Attitude. What’s that have to do with it anyway?

Well, I’m sure we’ve all heard that statement before, either from our own mouth or someone else’s. Attitude has everything to do with it. Period. I remember my football coach saying, “With an attitude like that, you will never start,” my Drill Instructor saying, “With an attitude like that, you will not make it out of here alive!” See, attitude is like talking about sex to our kids; we know we need to address it, but it’s a very uncomfortable conversation. So what do we do? We put our heads in the sand until the situation boils over, and then we wish we had addressed it earlier.

Though some of us need an attitude adjustment every once in awhile, we can’t explain what an attitude is. Based on my training with Bob Proctor, “Attitude” is a composite: your thoughts, feelings, and actions. It’s not just one. It’s all three, and it’s like the ingredients of a cake. Imagine baking a cake for your family. When you give your mom a slice of your homemade cake, she says, “WOW! What awesome shorting! Now, we know she won’t say that; we hope she says, “WOW! This cake is awesome.” Your attitude is the same way. It’s all three ingredients rolled into one big piece of attitude.

I’ve learned to use a couple of techniques to help me with maintaining a positive attitude. The first item on my list is a daily dose of “Attitude of Gratitude,” which is nothing more than my appreciating everything, no matter how small or trivial it might appear. I will not tell you I’m always chipper, and I never get “Stinking Thinking” (Zig Ziggler), but I do ask myself on occasion, if I were someone else, would I like to be around me? I’ve found that my answer has made me laugh many times, and laughter is what you may need.

Another technique I use is a vision board. I believe the term vision board could be one of the most used but least understood words in the self-improvement world. What a vision board is not: a magical apparatus that, with a whoosh, transforms whatever picture you have placed on it into real achievements when you click your heels. What a vision board is: a motivational tool that allows me to see what you’re fighting for before it appears in the physical form in your life. It gives me strength when the world says no, and it helps me maintain sight of the bigger picture.

I say, “When in doubt remember this quote: “Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?”" (Dennis Mannering)