“Happiness doesnt depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.”
My early professional career epitomized how a bad attitude can impact a person’s life. I was often confrontational, and if I was mean or condescending to people, I didn’t care. I was divisive and made more enemies than allies. Unfortunately, I lacked self-awareness and accepted my bad attitude as a part of my personality. When I began to acknowledge how my behaviors negatively impacted me, I was motivated to change. Learning to manage my emotions and improve my attitude was one of the most challenging and rewarding changes in my life.
Benefits of Improving Your Attitude
Having a good attitude can create a competitive advantage in life, and a bad one can put you on a self-destructive path that leads to poor results. It is common for a person’s emotions to swing from a good to a bad attitude throughout the day and I believe improving your attitude will be the best return on your effort.
A good attitude can lead to.......
-Expecting success and not failure.
-Giving you the strength to not give up when you encounter obstacles.
-Helping you view failures and setbacks as learning opportunities.
-Believing in yourself and your abilities.
-Improving your self-esteem and confidence.
-Finding solutions instead of dwelling on problems.
-Recognizing areas that enhance your life
-Improving your relationships, professional life and happiness.
Become suggestible to new experiences
A good attitude will improve your response to new references or experiences. Becoming open to learn from every experience will improve the impact of the new information on your life.
Define your life in a positive and honest perspective
Having a positive mindset will improve how you view yourself and the world. Make a clear decision to stop living your life through the perspective of your old attitude. You can now formulate a new strategy for a better life and it starts with an improved attitude.
My Four Step Strategy for Improving Your Attitude:
Step1: Create an attitude awareness
Ask yourself how your attitude has impacted your life, job or relationships? Ask a trusted friend or family member to describe your attitude. Creating an awareness between your attitude and results is an important first step for change.
Using my questions to “Assess Your Attitude” is an effective tool to gain insight into the impact your attitude has on your life.
Step 2: INTERNAL TRANSFORMATION: establish an identity shift
Make a decision to no longer allow your environment to impact your attitude and hinder your life. Start linking displeasure to your past attitude and commit to a new and improved attitude. Recognize how these changes are making a positive impact in your life and begin to identify yourself as a person that enhances the world.
Step 3: Recruit someone to keep You on track
Recruit a trusted friend or family member to keep you on track and give you honest feedback. Until these habits are established, you will find the process easier to have support along your journey.
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
Step 4: Develop a clear and easy plan for improving your attitude
Have you experienced moments when your favorite song came on the radio and your attitude and mood improved? Or have you received a call from a friend and afterwards completely forgot why you were upset earlier? These are examples of how quickly an event can impact your mood and attitude. You do not have to wait for external, random events to change your attitude; Become intentional about improving your attitude and transform your life. Create a list of activities for maintaining a positive attitude and getting yourself out of mental ruts. See suggestions below.
Suggested Activities to Improve Your Attitude:
Exercising
I suggest using exercise as your number one activity to improve your attitude and wellness.
Visualizing
Visualize a desired outcome and become emotionally excited about a better future. You can submit a request to receive a “Free Guide to Visualizing Success”.
Self-Reflecting
Reflect and learn from your feelings and establish a strategy to improve your attitude and how you respond to life experiences.
Becoming self-aware
Practice becoming self-aware of your emotions and thought patterns. Your past thoughts, beliefs and behaviors have been engrained in your mind and you need to make a choice to no longer allow past patterns to determine your current and future attitude. By making a conscientious effort to be mindful of your thoughts and break your routine, you will begin to improve your attitude and outcomes.
Redirecting Your Focus
Focusing on empowering areas of your life will help you think differently and entertain new possibilities.
Hot bath
Listening to music
Playing sports/hobbies
Physical or emotional intimacy
Reading
Talking or doing an activity with a friend or family
Feeling gratitude about something or someone
Thinking about your own mortality and appreciating your life
Final Thoughts:
Human thought patterns are complex and understanding your broad range of emotions will help you manage your attitude. Breaking the cycle of negative emotions will improve how you respond to the world and have a positive impact on your outcomes. Your attitude may not always align with your new standards and having the emotional intelligence to not act on every thought or feeling will improve your results. Be committed to winning the battle on most days, and when you slip, get back on the right track by using your list of activities.
Taking control of how you respond to your external environment is an effective way to improve your attitude and experiences. When you establish a new attitude and begin to respond to the world differently, this change in behavior will create a new reality.
Suggested reading to help improve your attitude:
Read more on:
- A guide to “Establishing an Empowering Mindset“
