Keith Harrell - The Attitude Is Everything Workbook: Strategies and Tools for Developing Personal and Professional Success

How we think shows through in how we act.

Attitudes are mirrors of the mind.

They reflect our thinking.

David Joseph Schwartz

A TTITUDE PLAYS AN important role in everyones life. Many people dont know its meaning or realize the influence attitude has on the quality of their life experience. Your attitude influences your entire personal and professional life. What we think about the most influences how we feel. What we think about influences our attitude. We are consistently moving in the direction of our most dominant thoughts. If our dominant thoughts are healthy and positive they result in a healthy and positive attitude. If our dominant thoughts are unhealthy and negative they result in an unhealthy and negative attitude.

So, what is attitude and how does attitude impact life? The American Heritage Dictionary defines attitude as a state of mind or feeling with regard to some matter. For me, attitude can be defined in one word: life. Your attitude dictates whether you are living life or life is living you. Attitude determines whether you are on the way or in the way. Attitude is your perception of life, which is either a failure-reinforcing perspective or a success-reinforcing perspective. Attitude is the means by which you come to arrive at a level of performance, in all that you do, that is either constructive or destructive. The attitude that you carry around makes an incredible difference in your life. It can be a powerful tool for positive actionor it can be a poison that cripples your ability to fulfill your potential. Attitude is life! Just as every living human being has life, every living human being has attitude. Just as every human has unique attributes about his or her life, so does every human have unique attributes about his or her attitude. Everyone has attitude; however, you and I both know, everyone does not have the same attitude.

How many times have we all had the experience of greeting a stranger, co-worker, store clerk, waiter/waitress, friend, or relative and in one instance the person was warm, pleasant, and reciprocating and in another instance we have greeted the same or yet another stranger, co-worker, store clerk, waiter/waitress, friend, or relative who was cold and unfriendly? What was the difference? Was it simply a matter of circumstance? The unadulterated and irrefutable truth is that the difference was in their attitude!

George Bernard Shaw said, People are always blaming their circumstances for what they areThe people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and, if they cant find them, make them. How do we make the circumstances we want when we, in most instances, do not choose our circumstances? The answer to this question is that our control is not found in our choosing circumstances; it is found in our response to the circumstances we experience! This is the difference between living internally and living externally. People with a positive attitude are influenced by what goes on within them. People with a negative attitude are influenced by what goes on around them. We improve our circumstances by improving our responses to them. Our improved responses are adequate enough to improve our circumstances.

Optimists (individuals with positive attitudes) are more successful than similarly talented people with pessimistic or negative attitudes, according to Martin Seligman, a noted psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. His research also indicates that negative attitudes can be changed to positive attitudes. Seligmans study has shown that our attitudespositive or negativecan affect whether we succeed or fail in reaching our goals. In his classic book, Learned Optimism, he offers empirical data showing that life insurance agents with optimistic attitudes sold more policies than did their pessimistic colleagues. Pessimists blamed failed sales attempts on themselves, which lowered their self-esteem and led to lower sales volumes. Optimists, rather than taking the rejections personally, had logical reasons to explain why prospects did not buy policies. Optimists not only sold 37 percent more policies than their pessimistic colleagues, they also remained on the job longer.

Notice the difference between the two groups. The optimists rationally and logically searched for and discovered specific remedies to their challenge. They tried new things and through the process of elimination discovered what works for them. The pessimists, on the other hand, deduced without careful reasoning that they were the reason for their poor performance. They continued to do the same old things the same old way, expecting a different outcome, and it eventually deteriorated their self-esteem to the degree that most quit their jobs. The differences in the manner in which the optimists and the pessimists dealt with their challenges are significant!

The power of positive thinking has been documented scientifically. There are proven rewards in your choosing to develop a process for developing and maintaining a positive attitude. Each of us can decide to change our negative attitude or improve upon our positive attitude. Most people get health or dental checkups once or twice a year to maintain wellness. We take our cars to mechanics to make sure they keep running properly. Yet, sadly, we arent nearly as careful about monitoring the attitudes that affect every aspect of our lives. When was the last time you had an attitude checkup? If you havent been getting what you want out of life, if people are not responding well to you, could it be that you need one? At Harrell Performance Systems Incorporated we offer a series of products and services that are complementary to this workbook. Each Attitude product and/or service is specially designed to give you, your family, or your organization the important attitude tune-up skills needed for lifelong success. Call us at (770) 451-3190 to receive a list of the products and services available to you. Also visit our website at www.super-fantastic.com.