Controlling Your Attitude

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” - Zig Ziglar

You may have heard the saying that “The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.” Whether you want to be accepting of that quote or not, attitude is pretty darn important. I challenge people to find a happy and successful person out there with a poor attitude.

It is unlikely because attitude is directly related to whether or not you will live a happy, meaningful, and energized life. Success is a natural bi-product of this labor.

Think about this, would you rather be the person who complains and who is down and kicked always focusing on the negative, or the person who is always finding new pathways and focusing on “problem solving and problem intervention” with optimism?

A proactive optimistic attitude can completely change our situation and our life’s paradigm shift! When we have a higher and more positive attitude we can deal with problems more effectively and will end up rebounding much easier and higher from our drops, failures and setbacks.

Taking control of your attitude and emotions is crucial in moving forward and growing in life. Managing our attitude and emotions can be a challenge. It takes hard work and focus. So, here are six points of light to help you grow and have more control over your attitude.

1. We are our thoughts, our reality is our beliefs

Many people don’t realize that how they feel about something is ultimately how they will think about it. Strong feelings and emotions cement beliefs.

“Don't believe everything you think. Thoughts are just that - thoughts.” - Allan Lokos

In order to control your attitude and your emotions, you must be aware of how you are thinking about your experience. What is the story there? Is the story negative or positive? If you focus on the negative things are going escalate to a low vibration and keep coming! Keep things in an objective perception and don’t only focusing on the negative!

2. Your attitude belongs to you, nobody else

For starters, there are only two things we can control 100 percent of the time, our attitude and our efforts. You are responsible for you. Your attitude is a creation by you. It doesn’t come from your life event or current circumstance but rather from how you decide to tell the story of your circumstances. You are in control of how you respond also what happens to you. What you learn from it. You can take full responsibility of your efforts and attitude right now! Don’t give your power away.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

To stay optimistic and positive, with a higher vibration, be aware of your environment. Avoid negative opinions and news and don’t get sucked in from those who bring you down. It is the crab in a bucket analogy. 1 crab can escape the bucket just fine, but two or more crabs will pull each other down continually and a lid is never needed to contain them. Be mindful about seeking out encouraging people and taking in positive information from different media books, podcast, or blogs. Put yourself on a negativity diet. Just like you would be aware of what you feed your body, pay attention to what you feed your mind.

4. Hold on to an “Attitude of Gratitude”

We understand that there are things to have angst about and sometimes we genuinely need to approach and address challenges and problems. If we aren’t careful however, our problems can become a consuming obsession and we set aside the positive therapeutic things. We all have something that we can show gratitude towards for even if challenges surround us. Life can still be enjoyed even if things are not happening the way we envisioned them or expected them to occur. Staying “laser focused” on what you have and are grateful for raises your vibration and ability to attract good positive things in your life. We would be the wiser to make a list of things that we are grateful for each day. Each morning in fact, to start the day off right.

5. Keep your eye on the goal, move toward your target

Focus with the end result in mind. Learn to drive on toward the long-lasting results you want instead of short-term emotions and negative feelings. Every day you have the opportunity to make decisions. You can always decide to make positive ones. If you allow yesterday’s challenges and even failures to be a roadblock of what you want, discouragement will be your constant companion. Be mindful that your vision is clear and present, and think about how great it will feel as you accomplish your benchmarks and goals towards your prize.

6. Identify what you have learned from the experience

We can always learn something from each challenging experience, painful as it seemed. It may not be something we saw clearly in the moment, but there is always something that we can learn. What is something you can take away from a difficult experience or life event? Can you use the story to make positive emotions and thoughts to help you better yourself and move forward? Everything in this life is about learning and progressing and becoming better. It is about following our joy.

7. Follow your joy

We are here to be happy. Plain and simple. We cannot be happy when we are doing what’s wrong. If we follow the wrong formula, we are terrible chemists. We are poor scientists. Why spend one single minute in this life doing something that makes you unhappy, or worse miserable? Stop it! “Your gold mine is between your ears” as Earl Nightingale would say. Our talents and what we know and love can lead us to a path where we follow our joy in this life. Nobody should stop you from that journey, especially yourself!

“People are just about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” - Abraham Lincoln