Your Attitude in Advance:
When you wake up, you have a choice. You can be in a good mood or a bad mood. You also choose your attitude. You can wake up and mutter to yourself, "This is gonna be a cruddy day," or you can tell yourself, "This is gonna be a great day!" This choice is the start of a great attitude.
2) Visualize Success:
Runners in the Boston Marathon picture themselves crossing the finish line. Picture yourself having a successful day. Self-visualization is a key factor in having a positive mental attitude. Will it work 100% of the time? I wish it would. However, by visualizing your success, you'll be able to have a better handle on what does happen, and having a better chance of making it happen.
3) Demonstrate Humor, Energy, and Enthusiasm:
We call these three items the magic ingredients. Without them, creating a positive mental attitude will be difficult. There is normally humor in every situation. Finding it is key. Sometimes you'll need to stretch and dig a little deeper to find the humor in a situation. But once you do, you'll feel so much better. Energy is important because without some energy in your attitude, you'll be dragging behind everyone. Energy is closely related to the third ingredient, enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is contagious; let's start an epidemic!
4) Resist Negative Influences:
It's a fact. When we have a negative experience with a company, we'll tell more people about it than if we have a good experience with the same company. Many times, when you hear that someplace wasn't very good, you'll believe the person who told you and choose not to do business with that company. However, you may only be hearing half the story. Check things out for yourself. Especially if the negativity involves a person you work with or know. We've all heard negative things about someone we didn't know and then when we had the opportunity to meet them ourselves, we find that they're not as bad as someone had alluded to. In fact they might be nice, but you need to be the judge. Take negativity out of your life. Steer clear of those who drag you down and say negative things. Being around other positive people is a good start.
5) Be a Whatever-it-Takes Person:
This means, be a problem solver. Life is going to put obstacles in front of all of us. How we go around those obstacles is key. There's normally a good answer to every problem put in front of us. Dale Carnegie said it best. Ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that can happen here?" Then move up from that.
6) Embrace Change:
Expect it and Accept it: Some people are very good at handling change and some resist it. The major key to handling change is to accept it; deal with it. In most cases there's little we can do to stop it anyway.
7) Be Grateful for What You Have:
Many people have so much and yet those same people are often the ones that constantly complain. Why wait for some life-altering experience to be grateful? Be grateful, now.
These are the seven keys to having a positive mental attitude. Put them into practice and you will be amazed at the difference they can make.
James Boehm
1) Choose Your Attitude in Advance:
When you wake up, you have a choice. You can be in a good mood or a bad mood. You also choose your attitude. You can wake up and mutter to yourself, "This is gonna be a cruddy day," or you can tell yourself, "This is gonna be a great day!" This choice is the start of a great attitude.
2) Visualize Success:
Runners in the Boston Marathon picture themselves crossing the finish line. Picture yourself having a successful day. Self-visualization is a key factor in having a positive mental attitude. Will it work 100% of the time? I wish it would. However, by visualizing your success, you'll be able to have a better handle on what does happen, and having a better chance of making it happen.
3) Demonstrate Humor, Energy, and Enthusiasm:
We call these three items the magic ingredients. Without them, creating a positive mental attitude will be difficult. There is normally humor in every situation. Finding it is key. Sometimes you'll need to stretch and dig a little deeper to find the humor in a situation. But once you do, you'll feel so much better. Energy is important because without some energy in your attitude, you'll be dragging behind everyone. Energy is closely related to the third ingredient, enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is contagious; let's start an epidemic!
4) Resist Negative Influences:
It's a fact. When we have a negative experience with a company, we'll tell more people about it than if we have a good experience with the same company. Many times, when you hear that someplace wasn't very good, you'll believe the person who told you and choose not to do business with that company. However, you may only be hearing half the story. Check things out for yourself. Especially if the negativity involves a person you work with or know. We've all heard negative things about someone we didn't know and then when we had the opportunity to meet them ourselves, we find that they're not as bad as someone had alluded to. In fact they might be nice, but you need to be the judge. Take negativity out of your life. Steer clear of those who drag you down and say negative things. Being around other positive people is a good start.
5) Be a Whatever-it-Takes Person:
This means, be a problem solver. Life is going to put obstacles in front of all of us. How we go around those obstacles is key. There's normally a good answer to every problem put in front of us. Dale Carnegie said it best. Ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that can happen here?" Then move up from that.
6) Embrace Change:
Expect it and Accept it: Some people are very good at handling change and some resist it. The major key to handling change is to accept it; deal with it. In most cases there's little we can do to stop it anyway.
7) Be Grateful for What You Have:
Many people have so much and yet those same people are often the ones that constantly complain. Why wait for some life-altering experience to be grateful? Be grateful, now.
These are the seven keys to having a positive mental attitude. Put them into practice and you will be amazed at the difference they can make.
James Boehm
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Your Attitude is Everything
Have you heard the saying, "Attitude Is Everything"? While attitude might not really be "everything", it is the single most significant determining factor of success in many situations.
Here's how it works:
Change your attitude and you automatically change:
1. your perspective
2. the way you interpret things
3. the decisions you make
4. the actions you take
5. the results you get
Changing your attitude can get you there more quickly, but it can also get you there in style, enjoying the ride more fully. This short cut is for everyone, because even if you have a great attitude already, it could always be better. It doesn't matter if you have a little goal or a massive dream, a small annoyance or a huge problem, shifting your attitude will help, and it might just radically transform your situation.
People tend to think of an attitude as being simply positive or negative. However, there are infinite possibilities such as: warm, friendly, confident, determined, unstoppable, silly, playful, easy-going, outrageous, peaceful, open-minded, compassionate, optimistic, and all of their negative counterparts. You can ultimately become very creative and experiment with different attitudes for different situations, which will lead you to being more powerful and effective.
Here's the problem. We often think it's hard or impossible to change our attitudes, so we don't try. The truth is that it's easy to change your attitude, if you know how.
Another big problem is that we tend to think our attitude is born of the situation. We think our attitude is the right attitude for the way things are. Therefore, our attitude goes unexamined and unquestioned. Almost everybody is guilty of this, however, our attitude is completely optional and flexible. It is possible to have any attitude in any situation, and there are no ultimate "right" attitudes for particular situations.
We also tend to think of our attitudes as part of our identities. We think, "It's just the way I am." We tend to think of our personalities as static things. In fact, when faced with a new challenge or situation, we make split second decisions about how to respond, and what attitude to adopt, based on our idea of "who we think we are". In this way, we perpetually re-create our attitudes, whether they be negative and disempowering or positive and self-empowering. While our personalities, and the attitudes that go with them, may appear to be somewhat static, they only appear that way because we keep making the same choices (often unconsciously) over and over again, moment to moment. The truth is that you can change "who you're being", and you can change your attitude, at any moment.
How To Shift Your Attitude
Intention: Decide what attitude you want to have, then set your intention to adopt that attitude. Frequently, this is all that is necessary to shift your attitude dramatically.
Break Your Pattern: If you catch yourself with a bad attitude, it can be useful to do something radical and surprising to break your pattern: jump up and down, dance in a circle, poor ice water over your head, sing at the top of your lungs, whistle a silly tune, put on some great music, or whatever to break your pattern. Then create a fresh attitude.
Role Models: Find people who are getting the kinds of results you would like to be getting. Watch them carefully to see what kind of attitude they have and how they express that attitude. Copy them.
Surround Yourself With Positive People: Attitudes are contagious. Who you surround yourself with and spend time with is probably influencing your attitudes way more than you are consciously aware. Enough said.
Ask Better Questions: We are constantly asking ourselves questions. Most of the time this is not a very conscious process. For example, something bad happens and we ask ourselves, "Why me?" Our minds start to find answers to that question, effectively building a case for why bad things happen to us, leading to a bad attitude, leading to more bad things happening. Make a list of the most empowering questions you can think of, and ask those instead. The possibilities are infinite.
Here are a few to get you started:
1) How can I turn this problem into an opportunity?
2) What would I do if I was already very successful?
3) Who do I need to be to achieve my dream?
4) What would my future (successful) self do?
Fake It Till You Make It: If adopting a new attitude feels difficult or awkward, just fake it till you make it. It really works. Act as if you have that attitude. Walk like someone with that attitude. Talk like they would talk. Breathe like they would breathe. Make the decisions they would make, etc.
Expose Yourself To Empowering Messages: Feeding your mind positive messages on a regular basis can really impact your attitude. You can read books, listen to recordings, go to seminars, etc.
Meditation: One of the things meditation is great for is supporting you to slow down and notice that your personality is not so static. Your personality, and the attitudes that accompany it, are something that you generate from moment to moment. This is an empowering realization.
Play With Perspectives: If you have a problem or a goal that you're not making enough progress on, it can be useful to play with perspectives. This loosens up your attitude, and helps you discover new possible attitudes. Get creative and try looking at your situation from several different perspectives.
For example, you can ask yourself:
1) What would a child's perspective be?
2) An elders?,
3) How would I approach this if I knew I could not fail,
4) What would Jesus/Buddha do?,
5) What would be the CEO's perspective?,
6) What would an expert think?,
7) What is the customer's perspective,
8) What would be the perspective of a wealthy person?,
9) A poor person,
10) What would (person you admire) do?,
11) What would my future self say?, etc... the possibilities are endless.
Give Up Reasons and Excuses:
This is a big one. We tend to stubbornly hold on to our attitudes. They become habits. We learn to justify them. We have reasons and excuses for them. You can choose to give up all of your reasons and excuses. Just give them up. Would you rather have your reasons and excuses, or would you rather get results?
Reminders: Write the attitude you want to adopt on a post-it note and put it somewhere so that you'll see it regularly. Ask a friend to remind you. Set an alarm that goes off every hour, etc. You get the idea.
Change Your Belief: If the above techniques don't work, you probably have an underlying negative belief that needs changing. For example, imagine a woman who believes all men are lying cheats. She would have a very hard time trying to create a positive attitude about dating. The above techniques will work to change most negative beliefs, but sometimes changing a stubborn belief requires stronger measures. However, that is the topic of a future article.
Exercise - Creating An Empowering Attitude
Step 1: Choose either a goal that you are having trouble achieving, or a stubborn problem that won't seem to go away. Write it down.
Step 2: Write down your current attitude or attitudes about this goal or problem
Step 3: Decide what attitude you want to have. Write it down. If choosing a new attitude is not easy, use the above technique: "Play With Perspective" to explore new possibilities.
Step 4: Set your intention to adopt the new attitude. Choose one or more of the above techniques to support you in adopting the new attitude. Write down the technique(s) you will use.
James Boehm
Daily Dose Of Good
Every Month A Million
8K A Week
Here's how it works:
Change your attitude and you automatically change:
1. your perspective
2. the way you interpret things
3. the decisions you make
4. the actions you take
5. the results you get
Changing your attitude can get you there more quickly, but it can also get you there in style, enjoying the ride more fully. This short cut is for everyone, because even if you have a great attitude already, it could always be better. It doesn't matter if you have a little goal or a massive dream, a small annoyance or a huge problem, shifting your attitude will help, and it might just radically transform your situation.
People tend to think of an attitude as being simply positive or negative. However, there are infinite possibilities such as: warm, friendly, confident, determined, unstoppable, silly, playful, easy-going, outrageous, peaceful, open-minded, compassionate, optimistic, and all of their negative counterparts. You can ultimately become very creative and experiment with different attitudes for different situations, which will lead you to being more powerful and effective.
Here's the problem. We often think it's hard or impossible to change our attitudes, so we don't try. The truth is that it's easy to change your attitude, if you know how.
Another big problem is that we tend to think our attitude is born of the situation. We think our attitude is the right attitude for the way things are. Therefore, our attitude goes unexamined and unquestioned. Almost everybody is guilty of this, however, our attitude is completely optional and flexible. It is possible to have any attitude in any situation, and there are no ultimate "right" attitudes for particular situations.
We also tend to think of our attitudes as part of our identities. We think, "It's just the way I am." We tend to think of our personalities as static things. In fact, when faced with a new challenge or situation, we make split second decisions about how to respond, and what attitude to adopt, based on our idea of "who we think we are". In this way, we perpetually re-create our attitudes, whether they be negative and disempowering or positive and self-empowering. While our personalities, and the attitudes that go with them, may appear to be somewhat static, they only appear that way because we keep making the same choices (often unconsciously) over and over again, moment to moment. The truth is that you can change "who you're being", and you can change your attitude, at any moment.
How To Shift Your Attitude
Intention: Decide what attitude you want to have, then set your intention to adopt that attitude. Frequently, this is all that is necessary to shift your attitude dramatically.
Break Your Pattern: If you catch yourself with a bad attitude, it can be useful to do something radical and surprising to break your pattern: jump up and down, dance in a circle, poor ice water over your head, sing at the top of your lungs, whistle a silly tune, put on some great music, or whatever to break your pattern. Then create a fresh attitude.
Role Models: Find people who are getting the kinds of results you would like to be getting. Watch them carefully to see what kind of attitude they have and how they express that attitude. Copy them.
Surround Yourself With Positive People: Attitudes are contagious. Who you surround yourself with and spend time with is probably influencing your attitudes way more than you are consciously aware. Enough said.
Ask Better Questions: We are constantly asking ourselves questions. Most of the time this is not a very conscious process. For example, something bad happens and we ask ourselves, "Why me?" Our minds start to find answers to that question, effectively building a case for why bad things happen to us, leading to a bad attitude, leading to more bad things happening. Make a list of the most empowering questions you can think of, and ask those instead. The possibilities are infinite.
Here are a few to get you started:
1) How can I turn this problem into an opportunity?
2) What would I do if I was already very successful?
3) Who do I need to be to achieve my dream?
4) What would my future (successful) self do?
Fake It Till You Make It: If adopting a new attitude feels difficult or awkward, just fake it till you make it. It really works. Act as if you have that attitude. Walk like someone with that attitude. Talk like they would talk. Breathe like they would breathe. Make the decisions they would make, etc.
Expose Yourself To Empowering Messages: Feeding your mind positive messages on a regular basis can really impact your attitude. You can read books, listen to recordings, go to seminars, etc.
Meditation: One of the things meditation is great for is supporting you to slow down and notice that your personality is not so static. Your personality, and the attitudes that accompany it, are something that you generate from moment to moment. This is an empowering realization.
Play With Perspectives: If you have a problem or a goal that you're not making enough progress on, it can be useful to play with perspectives. This loosens up your attitude, and helps you discover new possible attitudes. Get creative and try looking at your situation from several different perspectives.
For example, you can ask yourself:
1) What would a child's perspective be?
2) An elders?,
3) How would I approach this if I knew I could not fail,
4) What would Jesus/Buddha do?,
5) What would be the CEO's perspective?,
6) What would an expert think?,
7) What is the customer's perspective,
8) What would be the perspective of a wealthy person?,
9) A poor person,
10) What would (person you admire) do?,
11) What would my future self say?, etc... the possibilities are endless.
Give Up Reasons and Excuses:
This is a big one. We tend to stubbornly hold on to our attitudes. They become habits. We learn to justify them. We have reasons and excuses for them. You can choose to give up all of your reasons and excuses. Just give them up. Would you rather have your reasons and excuses, or would you rather get results?
Reminders: Write the attitude you want to adopt on a post-it note and put it somewhere so that you'll see it regularly. Ask a friend to remind you. Set an alarm that goes off every hour, etc. You get the idea.
Change Your Belief: If the above techniques don't work, you probably have an underlying negative belief that needs changing. For example, imagine a woman who believes all men are lying cheats. She would have a very hard time trying to create a positive attitude about dating. The above techniques will work to change most negative beliefs, but sometimes changing a stubborn belief requires stronger measures. However, that is the topic of a future article.
Exercise - Creating An Empowering Attitude
Step 1: Choose either a goal that you are having trouble achieving, or a stubborn problem that won't seem to go away. Write it down.
Step 2: Write down your current attitude or attitudes about this goal or problem
Step 3: Decide what attitude you want to have. Write it down. If choosing a new attitude is not easy, use the above technique: "Play With Perspective" to explore new possibilities.
Step 4: Set your intention to adopt the new attitude. Choose one or more of the above techniques to support you in adopting the new attitude. Write down the technique(s) you will use.
James Boehm
Daily Dose Of Good
Every Month A Million
8K A Week
Monday, December 14, 2009
Giving and Receiving
We all have dreams and wishes that we believe would make us happy and fulfilled. I have mine and you probably do too. They are what life is built on. Dreaming energises our wishes and desires. Our experiences and life situations today are the result of yesterday's dreams and thoughts, as Thoughts become things. We become what we think.
Our dreams are likely to involve us receiving or benefiting from a change in our circumstances. We want something to happen. Receiving however is only one half of a two way process. The Chinese philosophy of the Tao te Ching as written by Lao Tsu in 3rd Century BC describes how all energies in the world are balanced in equal measure. When things get out of balance there is disharmony, dissonance and conflict. As night follows day, and winter can contrast with summer, so too does the harmony of opposites complement one another in everything in the Universe i.e. male and female, warm and cold, high and low, dark and light, wealth and poverty. Ideally we should work towards a balance in everything we are involved in.
If receiving is only half of an equation, the other half is the process of giving. Some cultures operate a system of tithing which involves giving a percentage of their income to support a worthy cause. And as they give with one hand, they may receive with the other. There are a number of considerations to the concept of giving. We should endeavour not to see it as a means of receiving what we want, but as an unconditional gift, otherwise the process is manipulative and the donation will not be a gift but more of a transaction, which is not the point. We should give because we want to and let nature take its course.
By giving, we are creating an energy that will be balanced by the return of favour or benefit. The return gift may not come back from the same place that we gave away to, but could come from a completely different source. It can be a gift that we have a real need of for ourselves; we may need money, so to give away money is worthy and selfless.
We can give in a way that is special or unique to us given our abilities and resources, such as specialist advice or practical assistance if it’s in our field. We may eventually receive something that is relatively easy for another person to give, but is exactly what we need. The timing of gifts to us is unlikely to match exactly our own gift. What, how and when we receive will be governed by everything going on in the world. We may even receive before we give.
Having the attitude that there isn’t enough to go round will work against us. A belief in abundance and that there is more than enough in the world is more likely to be of help. There may be some people in some countries with many possessions and other parts of the world with not enough, but generally there is sufficient to go round. Thankfully we all have different tastes and desires.
We tend to hold onto what we have because we have fear of giving it away, but this works against us. This demonstrates a 'lack', so this is what we attract.....more lack of what we want. Love for example is not only an inexhaustible commodity, but the more we give away, the more is returned. So we should endeavour to give away as much as we possibly can, as it will come back to us several fold. We should give away what we want to receive as this demonstrates our faith and belief in abundance so more will come to us. By giving away what we need, we are not sacrificing but manifesting.
What we give and receive may not equate in terms of monetary value but of perceived value, and it may form part of a chain of positive events. There is no way of calculating this and nor should we try. It is the whole hearted and unconditional role of giving that we should aim for, and let anything that is going to come our way, do so if and when it does. And we shall be grateful for it! We should not give something and then sit around waiting for the return benefit.
It's good to give.
James Boehm Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good
Our dreams are likely to involve us receiving or benefiting from a change in our circumstances. We want something to happen. Receiving however is only one half of a two way process. The Chinese philosophy of the Tao te Ching as written by Lao Tsu in 3rd Century BC describes how all energies in the world are balanced in equal measure. When things get out of balance there is disharmony, dissonance and conflict. As night follows day, and winter can contrast with summer, so too does the harmony of opposites complement one another in everything in the Universe i.e. male and female, warm and cold, high and low, dark and light, wealth and poverty. Ideally we should work towards a balance in everything we are involved in.
If receiving is only half of an equation, the other half is the process of giving. Some cultures operate a system of tithing which involves giving a percentage of their income to support a worthy cause. And as they give with one hand, they may receive with the other. There are a number of considerations to the concept of giving. We should endeavour not to see it as a means of receiving what we want, but as an unconditional gift, otherwise the process is manipulative and the donation will not be a gift but more of a transaction, which is not the point. We should give because we want to and let nature take its course.
By giving, we are creating an energy that will be balanced by the return of favour or benefit. The return gift may not come back from the same place that we gave away to, but could come from a completely different source. It can be a gift that we have a real need of for ourselves; we may need money, so to give away money is worthy and selfless.
We can give in a way that is special or unique to us given our abilities and resources, such as specialist advice or practical assistance if it’s in our field. We may eventually receive something that is relatively easy for another person to give, but is exactly what we need. The timing of gifts to us is unlikely to match exactly our own gift. What, how and when we receive will be governed by everything going on in the world. We may even receive before we give.
Having the attitude that there isn’t enough to go round will work against us. A belief in abundance and that there is more than enough in the world is more likely to be of help. There may be some people in some countries with many possessions and other parts of the world with not enough, but generally there is sufficient to go round. Thankfully we all have different tastes and desires.
We tend to hold onto what we have because we have fear of giving it away, but this works against us. This demonstrates a 'lack', so this is what we attract.....more lack of what we want. Love for example is not only an inexhaustible commodity, but the more we give away, the more is returned. So we should endeavour to give away as much as we possibly can, as it will come back to us several fold. We should give away what we want to receive as this demonstrates our faith and belief in abundance so more will come to us. By giving away what we need, we are not sacrificing but manifesting.
What we give and receive may not equate in terms of monetary value but of perceived value, and it may form part of a chain of positive events. There is no way of calculating this and nor should we try. It is the whole hearted and unconditional role of giving that we should aim for, and let anything that is going to come our way, do so if and when it does. And we shall be grateful for it! We should not give something and then sit around waiting for the return benefit.
It's good to give.
James Boehm Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Take Action To Achieve Your Dreams
You have a dream. Maybe you want to climb Mt Everest, move to another country to earn money for your future, start your own business or even go back into the working world after spending a few years taking care of the kids.
Why aren’t you doing it? What’s holding you back?
Listen, a dream is a vision in our mind. Creative dreaming without action is a far-fetched realization to goal attainment.
Typical examples are the great wonders of the world, those landmarks that typify or define the greatness of nations. Landmarks like the Statue of Liberty of the United States of America, the Big Ben of England, the Taj Mahal of India, the Great Wall of China, and numerous more. Imagine if these great ideas, these dreams were not acted upon, will we ever have them to be enjoyed by people from every nation on earth? What kind of achievement will each nation have if great thinkers just sit on their ideas and never acted on it. Absolutely nothing. We would probably be facing each other blankly wondering why and what went wrong?
Probably you’d say: “Oh? well? we still have the natural wonders like Niagara Falls, Mt. Fuji, beautiful coral reefs everywhere on earth.” Yes? but these are God’s creations. God did not create man in His own image if He thinks we won’t be using our creativity and put it into action. He might as well take it away from us. He expects us to act on it.
So what’s keeping us from acting on our ideas? We can name a few. Fear of failure is our biggest deterrent. Fear of being ridiculed, fear of sinking further to a depressed state than we presently are, fear of totally losing all we’ve got if we don’t achieve our personal goals, fear of taking risks.
We all have to take risk at one time or another. Risk may come to us in a variety of reasons, big or small. There are risks we can do without, but there are risks that leave us no option but to take and act on it.
As you can see, risks come in many forms. For comparison purposes, let us consider two: risk similar to winning or losing when we gamble and risk in pursuit of a goal.
The risk involved in gambling is for non-thinkers. This is tantamount to luck risk, not good judgment risk. Risk of this kind has no room in goal realization. It is like ignoring safety on the road, just for kicks, come what may, short-lived, to satisfy a craving.
However, risks taken to achieve goal has a definite lasting purpose, a purpose that will bring untold benefits once you achieve your goals. It is a risk worth taking for thinkers, not for happy-go-lucky non-thinkers. Risk in pursuit of a goal will bring stability and security in life, ultimately leading to happiness.
Whenever fear grips us, think positively. Look at it this way. Will we ever get anywhere if we don’t take the risk to act on our dreams? Will we be satisfied with our inaction, five, ten, or twenty years from now?
If you notice, there is one common denominator that is holding us back from acting on our dreams, that thing called fear. Fear is the biggest stumbling block to acting on a creative dream that it practically holds everything still. So it is imperative that we eliminate fear in our feelings to clear the way to our goal.
To overcome this fear, we have to face fear on the face, eye to eye, mano y mano. Let us take a typical example, say you have a fear of speaking in public. I guess a majority of us do. Worst scenario that could happen is you will get tongue-tied and spoil your entire speech in spite of having committed the entire speech into memory. You become the laughing stock of the audience. Don’t let it prevent you from speaking in public the next time around because if you do, fear has won over you and you will be cowering in this kind of fear for the rest of your life. To win over fear, draw lessons from your failure and capitalize on it the next time around. Don’t stop till you have successfully made a good speech. Once you do, you have actually turned the table around. This time, it is fear that fears you.
Another example with a somewhat different twist, say you are a lifeguard and you failed to save a drowning person who apparently should have been saved. Now this is a big failure because a life was at stake here. In spite of this, don’t give up being a lifeguard just because of one mistake. Think about the other lives you have saved before and will be saving if you continue to do so. Say you were able to save a person in an otherwise hopeless situation, doesn’t this offset or overcome the previous failure that happened?
The idea here is to give your best. Once you give your best, it just doesn’t get any better because it is already the best.
When you act on your dreams, think of your actions in a positive way. What you think is what will happen. What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. Believe that the likely outcome of a thing that we do depends mostly on how we set our mind on it. Our actions originate from our thoughts and the ultimate result is dictated by our mind as well. If we think it will fail, it will. If we think it will succeed, it will. Mental thinking or attitude is the master of the actions we undertake.
Where your mental attitude is directed for a longer period of time, the more difficult it is to change to the opposite direction. If your mind is set on negative thoughts, the more difficult it will be to change to positive thoughts if you do not act on it immediately. However, if your mind is already set on positive thoughts for a long time, it will remain firm on this attitude as time goes by.
Defeat is imminent if your thoughts are in this direction. You may say: “I told you so” that an action has failed because you think it will, just to satisfy yourself when in fact, you are just looking for an excuse or easy way out. The end result is still a failure and what does that make you, a failure. You are just fooling yourself.
On the other hand, success is imminent when your thoughts say it will. Even if it fails the first time, you will learn from your failure and when you try again, you will ultimately succeed as you gain more experience. Keep on trying and persevering. There should be no let up and when success is at hand, you would have defeated defeat.
Here’s another nugget of thought. If you go all out and risk everything, there is nothing left to risk. When that happens, the only possible outcome is success.
Don’t give up your dreams without even fighting for them just because the risks are too great.
The greater the risk, the bigger the reward and success is sweeter. Either way, whether you achieve your dream or not, you will come out of it a better person.
Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good
Why aren’t you doing it? What’s holding you back?
Listen, a dream is a vision in our mind. Creative dreaming without action is a far-fetched realization to goal attainment.
Typical examples are the great wonders of the world, those landmarks that typify or define the greatness of nations. Landmarks like the Statue of Liberty of the United States of America, the Big Ben of England, the Taj Mahal of India, the Great Wall of China, and numerous more. Imagine if these great ideas, these dreams were not acted upon, will we ever have them to be enjoyed by people from every nation on earth? What kind of achievement will each nation have if great thinkers just sit on their ideas and never acted on it. Absolutely nothing. We would probably be facing each other blankly wondering why and what went wrong?
Probably you’d say: “Oh? well? we still have the natural wonders like Niagara Falls, Mt. Fuji, beautiful coral reefs everywhere on earth.” Yes? but these are God’s creations. God did not create man in His own image if He thinks we won’t be using our creativity and put it into action. He might as well take it away from us. He expects us to act on it.
So what’s keeping us from acting on our ideas? We can name a few. Fear of failure is our biggest deterrent. Fear of being ridiculed, fear of sinking further to a depressed state than we presently are, fear of totally losing all we’ve got if we don’t achieve our personal goals, fear of taking risks.
We all have to take risk at one time or another. Risk may come to us in a variety of reasons, big or small. There are risks we can do without, but there are risks that leave us no option but to take and act on it.
As you can see, risks come in many forms. For comparison purposes, let us consider two: risk similar to winning or losing when we gamble and risk in pursuit of a goal.
The risk involved in gambling is for non-thinkers. This is tantamount to luck risk, not good judgment risk. Risk of this kind has no room in goal realization. It is like ignoring safety on the road, just for kicks, come what may, short-lived, to satisfy a craving.
However, risks taken to achieve goal has a definite lasting purpose, a purpose that will bring untold benefits once you achieve your goals. It is a risk worth taking for thinkers, not for happy-go-lucky non-thinkers. Risk in pursuit of a goal will bring stability and security in life, ultimately leading to happiness.
Whenever fear grips us, think positively. Look at it this way. Will we ever get anywhere if we don’t take the risk to act on our dreams? Will we be satisfied with our inaction, five, ten, or twenty years from now?
If you notice, there is one common denominator that is holding us back from acting on our dreams, that thing called fear. Fear is the biggest stumbling block to acting on a creative dream that it practically holds everything still. So it is imperative that we eliminate fear in our feelings to clear the way to our goal.
To overcome this fear, we have to face fear on the face, eye to eye, mano y mano. Let us take a typical example, say you have a fear of speaking in public. I guess a majority of us do. Worst scenario that could happen is you will get tongue-tied and spoil your entire speech in spite of having committed the entire speech into memory. You become the laughing stock of the audience. Don’t let it prevent you from speaking in public the next time around because if you do, fear has won over you and you will be cowering in this kind of fear for the rest of your life. To win over fear, draw lessons from your failure and capitalize on it the next time around. Don’t stop till you have successfully made a good speech. Once you do, you have actually turned the table around. This time, it is fear that fears you.
Another example with a somewhat different twist, say you are a lifeguard and you failed to save a drowning person who apparently should have been saved. Now this is a big failure because a life was at stake here. In spite of this, don’t give up being a lifeguard just because of one mistake. Think about the other lives you have saved before and will be saving if you continue to do so. Say you were able to save a person in an otherwise hopeless situation, doesn’t this offset or overcome the previous failure that happened?
The idea here is to give your best. Once you give your best, it just doesn’t get any better because it is already the best.
When you act on your dreams, think of your actions in a positive way. What you think is what will happen. What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. Believe that the likely outcome of a thing that we do depends mostly on how we set our mind on it. Our actions originate from our thoughts and the ultimate result is dictated by our mind as well. If we think it will fail, it will. If we think it will succeed, it will. Mental thinking or attitude is the master of the actions we undertake.
Where your mental attitude is directed for a longer period of time, the more difficult it is to change to the opposite direction. If your mind is set on negative thoughts, the more difficult it will be to change to positive thoughts if you do not act on it immediately. However, if your mind is already set on positive thoughts for a long time, it will remain firm on this attitude as time goes by.
Defeat is imminent if your thoughts are in this direction. You may say: “I told you so” that an action has failed because you think it will, just to satisfy yourself when in fact, you are just looking for an excuse or easy way out. The end result is still a failure and what does that make you, a failure. You are just fooling yourself.
On the other hand, success is imminent when your thoughts say it will. Even if it fails the first time, you will learn from your failure and when you try again, you will ultimately succeed as you gain more experience. Keep on trying and persevering. There should be no let up and when success is at hand, you would have defeated defeat.
Here’s another nugget of thought. If you go all out and risk everything, there is nothing left to risk. When that happens, the only possible outcome is success.
Don’t give up your dreams without even fighting for them just because the risks are too great.
The greater the risk, the bigger the reward and success is sweeter. Either way, whether you achieve your dream or not, you will come out of it a better person.
Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Positive Thinking - Mind your Thoughts
Have you ever thought about the fact that there is never a moment when you are not thinking—that whatever happens in this world begins with a thought? Here are five simple steps to help you manage your thoughts and achieve success and happiness in life.
BE AWARE OF YOUR THOUGHTS
Start watching your thoughts, without identifying with them. Watch them as a detached observer.
You may even get carried away by your thoughts. Never mind. It is natural—especially for a beginner. What you need to do, whenever you detect this, is to take yourself out of your thoughts immediately and get back to the process of thought-watching once again as a detached observer.
Do not get perturbed by your thoughts. Don't condemn or justify them. Don't try to control them. Just watch them. After some time, you will come to know what your negative thoughts are about. Now concentrate on all the positive thoughts that you can replace these thoughts with, in order to switch over to a more positive attitude towards them. Our attempt should be to cut down the quantity of unnecessary thoughts and to improve the quality of the necessary ones. Keep yourself busy. Simple food, deep breathing and relaxation exercises also help manage your thoughts easily. Expect less from others.
IDENTIFY NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Keep a logbook. Jot down your thoughts. Write down happenings of the day. Were they positive, appropriate and adequate or were they confused, superfluous and negative? Could you notice the interval between the happening and your response? If yes, could your foresee your negative thoughts? If not, what can, you do to notice this interval? Was there any discrepancy between words and thoughts? If yes, was it justified—could you find a better way of harmonizing your words and thoughts? Was the verbal response necessary, appropriate and adequate?
Sometimes we talk to others, or simply to ourselves, or think about something just like that. Ask yourself what provoked you to take the initiative to start a conversation. Was it essential? What was the purpose? Did it serve the purpose? If no, then why not? Did it use any unnecessary and emotionally charged negative words? Were the words used in thinking, inner dialogue or in talking to the other person, precise, appropriate, adequate and positive? Did you feel happy or satisfied after the interaction with the other person or with your inner self? Can you find ways of improving your performance as a thinker or a speaker?
Keep in mind that logbooks are meant to get you started and make you aware of your negative thoughts. It is far more important, however, to be aware of these thoughts when they are just taking birth, rather than leave them for later analysis.Be conscious of the interval that separates the event from thoughts with which you respond to the event.
NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Imagine a strong sun radiating a powerful light. Use this mental sunshine to kill your negative, undesirable thoughts, emotions and images as and when these are detected. Take this sun as a mighty weapon which is always on the alert and which automatically chases any negative thought and kills it with a flash and then withdraws. Don't forget to imagine that this sun is your faithful friend and is extremely kind to you.
Keep a note of how many times you need to call the sun for its services. There will be a gradual increase, followed by a drastic fall. This is so because initially the number of times you call on your mental sunshine increases gradually as your awareness of your thoughts grows.
The drastic fall is because what we do not use (the negative thoughts, in this case), we tend to lose.
REPLACE WlTH POSITIVE THOUGHTS
A vital step in this process is the immediate replacement of all negative thoughts by the positive ones. The shorter the interval between the disinfecting and the replacing stage, the better it is. Longer intervals between these two events weaken the impact of the positive thoughts. Our success and happiness depend on identifying our goals precisely and chasing them effectively, both of which, in turn, depend on how well we manage our thoughts. The quality of our thoughts decides the quality of the outcomes we land up with. Thoughts have the power to materialize themselves because they are instrumental in channeling energy towards the physical or mental condition they are about.
External situations and the remarks of others can harm us through our thoughts—but only to the extent our thoughts allow them to. So think positive. Talk positive. Read positive quotable quotes of great people. Surround yourself with posters and cards bearing positive messages. Keep them on your table. Hang them on the walls. Paste them near the bathroom mirror and on the doors. Stick them on your watchstrap. Keep them on the refrigerator. Have them on the dashboard of the car. Slip them under the glass of the table in front of you. Slide them in the inner side of the briefcase you carry. Find other suitable places where you are bound to look at them every day.
Remember that these messages will stale with prolonged use. So keep changing their position and contents. Do not let the momentum of these thoughts get weaker.
Use them appropriately in response to specific negative thoughts. The replacing thought must be positive in every sense. Apart from being inspiring and assuring, it should also be suggestive. For example, if you confront a negative thought, "I can never succeed", it will not suffice if you replace it with "Sun! Attack! I can succeed". This kind of replacement may not be effective, for it sounds like wishful thinking and lacks assurance, depth and penetrating certainty. It is better to break your replacing thought down into more definite and specific steps or instructions.
The replacing thought in this case may be: "I can succeed. By earlier failures I have become rich in experience and have come to know specific areas that require special attention. I will jot them down and systematically think of the ways in which I can improve. I shall plan. And then stick to it. There is absolutely no reason why I should not succeed. I will assess, plan, execute, monitor, modify and carryon with the plan, and finally succeed. In fact, I think that success has already been achieved and only time separates my thought of success and its transformation into reality. I am committing myself to all that is required to achieve success. I am a river that knows no obstacles. I shall find my way anyhow—and if there is none I shall make one.
REINFORCE
Thoughts like these can be further reinforced with emotions and images. All this may take longer than one single replacing thought, but these are far more effective since they allow you to divide the desired target into workable units. Focus on a pleasant event that took place in the past. This way your thoughts will turn positive and your emotions and images will reinforce each other, resulting in an overall positive attitude.
Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good
BE AWARE OF YOUR THOUGHTS
Start watching your thoughts, without identifying with them. Watch them as a detached observer.
You may even get carried away by your thoughts. Never mind. It is natural—especially for a beginner. What you need to do, whenever you detect this, is to take yourself out of your thoughts immediately and get back to the process of thought-watching once again as a detached observer.
Do not get perturbed by your thoughts. Don't condemn or justify them. Don't try to control them. Just watch them. After some time, you will come to know what your negative thoughts are about. Now concentrate on all the positive thoughts that you can replace these thoughts with, in order to switch over to a more positive attitude towards them. Our attempt should be to cut down the quantity of unnecessary thoughts and to improve the quality of the necessary ones. Keep yourself busy. Simple food, deep breathing and relaxation exercises also help manage your thoughts easily. Expect less from others.
IDENTIFY NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Keep a logbook. Jot down your thoughts. Write down happenings of the day. Were they positive, appropriate and adequate or were they confused, superfluous and negative? Could you notice the interval between the happening and your response? If yes, could your foresee your negative thoughts? If not, what can, you do to notice this interval? Was there any discrepancy between words and thoughts? If yes, was it justified—could you find a better way of harmonizing your words and thoughts? Was the verbal response necessary, appropriate and adequate?
Sometimes we talk to others, or simply to ourselves, or think about something just like that. Ask yourself what provoked you to take the initiative to start a conversation. Was it essential? What was the purpose? Did it serve the purpose? If no, then why not? Did it use any unnecessary and emotionally charged negative words? Were the words used in thinking, inner dialogue or in talking to the other person, precise, appropriate, adequate and positive? Did you feel happy or satisfied after the interaction with the other person or with your inner self? Can you find ways of improving your performance as a thinker or a speaker?
Keep in mind that logbooks are meant to get you started and make you aware of your negative thoughts. It is far more important, however, to be aware of these thoughts when they are just taking birth, rather than leave them for later analysis.Be conscious of the interval that separates the event from thoughts with which you respond to the event.
NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Imagine a strong sun radiating a powerful light. Use this mental sunshine to kill your negative, undesirable thoughts, emotions and images as and when these are detected. Take this sun as a mighty weapon which is always on the alert and which automatically chases any negative thought and kills it with a flash and then withdraws. Don't forget to imagine that this sun is your faithful friend and is extremely kind to you.
Keep a note of how many times you need to call the sun for its services. There will be a gradual increase, followed by a drastic fall. This is so because initially the number of times you call on your mental sunshine increases gradually as your awareness of your thoughts grows.
The drastic fall is because what we do not use (the negative thoughts, in this case), we tend to lose.
REPLACE WlTH POSITIVE THOUGHTS
A vital step in this process is the immediate replacement of all negative thoughts by the positive ones. The shorter the interval between the disinfecting and the replacing stage, the better it is. Longer intervals between these two events weaken the impact of the positive thoughts. Our success and happiness depend on identifying our goals precisely and chasing them effectively, both of which, in turn, depend on how well we manage our thoughts. The quality of our thoughts decides the quality of the outcomes we land up with. Thoughts have the power to materialize themselves because they are instrumental in channeling energy towards the physical or mental condition they are about.
External situations and the remarks of others can harm us through our thoughts—but only to the extent our thoughts allow them to. So think positive. Talk positive. Read positive quotable quotes of great people. Surround yourself with posters and cards bearing positive messages. Keep them on your table. Hang them on the walls. Paste them near the bathroom mirror and on the doors. Stick them on your watchstrap. Keep them on the refrigerator. Have them on the dashboard of the car. Slip them under the glass of the table in front of you. Slide them in the inner side of the briefcase you carry. Find other suitable places where you are bound to look at them every day.
Remember that these messages will stale with prolonged use. So keep changing their position and contents. Do not let the momentum of these thoughts get weaker.
Use them appropriately in response to specific negative thoughts. The replacing thought must be positive in every sense. Apart from being inspiring and assuring, it should also be suggestive. For example, if you confront a negative thought, "I can never succeed", it will not suffice if you replace it with "Sun! Attack! I can succeed". This kind of replacement may not be effective, for it sounds like wishful thinking and lacks assurance, depth and penetrating certainty. It is better to break your replacing thought down into more definite and specific steps or instructions.
The replacing thought in this case may be: "I can succeed. By earlier failures I have become rich in experience and have come to know specific areas that require special attention. I will jot them down and systematically think of the ways in which I can improve. I shall plan. And then stick to it. There is absolutely no reason why I should not succeed. I will assess, plan, execute, monitor, modify and carryon with the plan, and finally succeed. In fact, I think that success has already been achieved and only time separates my thought of success and its transformation into reality. I am committing myself to all that is required to achieve success. I am a river that knows no obstacles. I shall find my way anyhow—and if there is none I shall make one.
REINFORCE
Thoughts like these can be further reinforced with emotions and images. All this may take longer than one single replacing thought, but these are far more effective since they allow you to divide the desired target into workable units. Focus on a pleasant event that took place in the past. This way your thoughts will turn positive and your emotions and images will reinforce each other, resulting in an overall positive attitude.
Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good
Friday, September 25, 2009
Attitude Is Everything
One of the greatest powers in the universe is individual power of choice. And the most powerful choices are positive choices.
The POWER in LIFE is CHOICE.
The following story describes how powerful choosing to keep a positive attitude can impact your life.
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it.
I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.
While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied.
The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply... I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
The POWER in LIFE is CHOICE.
The following story describes how powerful choosing to keep a positive attitude can impact your life.
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it.
I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.
While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied.
The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply... I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)