John C. Maxwell - How High Will You Climb?: Determine Your Success by Cultivating the Right Attitude

Ability is what youre capable of doing.

Motivation determines what you do.

Attitude determines how well you do it.

LOU HOLTZ

Former Notre Dame Football Coach

Copyright 2014 John C. Maxwell

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Lockman Foundarion 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible. 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

How High Will You Climb? is an abridgment of The Winning Attitude, originally published in 1993.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Maxwell, John C., 1947

[Your attitude]

How high will you climb? : determine your success by cultivating the right attitude / John C. Maxwell.

pages cm

Originally published as: Your attitude. San Bernardino, Calif. : Heres Life Publishers, c1984.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-4002-0591-2

ISBN 978-1-4002-0592-9 (eBook)

1. Attitude (Psychology)Religious aspectsChristianity. 2. Christian life.

3. SuccessReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Title.

BV4509.5.M34 2014 248.4dc23

Printed in the United States of America

14 15 16 17 18 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

How High Will You Climb? is dedicated to Dr. Tom Phillippe, Sr.

He is my friend, a co-laborer in the gospel, and an example of proper attitude living.

Contents

T hanks for this book must be expressed to my parents, Melvin and Laura Maxwell, for providing a home life that was accented with healthy attitudes for living. Positive attitudes, which are more caught than taught, surrounded me from the day I was born.

My wife, Margaret, provided wise counsel, and our children, Elizabeth and Joel Porter, gave me many illustrations. The Maxwell family is trying to live the principles of this book.

Appreciation is also to be given to my former staff at Skyline Wesleyan Church for their input into this book. Their insights, questions, and suggestions highlighted many Tuesday staff meetings. Barbara Brumagin, my administrative assistant at the time, especially followed through on this project.

Thank you to Paul Nanney for his friendship and exciting flying experiences that added to this book.

Its a Bird...
Its a Plane...
No, Its an Attitude!

I t was a beautiful day in San Diego, and my friend Paul wanted to take me for a ride in his airplane. Being new to Southern California, I decided to see our home territory from a different perspective. We sat in the cockpit as Paul completed his instrument checks. Everything was A-Okay, so Paul revved the engines and we headed down the runway. As the plane lifted off, I noticed the nose was higher than the rest of the airplane. I also noticed that while the countryside was truly magnificent, Paul continually watched the instrument panel.

Since I am not a pilot, I decided to turn the pleasure ride into a learning experience. All those gadgets, I began, what do they tell you? I notice you keep looking at that one instrument more than the others. What is it?

Thats the attitude indicator, he replied.

How can a plane have an attitude?

In flying, the attitude of the airplane is what we call the position of the aircraft in relation to the horizon.

By now my curiosity had been aroused, so I asked him to explain more. When the airplane is climbing, he said, it has a nose-high attitude because the nose of the airplane is pointed above the horizon.

So, I jumped in, when the aircraft is diving, you would call that a nose-down attitude.

Thats right, my instructor continued. Pilots are concerned about attitude of the airplane because that indicates its performance.

He demonstrated by bringing the aircraft into a nose-high attitude. Sure enough, the plane began to climb, and speed decreased. He changed the attitude, and that changed the performance.

Paul concluded the lesson by saying, Since the attitude of the airplane determines its performance, instructors now teach attitude flying.

That conversation triggered my thinking concerning peoples attitudes. Doesnt an individuals attitude dictate his performance? Does she have an attitude indicator that continually evaluates her perspective and achievements in life? What happens when the attitude is dictating undesirable results? How can the attitude be changed? And, if the attitude changes, what are the ramifications to other people around him?

My friend Paul had an instructors manual on Attitude Flying, the relationship between the aircrafts attitude and its performance. We, too, have been given a handbook to attitude livingthe Bible.

The apostle Paul, when writing to the church at Philippi, placed before those Christians an attitude indicator. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5).

Christ gives us a perfect example to follow. His high standard was not given to frustrate us but to reveal areas in our lives that need improvement. Whenever I study Philippians 2:38, I am reminded of the healthy attitude qualities that Jesus possessed.

He was selfless . Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others (vv. 34).

He was secure . Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men (vv. 67).

He was submissive . And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (v. 8).

Paul says that these qualities were exhibited in the life of Christ because of His attitude (v. 5). He also says that we can have this same attitude in our lives. We have a visual example of a Christian attitude, and we are encouraged to attain it.

Paul states in Romans 12:12:

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed [How?] by the renewingof your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (emphasis mine)

The result of a renewed mind or a changed attitude is to prove and fulfill Gods will. Again we see that the attitude dictates performance. I once preached a message from Psalm 34 entitled How to Face Fear. David was lonely, fearful, and frustrated in a cave surrounded by the enemy when he wrote this comforting message. The opening of the chapter enables the reader to see the reason for Davids success even when surrounded by problems.