How's Your Attitude?

     We are like icebergs.  You probably know that icebergs usually have about 10% of its mass above the water and 90% is beneath the surface where it cannot be seen.  You are like an iceberg because about 10% of you is currently showing, that is called your effectiveness, what you are currently able to do.  However, 90% of you is unseen but is still within you.  This is your potential and there are three ingredients of potential:
1.  Natural ability and talent
2.  Knowledge/education/training   
3.  Desire
 
     Your potential will enable you to be successful in ways you could never imagine.  So how do you tap into that potential?  First you must be able to deal with change.  See a previous posting about dealing with change.

     Another way to tap into your potential is to have a positive attitude.  The word "attitude" today has a negative connotation.  If you say someone has an "attitude", it means that they are a negative person.  But we know that an attitude can be both positive and negative.  Attitudes are really the direction in which we lean, for or against something.  They are habits of thinking and they can contribute significantly to our comfort zone.  It is often said that first we form attitudes and then they form us.  These habits of thought can predict or perpetuate our performance. 

     Dr. Benjamin Bloom did a study a number of years ago and found that attitude was more important than talent and that the key to success was determination and desire, the direct results from having a positive attitude.  You can develop and maintain a positive attitude through your self-talk (see a previous posting about self-talk).   Have you ever noticed that successful people have acquired the habit of talking about what they are for rather than what they are against?  It is this optimism that propels them forward. 

     So it is OK to have an attitude.  Just make sure it is positive if you want to be happier and more successful. 

Attitudes are contagious.

Do you want people around you to catch yours?

~ Bob Moawad ~