Having the Right Attitude

It's been long since Internet company Excite was formed by the merger of Internet portal Excite and service provider Home. Backed by top venture capital firms, the company had a large network of users thanks to Home and a vast amount of content courtesy Excite.Together they could have created virtual excitement. Yet, Excite had produced precious little in its early times. It's stock was falling, share prices had crashed and competition was fast closing in. Anybody else would have buckled under the pressure.

Not CEO George Bell. Unfazed by circumstances, he had promised to increase the company's subscriber base by 100 per cent this year and had already launched a redesigned Excite portal. If that's not about having the right attitude, then what is? Bell could have easily called it quits and packed his bags. But he did not. It is his positive attitude that will put the company on a comeback trail.

An attitude is a point of view about a situation. This could be either positive or negative. What is important is to have a positive attitude, like Bell, which will help you transform your life and soar to the heights of success and fulfillment. However, if you don't have a positive attitude, it is not difficult to develop one. Change your thinking and your life will improve. Consider an example. What happens when you get up in the morning, look at the mirror and speak to yourself: "I look great, I am going to have a great day." And so you do. Leaving for your work full of energy and beans is the right attitude. Now see what happens if you get up and say to yourself: "I look awful, my hair is all messy, I am so tired, I am going to have a terrible day." And believe me, you will. This negative voice is what prevents most of us from having a positive and constructive attitude towards our problems.
The first step in this direction is to change your attitude by changing your thinking, the way you act or the way you feel. Here is how to master a positive attitude:

    * Focus on the solution: When one is faced with difficult circumstances or problems, the tendency is to dwell on the problems, talk about them, fret about them and get upset and emotional. Next time, why don't you try talking about the solutions. Instead of spending your time thinking about how bad things are, think about how good they will be. Don't call a meeting just to discuss how big a problem the organization is facing. Have a meeting about the solutions and what each one can do. Stop complaining and encourage your employees to solve problems.

    * Feed your mind with positive inputs: It's natural that when faced with a problem, the mind tends to worry. Try to get your thought back on track with positive ideas. When you are faced with negative circumstances speak to a friend who will be able to encourage you, and help you think positively . The sooner you get your mind back on track, the sooner you will be able to think about an appropriate solution.

    * Focus your energy on the positive: Instead of spending time thinking about how bad things are, think about how good they will be. You need to focus on the positive in life. Try to start looking for what is right in the person or the situation instead of looking at what is wrong. Because of our conditioning, we are so attuned to finding faults and looking for what is wrong, that we forget to see the positive picture. Remember that if you start looking for friendship, happiness, loyalty then this is what you will get and if you look for indifference and conflict, then that is what you are going to get.

    * Change your inner dialogue: Pay attention to yourself. Engage in self-observation and listen to that inner voice or your conscience. The next time you find yourself feeling bad, stop and introspect about what you have been thinking about. Don't ask yourself who did this to me or search for external causes. Instead ask yourself, what have I been thinking, what have I been telling myself. More often than not you will find that more than the external cause of your pain it is the way that you have been thinking about it that has caused you the distress.

    * Prepare for the unexpected: The unexpected can often result in chaos and disorder in your organised life, leaving you surprised and in a reactive mood. Unfortunately this often compounds the problem because by reacting you tend to operate out of your weakness instead of your strengths. You make decisions that are not well thought out and function with a bad attitude that says: "I cannot believe that this is happening!" What you need to do when circumstances turn against you the next time, step back from the problem and think. This will help you deal with the situation in hand rationally instead of emotionally. Remember that you do not have to do something right now. Take time to think and relax. Acting at the spur of the moment will only lead to decisions that are rash and hasty.

    * Keep the important things important: Keep your eye on the goal. That means that you must focus on the where it should be. Imagine a car racing driver, whose eyes are straight ahead on the track and don't move even for a fraction of a second. If they do move, they are going to get wrecked. Similarly, keep your eyes on the goal, think how you can achieve it and then focus 100 per cent attention on it.

    * Do it now: Procrastination leads to a negative attitude and fatigues you more than the effort it takes to do it. If you do want to build and maintain a positive attitude, get into the habit of living in the present and doing it now. Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin: "Never leave till tomorrow which you can do today."

    * Count your blessings: One of the important tricks of having a positive attitude is to count your blessings, not your troubles. There are a lot of things in your life that you need to be thankful and grateful for. One of the greatest powers that we have is the power to control our thoughts. Spend time thinking about the good things in your life, rather than the bad. Think about positive things, things that you enjoy doing and that which gives you happiness and peace. There is an old childhood song that I still often sing: " Count your blessings, name them one by one." The next time you have a problem, try humming this song.

    * This shall pass: Remember that bad times are temporary and will pass, though it may seem that you are going to be in the present mess forever. There will be a time in the future when you will be on the top of a mountain instead of the valley. This will give you a sense of hope and help you work towards the solution to your problem.

A positive attitude is the key to success. It is more important than money or education, for if you have the right attitude you will have everything else. The remarkable thing in life is that you have the power to control your own attitude. You cannot change your past, you cannot change the way people act, and nor can you change the inevitable. The only thing that you can do is change your attitude. So go ahead and change that attitude, and you can promise yourself a bright and successful future.