“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” ~ Zig Ziglar
The above quote means that it is not so much your intellectual or physical attributes that dictate how far you can go in life but your desire and willingness to travel the distance. This has been proven so many times before by famous people who were able to excel in their respective fields despite their disabilities such as:
1. Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest composers of all time, who produced his greatest musical masterpieces when he was losing his hearing.
2. Stephen William Hawking, the well-renowned British theoretical physicist who, despite his affliction of debilitating motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award, became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, among the many accolades bestowed on him for his scientific contributions.
3. Helen Adams Keller, the famous American author, political activist, and lecturer who became the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
4. Marla Runyan, the first legally blind paralympian to compete in the Olympic Games in Sidney, Australia. She was a three-time national champion in the women’s 5000 meters. She also won 4 gold medals in the 1992 summer Paralympics and again in 1996, a silver winner in the shot put and a gold medal in the Pentathon.
Your attitude plays a significant part in shaping your life and your future. Fortunately, you have the power to control it. You can opt for a positive attitude that ensures you a bright tomorrow; or choose a negative one and end up with a bleak future. Here are some tricks to help you assume a positive attitude for a successful future:
• Take action. When faced with a choice that confuses you what action to take, consider which of the choices is more likely to yield a more positive result. Reinforce your choice with a positive attitude, take the appropriate action, and let it go. Holding on and procrastinating is wasting valuable time. Once you have initiated the action, fretting and worrying about its outcome is a waste of valuable time and invites the negative attitude to take control. Let go and maintain an optimistic mindset on the outcome.
• Choose the right crowd. In order to enhance your positive attitude, surround yourself with people who share your mindset. Their words of encouragement and positive vibration will increase and reinforce yours. Fellow positive minds will inspire you to persevere in your optimistic outlook.
• Exercise patience. Patience is never more important than when you are on the verge of losing it. Do not allow, therefore, that the faults and mistakes of others affect you and your positive attitude. Understand the situation and refrain from finger-pointing and blaming others. These would only worsen matters because they build up animosity and muddle clear reasoning. Instead, stand back from a difficult situation and allow your positive attitude to help you look for ways to correct the situation. You are far more likely to find a solution this way than going into a panic.
• Be goal-oriented. Whenever you do something, do it with a particular goal in mind. Do not go around aimlessly like a rudderless ship. Have a sense of purpose so that you always consider the repercussion of your action to you and to others, now and in the future. This way, you avoid being manipulated by others and allows you to keep your integrity and positive attitude in life intact.
• Show gratitude at all times. Be appreciative of everybody. Usually, you show your appreciation to others, even to strangers, but not to your family members. You take for granted their acts of kindness and concern. Expressions of gratitude are appreciated by everybody, with no exceptions. The words “Please” and “Thank you”, although very short and simple, are very powerful in spreading goodwill and lifting spirits. They make doing good deeds easy and pleasant, especially when accompanied with a smile. These simple gestures of appreciation promote positive attitude to both to their giver and recipient.
• Temper your competitive instinct. No two persons are exactly the same, not even twins. Each individual is a unique creation so comparing you with anyone else is not only a waste of time but an exercise in futility. It spreads discontent and frustration because there is always someone who is better than you, or so you think. Discard the mentality that the grass is always greener on the other side. Instead of wasting your time harbouring envy within you, tend your own turf and maintain a positive attitude by being productive. Quit worrying and focus on your own life and be happier in the process.
• Let your thoughts manipulate your outcome. This is how the Law of Attraction really works. Anything that happens to you is the product of your thought. Thoughts make up your attitude and keeping a positive attitude ensures a positive outcome in whatever you do. Quit grumbling about anything and everything. This could turn you to a pessimist who derives a weird joy in complaining. How would you like to turn into somebody who worries when he finds he has run out of things to worry about? This may seem funny but it is actually what a pessimist is.
• Start your day on the right foot. This mean waking up early before anyone else is up. Beating everyone to bathroom or to the morning papers may seem insignificant but these simple accomplishments put you into a winning mode. This feeling may extend to the rest of your day and reinforces the positive attitude in you.
• Live your life in the present tense. Make sure you do not spend your day lost in thought regretting about the past which you could not re-live anymore, or worrying about the future which is still an illusion. These thoughts give you anxiety, stress, and worry. When you have these feelings, take a break for a few minutes. These short breaks could bring you back to your present moment and work magic in improving mood and your attitude.
These tricks, simple though they may seem, are effective tricks to improve your attitude.