Tag: Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude

GRAB YOUR CAMERA

When people hear that I am a self-improvement author and motivational speaker a lot of them imagine what I do as being a lot of positive thinking and Pollyanna. Although having a positive attitude is important it is a result of what I learn, not the goal of. When you are living a more productive, less stressful life of course you will tend to be more positive.

Please do not misunderstand what I am attempting to say here. Your attitude is of vital importance. The right attitude can make you unstoppable. The wrong attitude can leave you whipped before you even begin. How we develop the former and stay away from the latter is the million dollar question. The most important thing we can learn about attitude is that it is something in our life that is 100% up to us.

Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% what we do with it. We have all heard of people coming from the worst circumstances and using that to propel them to never have to live like that again. We also know people who give up on life because they were ‘born on the wrong side of the tracks’. What is the difference between these two? The difference is attitude.

A lot of what I do is help individuals deal with stress. The first thing I help them do is to develop a change in focus. You already have went through, or are even currently going through the stress, now it is your choice to either succumb to it, or put it to work for you. As cliché as it sounds, you can either become bitter or better. It is changing from a mindset that involves merely surviving, to one that is working towards thriving. The fact that you went through the pain once is bad enough. If you do absolutely nothing with it, that is allowing it to hurt you twice.

One tip I offer people who attend my seminars, and is in my upcoming book that I will give you here as well is to write down two simple questions on an index card. Doing this will do more to help you develop a positive attitude than almost anything I know. What are these two amazing questions? Glad you asked. They are as follows –

  1. What else can this mean?
  2. How can I use this?

These two questions can turn any situation into an advantage for you. If you try to come up with as many positive answers to both of them as you can you will have begun to transform your life. This does not happen overnight and will take a bit of effort, but the rewards will be an unstoppable attitude.

I ask that you share your ideas for creating a powerful attitude and focus in the comments below. The more ideas we have, the more likely we are to be successful.

PICK A HERO..

I was reading a very interesting book entitled “Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude” by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone.  In it they give a great idea for staying motivated and providing us an extra tool in living an amazing life.  Pick a hero, someone you aspire to.  If your goal is to give of yourself to those less fortunate, perhaps a picture of Mother Theresa would be good.  If you wish to be a fine leader of men, maybe George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.  Even a picture of your father or mother if they represent the person you wish to become.  Then when challenges arise, as they must in order for us to grow, pull out your picture. If you have it hanging on the wall so you can see it every day, so much the better.  I might suggest hanging it next to your Vision Board.  That way you can have a double dose of inspiration right away.  If you are not sure what a vision board is I welcome you to read that blog post from earlier.  If you need a picture of me, feel free to use the one from my profile page on this site.  In all seriousness, when you are troubled, look at your picture and picture what the person you have chosen would do.  Of course you may need a few of these ‘heroes’ depending on what advice you are seeking.  You may even ask, the picture “Mr. Lincoln (or whoever you have chosen) what would you do?”  Now obviously the picture will not answer and if it does, come back when you have had less to drink, or seek professional help.  What this does do, however, is get our minds both conscious and subconscious focused on the person, who really just represents a set of ideals and values we aspire to, and our own situation.  An answer will not usually come right that second, but sometime throughout the day it may just pop in your head when you least expect it.  I cannot tell you how many times a day things just pop in my head, but in this case it will be something useful.  You may have to ask several times, or sleep on it, but it will sure keep you focused on the way to act that would best achieve your goals. Enjoy your weekend and I will see you on Monday with more secrets to an amazing life!