10 Positive Attitudes to Acquire

There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. ~ W. Clement Stone

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you. ~ Brian Tracy

Attitude is everything. A positive attitude is your passport to a happy and satisfying life because life will be full of opportunities and possibilities. What are the positive attitudes that you can equip to face challenges in life? Here are ten of them and I urge you to add more to this list:

1.      Taking risks: It is the courage to get out of your comfort zone and do something new and different. The experience is more important than the outcome. The more you do, the broader will be your horizon. Taking risks is also making changes and be progressive.

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. ~ T.S. Eliot

2.      Act not react: To lead is to take initiative and to do what is necessary to do instead of reacting to events to unfold. You are judged by your proactive action and not how you put out a fire during an emergency. 

3.      Think success: Positive thoughts promote confidence and a bright outlook in things you do. You are motivated by what is possible and discouraged by what is not possible.

  

4.      Be optimistic: Optimism means hopefulness. Hope is a powerful force that propels you to carry on living because you expect good things to happen.

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. ~ Winston Churchill

5.      Aim high – Setting challenging goals and expecting the best is the way to achieve greatness in life. You can go as far as you think you can.

6.      Committed: You are determined to carry on no matter what. Once your mind is set, nothing can stop you from going where you are going. When you start you expect to finish it as well.

7.      Be responsible: You are responsible for your own life. You decide what to do when to do it and how to do it. Just do not blame others for the outcome. When you fail, you are willing to accept the fact and learn a valuable lesson, and then you move on wiser in a different way.

8.      Attention to detail: You are meticulous in discharging your work. The quality of your work matters a lot to you. It is your reputation and your image that is at stake. You are what you do.

9.      Happy at work: Happiness is a positive attitude. Be cheerful and enjoy what you do. Make changes if you can, but live with it and change yourself for those things that you cannot change.  

10.  Welcome problems: A positive attitude is to react to what happens to you with an open mind. Instead of dwelling on a problem you actively look for a solution to it. To you, if there is a will there is a way, nothing is impossible.   

It’s not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life, it is how you handle what happens to you. ~ Zig Ziglar

Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us. ~ Earl Nightingale

10 Negative Attitudes to Avoid

You must start with a positive attitude or you will surely end without one.  ~Carrie Latet

Positive anything is better than negative thinking.  ~Elbert Hubbard

 Your attitude makes a difference between success and failure in the workplace. Stay away from the following bad attitudes and make way for success to enter into your life.

1. Fuming about problems: Do you get angry and curse when encountering problems at work? Look at a problem positively.  It is an opportunity for you to show off your capabilities and resourcefulness in getting a solution to it.  The ability to resolve a problem will also boost your confidence to deal with future problems.

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view, they take of them.  ~Epictetus

2. Take shortcuts:  Do you take an easy way out in getting a job done? Do a job thoroughly so that you or others will be able to trace the steps that you have taken and follow up from there. Provide sufficient details or else you will not remember what you have done before. 

3. Refuse to accept changes: Do not be stubborn and refuse to look at new ways of doing things. Change means making progress. Do not be contented with the usual ways of getting things done.

4. Cannot accept criticism: Look at criticism especially constructive ones with an open mind. Be willing to accept mistakes and make amends. This is the way to be progressive.

  

5. Stop learning new things: Taking no interest in learning new skills or updating yourself is the surest way to sabotage yourself. Keeping abreast of the developments that are happening around you is the way to be ahead and stay ahead.

6. Refuse to take on new assignments: Do you do just the bare minimum or are you fearful of doing new things? Taking on new assignments is a great way to do self-development and learning new skills. It is a chance to make yourself more valuable at the workplace.

7. Avoid the boss: Keeping it to yourself and doing your own things is not the best way to do work. Let your boss know what you are doing and allowing him or her to notice your progress is the way to go.

8. Reactive instead of proactive: Be innovative and take initiative to make changes in anticipation of likely events instead of reacting to things that will be too late to do anything. 

9. Vibrating negative influences: You couldn’t care-less attitude is affecting co-workers negatively.  Change your attitude and send healthy and positive signals to others.

10. Negative thoughts: It’s not my job. It won’t work. It’s not my department. I am underpaid. These are some of the wrong thinking that affects your growth and success in the company. Change your thoughts to change your career and life for the better.

  

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.  ~Hugh Downs

Do You Work With Passion?

The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else…The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career! – Earl Nightingale, Motivational Speaker

Passion will move men beyond themselves, beyond their shortcomings, beyond their failures. – Joseph Campbell, American Mythologist, Writer, and Lecturer

Are you working with passion? Here are some of the clues to tell that there is a fire in you at work.

 

1.      Enthusiasm: It does not matter it is Monday morning; you wake up and get up immediately. You are eager to start a new day and go to work. 

2.      Feeling:  You are feeling good about yourself at work. You are energetic, calm and all gear up to get things done.

3.      Committed: You are focused and you get the flow at work without realizing the passing of time. You are excited about your work and talk positively about it and it is more like a fun thing to do.

4.      Goals: You are very clear about what you want to do in life. The most important thing is that you enjoy the journey more than getting the end results.

5.      Competent: You are good at what you do. You are positive that there is always a solution to a problem and you are delighted to face problems.   People follow you because of your expertise. You do not rest on your laurels, but continue  to acquire more skills to be more resourceful and skilful

6.      Innovative: You look forward to challenges every day at work. You make things happen. You seek changes and make progress. You always want to do a better job.

7.      Happy about what you do: It’s like a hobby, when you are free, your blog about the subject that you are passionate about. You share tips and know-how with others having a similar passion.  

 Passion kept one fully in the present, so that time became a series of mutually exclusive ‘nows.’ – Sue Halpern, Author

Are You Getting Job Satisfaction?

Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction. ~ ANNE FRANK 

Are you happy at work?  Are you satisfied with what you do?  There are many ways to find out:

1.      The work that you do: Is your work challenging, interesting and stimulating? Are you able to demonstrate your skills and abilities at work? Are you given the authority to work freely? Are you feeling good about yourself at work? If you are, you are one of the happy and contented people at work.

2.      Being recognized for good work: Is your boss supportive? Does he or she notice and recognize your good work?

3.      Learning new skills: Are you given the opportunity to acquire new skills? It means you will be more resourceful and creative at work because you are more knowledgeable.  

4.      A sense of achievement: Is your work fulfilling? Do you feel proud of what you do? Every time when a task is done do you think it is an achievement for you?   

5.      Being competent: Do you know that when you are competent at work you are more than a manager, in fact, you are a leader. People follow you because you are good at what you do. You are able to provide solutions to problems at work. This is one of the greatest satisfaction at work.

6.      Being trusted: Are you the one that your boss depends on? Trust can only be earned over time and you will be proud of yourself as a trusted member of the company.

7.      Being creative: You can only be creative when you have the freedom at work to change things around. Making changes and seeing progress are some of the delightful things to happen to you at work.

8.      Personal growth and benefits: Are you being adequately compensated? Are you groomed to move up the ladder or are you stuck at the same old post year in and year out?

9.      Conducive environment: Is the place of employment safe to work? Is the office bright enough to work without eye strain? Are there windows? Are you able to concentrate at work with minimum distractions?

10.  A harmonious relationship among co-workers: Are you able to talk among yourselves freely without fear? Are there toxic co-workers around who do such things as backstabbing and scheming? You can work with peace of mind when all staff works as a team for a common goal.

If you love your work, if you enjoy it, you're already a success. ~ JACK CANFIELD

Think Possible Be Successful

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. ~ Henry Ford

Your mind is a powerful tool because it can think and motivate or discourage you. You have a choice to think positively or negatively and you will act accordingly. If you want to be successful in life, there is no other option but to think of possibilities. How can you harness the power of positive thinking to propel you to success in life?

1. Belief: Have faith in yourself that you can achieve what you want to do when you think you can.

If you believe in yourself anything is possible. ~ Miley Cyrus

2. Powerful thoughts: Thoughts are powerful; when you think big and think right you can achieve greatness. What you can conceive and believe, you can achieve.

No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head.  ~Terry Josephson

3. Be confident: When you think you can and you believe you can, you will act confidently.   

Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.  ~ Peter T. Mcintyre

4. Right attitude: A positive mental attitude is the right attitude. You are receptive to new ideas and willing to accept changes. When you make a mistake you are willing to admit that you are wrong. You also face obstacles in life with an open mind.  
   
   

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.  ~William James

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.  ~Winston Churchill

5.      Action: It is your enthusiasm that drives you to take action. When there is no action, nothing is happening and you achieve nothing. 

An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea. ~ Buddha

6. Goals:  Goals give you a direction in life and bring your life into focus. It is possible for you to go where you want to go, but if there is no direction you are wasting your time and effort.

It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs.  ~Vance Havner

You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.  ~Charles C. Noble

7. Creativity: A creative mind is a mind that differentiates you from others. You create unique and original ideas to be ahead of others.

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.  ~Albert Szent-Györgyi

8. Connection: Get connected with the right people, people who are stimulating and successful. You exchange great ideas for mutual benefits.  

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.  ~Oprah Winfrey

9. Persistence: Perseverance is the keyword. You continue to do what you believe is the right thing to do until you see light at the end of the tunnel.

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. ~ Confucius

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all ~. Dale Carnegie

We can do anything we want as long as we stick to it long enough. ~ Helen Keller

10. Be progressive: Self-improvement is about making changes for the better, such as replacing bad habits with good ones. When there is no change there is no progress; life is standing still.

Without a struggle, there can be no progress. ~ Frederick Douglass

11.  Defeat: Do not take defeats as the end of the world.  Learn from past failures and start afresh and be much wiser.

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. ~ Angelou, Maya

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. ~ Arthur Ashe

 

Don’t Worry Be Happy

  

Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which will never happen.  ~ James Russel Lowell

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.  ~ Swedish Proverb

Worrying in itself can only zap your energy and make you stressed and pessimistic. Here are the things you can do to stop worrying and be happy.   

1. Baseless: Just think about it. How often do the things that you worry about have actually happened? Most likely nothing at all, because you have either taken action to prevent it from happening or it is just your habit of worrying.

2. Work on solutions: If there is actually a problem, the sensible thing to do is to look for solutions to overcome it or to reduce the problem to a bare minimum. Instead of worrying, you may as well spend the same amount of energy to look for a solution.

3. Optimistic: When you are pessimistic you are depressed and you have a closed mind.   When you are optimistic you open your mind to opportunities. Every adversity is a chance for you to explore possibilities.

Optimism is the triumph of mind and spirit over worry. ~ Reed B Markham

4. Financial freedom; Most of the time, money is the main culprit of your inner worry. It is important to set aside an amount to meet an emergency situation and stay away from financial worries.

5. Be prepared: Doing something for the first time, like doing a presentation, and worrying about it? The best thing is to be fully prepared for it.  Do a mock presentation. On the actual day, arrive early and check to make sure that all the equipment is in working order.    

6. Think positive: Do not clutter your mind with anxiety and worrying thoughts. It does not do you any good. Change your mindset and think positively. Things will turn upright when your thinking is right.   

Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen.  Keep in the sunlight.  ~Benjamin Franklin

7. Get busy: Boredom attracts negativity and worrying thoughts. Fill your day with meaningful work and immerse in it. When you enjoy what you do you feel good about yourself.
   
   

     A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.  ~John Lubbock

8. Be fit: When you are healthy and fit, you are energetic. Your mind is calm and you are ready to react to things with confidence and resourcefulness. Have sufficient sleep and take frequent breaks to avoid fatigue.

9. Be happy: A cheerful mood is an effective way to combat worrisome thoughts.

You are relaxed and not tensed up and your thinking is clear. If there is a real problem it will be easier for you to think of a way to overcome it.

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.  ~ Leo Buscaglia

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity. ~ Carl Jung

11 Delightful Ways to Live Life

  

Live-- decently, fearlessly, joyously--and don’t forget that in the long run, it is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts! ~ Adlai Stevenson

I think the purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, and to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all. ~ Leo Rosten.

Life is not a bed of roses, but you can live life meaningfully and happily. It is up to you to change your thoughts and change your life to enjoy living life fully.

1.      Hope: Hope is about expecting good things to happen. We live because we believe that tomorrow will be a better day.

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonics so powerful as the expectation of something better tomorrow. ~ Orison Swett Marden

2.      Confidence: You are sure of yourself getting things done. There will be problems, but you are also sure of overcoming them.   

Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. ~ Rosalynn Carter

3.      Optimism: Optimism is more than just hopefulness. It is your belief that things will turn up all right for you. You go ahead confidently and do what you have to do without fear.

Optimism is the foundation of courage.  ~Nicholas Murray Butler

4.      Courage Do you have the courage to make changes in life? When you change, you change your life for the better.

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.  ~Raymond Lindquist

5.      Perseverance: Success is to continue doing what you think is the right thing to do even though you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the end, you will be an overnight success under the spotlight all of a sudden.

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.   ~William Feather

6.      Love: Love is about peace of mind because you forgive and let go. 

The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. - Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lamat

Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be. Each of us has the power to give life meaning, to make our time and our bodies and our words into instruments of love and hope. - Tom Head

7.      Enthusiasm: One good way to develop eagerness and alertness in you is to exercise every day.  When you are fit and healthy you are fully charged and ready to conquer the world.

Life is enthusiasm, zest. ~ Sir Laurence Olivier

8.      Attitude: Attitude determines your altitude in life. When you look at life from a positive perspective, you see opportunities everywhere. When you change your attitude you change your outlook in life. 

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.  ~ Alphonse Karr

9.      Motivation: When you get up early every day, you are excited and enthusiastic about what you want to do. You are motivated.

A person is a success if they get up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. - Bob Dylan

10.  Luck: To be lucky you need more than just preparation, you have to be at the right place at the right time actively looking for what you want.  

Be prepared, work hard, and hope for a little luck. Recognize that the harder you work and the better prepared you are, the more luck you might have.
Ed Bradley

11.  Action: You know what to do in order to be successful, but nothing will happen if you don’t act. Just do it and do it now.

Success will never be a big step in the future, success is a small step taken just now.  ~Jonatan Mårtensson

Life is what you make it.