How to get a Good (or even a GREAT) Attitude to Life
How to get a Good (or even a GREAT) Attitude to Life
by Craig Lock
Do you sometimes feel discouraged? We all do from time to time,
especially when “life throws us a curved ball”. We can’t stop negative
thoughts from entering our heads, the “top 2 inches” ;
but we can stop them NESTING there.
Firstly, realistically analyse your strengths and weaknesses. As
a matter of interest, people generally list more weaknesses
than strengths, especially women (lovely people!). Too often
people discount their accomplishments and focus on what they
haven’t been able to do.
Making money in itself is not success, but rather a by-product
of success. Most successful people use the technique of
visualisation to foresee ideal outcomes. If you can foresee
getting your desires in the mind, then you can get there in the
body…. at least I think so!
“As a man thinketh so is he.” (the Bible) Haven’t I got that one
in already?
Success or failure in the journey of life is not a matter of luck.
The key ingredient is a winning attitude, together with
PERSEVERANCE and a dash of common sense.
Your attitude determines your destiny.
Remember to stick at a task when things don’t go right. “When
the going gets tough, the tough get going”, as my dear father
used to tell me often. Did it work though with me? All
successful people have true grit and stickability, as well as
natural ability. The winner is often the person who gets up one
more time than they are knocked down. You will hit attitudes in
others who say ‘you can’t do it’. You have a choice then:
a) To remain convinced that you can do it…
or
b) Stay with their attitude and quit yours.
All the world’s greats would never have been great, if they had
listened to the opinion of even their closest friends. Caruso,
the world’s greatest tenor, was told his voice sounded like a
tin can. Thomas Edison, the inventor of motion pictures, was
advised that no-one would pay to listen to sound coming from a
screen. Edison told Henry Ford to give up making cars and work
for him instead and make millions. Marie Curie was told to
forget about radium. Laurence Olivier was told by friends to give
up acting. Benjamin Franklin was told to stop fiddling with
lightning. People told Johnny Weismuller (Tarzan) that no-one
would ever beat his fifty swimming records. His 1936 world
record was the qualifying time for the 1972 Olympics! Attitudes
of the time said his records could never be beaten. Now 12 year
old girls regularly beat his times!
Christopher Columbus took 14 years to raise funding for his
ships and crew before setting out on his explorations. The
science and culture of the day had said that the world was flat.
However, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain had faith in
Columbus. With that faith and money behind him, Columbus took
just six months to discover the New World.
In the same way, a “flat-world mind-set” can limit our thinking
and lead to mediocrity. In the same way that you can train fleas
to jump a certain height in a bowl, when you take away the bowl,
they still do not jump higher than the learned height.
Our mind can tie us down and limit us, so that mediocrity
becomes our destiny. Negative attitudes get cemented in
concrete.
WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE YOU CAN BE GREATER THAN
ANYTHING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU:
ATTITUDE BEATS FACTS EVERY TIME.
DARE TO BE DIFFERENT
* * *
Someone said, “Failure is the line of least persistence.” My
dear mother, Hazel called it “stick-to-it-iv-ness.” It generally
boils down to a healthy combination of faith and hard work, and
it usually means success.
“The only place where success comes before work (hard) is in the
dictionary.”
A short exercise:
Talk to your best friend or partner * (I hate that common New
Zealand expression - cheapens the institution of marriage and
denotes immoral living - Yes, sir “Mr goody goody two shoes” and
“get with the times, mate”) about: * I far prefer the term
’spouse’, which could be an abbreviation for “spastic mouse”.
Enough about my personal opinions…
1. The picture you hold of yourself (i.e.. how you see
yourself): Is it positive or negative, are you an introvert,
extrovert, popular?
2. How you see other people seeing you - their perception
of you, or looking glass). Which brings to mind the following
wise words (not mine)…
“I am not what I think I am.”
“I am not what you think I am.”
“I am what I think you think I am.”
Get it! Are you feeling discouraged? Perhaps you just need to
give it one more try.
IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE IN YOUR QUEST, THEN STICK TO IT… and
this is why I’m sending out this article right now!
According to William S. Banowsky, the story of one of America’s
greatest leaders is actually a story of repeated failures and
dogged persistence:
In 1831 he failed in business.
In 1832 he was defeated for the state legislature.
In 1833 he failed again in business.
In 1834 he was elected to the state legislature.
In 1835 his sweetheart died.
In 1836 he had a nervous breakdown.
In 1838 he was defeated for Speaker.
In 1840 he was defeated for Elector.
In 1843 he was defeated for Congress.
In 1846 he was elected for one term to Congress.
In 1848 he was defeated again for Congress.
In 1855 he was defeated for the Senate.
In 1856 he was defeated for Vice President.
In 1858 he was defeated again for the Senate.
In 1860 he, finally, was elected President of the United States.
And these are just a few of the rough spots in the life of great
former United States President, Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln grew up in a very difficult environment. He had
less than one year of formal schooling. He experienced defeat
and failure year after year, but is one of the great-est success
stories of all time. In spite of everything, he had the right
attitude to achieve success.
I HOPE THAT YOU DO TOO.
Craig Lock (”Infopreneur”)
http://www.craiglock.com
http://www.craiglockbooks.com
P.S: YOUR ATTITUDE WILL DETERMINE YOUR ALTITUDE IN LIFE.
This is one of my favourites from my “spiritual mentor”, Rev
Robert Schuller from the Chrystal Cathedral, in Garden Grove in
California…
“When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on
striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel
underneath - or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold
mine, with God’s help! ”
- Rev R.H. Schuller
As the saying goes,
“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
Success comes to those who ride out the highs and lows and stick
with their dreams, never giving up.”
“Dear God help me become all the person, my dear pet thinks I
am.”
Have FUN travelling down the amazing journey, that is life.
Today is a gift and life a mystery, so make the most of your
individual journey.
Authors Note:
Craig Lock has written extensively in the field of self help.
This extract is from his first published book HANDBOOK
TO SURVIVE - a collection of writings on various subjects
to help every man or woman survive in a rapidly changing,
uncertain world. To order HANDBOOK or Craig’s other
books click on http://www.craiglock.com/books.html and
http://www.bridgeniche.com
P.S: Don’t worry about the world ending today… it’s already
tomorrow in “little” scenic and tranquil New Zealand
THIS ARTICLE MAY BE FREELY PUBLISHED