“The greatest discovery of the 20th century is the fact that a human being has the ability to change his attitude.” – William James
Do you examine your heart attitude on a regular basis? It can be easy to get caught up in the motions of just going about our day. We have our routines. We also can just follow the dictates of circumstances and people around us.
Yet, every moment (whether we acknowledge it or not) we are making a choice. We are constantly expending and giving of our time. Time is the one thing we all have equally. Our time then flows into our use of energy, our thoughts, our actions, our money, etc.
Attitudes are important because they shape how we use the gift of our time and energy. Here are some tips for being effective and powerful with your attitude:
Own Your Attitude
I can be driven to get things done. I can get going full speed ahead and then “hit my wall” of energy depletion and a poor attitude erupts. My poor attitude hurts others around me and myself. I can then rationalize my poor attitude, which resulted in hurtful words and actions, as just being a result of pressures of circumstances or maybe even the unfair actions of others. If it wasn’t for those pressures, this would not have happened, so I am absolved. Yet this is not owning my attitude.
Owning my attitude is taking responsibility that, no matter what, I made a choice. Each and every moment I am making a choice starting with my attitude. Also, with each choice I start to make a habit with my thinking. I was making a bad habit with my thought pattern. I made a choice to change by first owning it.
Reflect on Your Attitude
We don’t know what we don’t know unless we take time to examine it. It can be easy to not pay attention to attitudes and let them just happen. We let the external demands of the day have our attention and forget to be intentional with the internal dimension of our day – our attitudes.
I was talking to a leader who starts each day examining his attitude. He reflects on if he has a positive or negative perspective. Then when he walks into work he reflects again. This is something we can all do. Maybe you have a specific time of reflection in your day? Or maybe you set check points throughout your day to take the pulse of your attitude?
Choose Your Attitude
I have heard my children say, “You made me angry.” This can be a reaction after a decision or circumstance that did not go their way. We have all faced that pivotal point where something has not gone the way we wanted, and we have a choice on how to respond.
A person had a conversation with his supervisor that deeply hurt him. Instead of resolving the issue, he has kept it inside. It has now colored his attitude on how he sees everything that his supervisor does. It has even flowed out into how he views other team members and their interactions with him. How his supervisor treated him was wrong, but how he has let that person’s action continue to impact his own attitude has been a choice.
A leader shared with me how she and her spouse were downsizing. Her husband was cleaning out the garage and came across a set of golf clubs that she had not used in awhile and so just donated them. When finding out about this her immediate reaction was anger, but instead of exploding, she had a quick attitude check. She was then able to engage in an adult to adult conversation about this.
Throughout our day, we have opportunities to choose our attitude. We can have circumstances or interactions that bring the choice of our thoughts to the immediate surface. Sometimes we choose a good attitude and other times we may let a poor attitude fester. Ultimately, we always have a choice and it is never too late to work on our attitudes.