Tag Attitude

Now Hear This!

Steve Keating 4 Comments

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Do you ever talk to yourself? In that moment right there, where you asked yourself that question – you just answered it too.

We all talk to ourselves, some of us just call it thinking. Some say “just pumping myself up” and some people say that they in fact, don’t talk to themselves at all. Never!

Now I’m not talking about audibly talking, the kind that other people hear, the kind that gets us “looks” from people wondering if we’re crazy. I’m talking about the small voice, the one that’s inside us that only we hear, the one that’s really our own voice. It’s the voice that likely has more affect on us than all the voices of all the people that we associate with every day.

It’s the voice that tells us we can accomplish anything and it’s that same voice that sometimes tells us we can’t. It’s the voice that either way, is usually right.

We often pay no attention to the voice, just doing what “we want,” ignoring frequently good advice from ourselves. We give others the same advice that our voice gives us and scoff at them for ignoring what we have ignored 100 times. Our voice can help us immensely if only we will allow it to. Our voice is often much smarter than we give it credit for.

There is another side to our voice however that is not so helpful. It’s the negative side. The side that tells us we won’t succeed. It’s the side that sees every opportunity as an insurmountable challenge. It talks down to us and ridicules our efforts. This is the part of our voice that is usually wrong, if we will commit to doing whatever it takes to make it wrong.

Know it or not, THIS is the voice that controls your attitude.

So here’s the deal, you can’t keep the voice from talking but you have 100% authority over what the voice says. You and only you decide. You must be very careful about what you allow the voice to say because you’ll believe yourself more than you’ll believe anyone else.

Start every day by telling yourself you WILL make it a great day. You WILL accomplish your goals and you WILL succeed.

It’s by being aware of our voice that we train it to be a positive force in our lives. It’s when we stop being conscious of our voice that it rebels and says the kind of things we would never say to someone else.

Now, let me ask you again, do you ever talk to yourself? I thought so.

Keep the Change

Steve Keating 1 Comment

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Have you ever payed a waiter or waitress, or maybe some other type of service person and as you handed them the payment you said “keep the change?”

I had a co-worker that used to do that all the time, unfortunately he didn’t do that to reward great service. He did it because he thought of himself, and more importantly, he wanted other people to think of him as some kind of big shot.

Even more unfortunately for him, when a mentor or any one else suggested he change his behavior to something less bombastic, he told them to keep the change too.

We worked together for several years and he received a great deal of good advice from people that really wanted to help him succeed. It was suggested to him frequently that he change his attitude. His answer was always the same; keep the change. It was never him that needed to change, it was always everyone else.

I’m reminded of the funny story of a guy who receives a call from his wife as he is driving home. She is calling to warn him of a driver that is driving on the wrong side of the freeway. He frantically responds to his wife that it’s not just one driver, it’s all of them.

Let me tell you something, get ready because you’re not going to like this. If lots of people around you think that you have a bad attitude, then you almost certainly have a bad attitude. The odds are overwhelming that they can’t all be wrong.

Change is often hard, it’s hard for many reasons. When it involves personal change it can be even harder because it means “losing” what we were or want we did. It can also mean acknowledging that we were failing in what we were doing or how we were doing it.

Let me tell you something else that will be much easier to accept: Successful people change all the time. They accept change as a way of life. They will readily ditch their own idea or their own way of doing something if they see a better way, a way that is more likely to lead to success. They know there is not an ounce of shame in admitting they can do better or that someone else was doing better than them.

So, look at your life. Look hard. Be honest. What areas of your life could you change for the better? What things can you do differently that would lead to better results? What will you have to “lose” to successfully implement the change?

Decide to make that change and then ask someone who cares about you to hold you accountable to make it. Ask them to check up on you once a week for a month. There’s a good chance that after 30 days you won’t notice a difference but there is a great chance that the people around you will.

When it comes to making an improvement in your life, the last thing you want to say is, “Keep the change!”

Your Attitude is Your Choice

Steve Keating 2 Comments

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We make choices all day everyday. When to wake up, what to wear, what to eat, and many many more. Some of our choices are conscious decisions and some, regrettably are unconscious.

When our choices are conscious we have the opportunity to control them, when our choices are unconscious they just kind of happen. Unconscious decisions tend to become habits and it seems that they are most often bad habits at that.

One of our most important choices is the choice of our attitude. Do you realize that you, and only you, choose your attitude? Everyday.

When we make it a conscious choice we almost always have a better attitude. When our choice is unconscious we let other people and other things make that choice for us and that choice is often a negative attitude.

Another choice we can make to help ourselves have a positive attitude is the choice of who we associate with. A sad fact of life is that not everyone really does love a winner. There are people near us that might actually prefer that we fail. They see the negative side of everything we do and say. They have more influence on our attitude than we might imagine.

Stay away from those that would like to see you fail, stay away from those that tell you that you can’t succeed and never, never, never tell yourself that you can’t have everything that you deserve.

Our attitude is either our greatest asset or one of our greatest stumbling blocks. It’s completely our choice and it’s a choice we need to make every single day.

Your Attitude Adjustment is Looking Right at You

Steve Keating 1 Comment

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Let’s be honest, it’s still tough out there. We’re in the “un” times, lots and lots of unknowns. European economies are a mess, we lack leadership in the US Congress, who knows what the markets will do from day to day.

It’s easy to see how our attitudes could go south on us, plus we’re still getting lots of help from the media, pointing out the problems with every hopeful sign.

Too many people in too many places have just thrown in the towel and hunkered down to wait for better times. Their attitude is shot and they need no help to find the negative in every situation.

They need an attitude adjustment and they are waiting patiently, too patiently, for someone to give it to them. Think about that – they want someone else to fix their attitude. Now I really hope you’re not one of those people waiting for someone to fix your attitude, but if you are here is some advice: Stop waiting, it ain’t going to happen. The only person who can improve your attitude is the one who looks back at you when you stand in front of the mirror. That means if you’re going to have a positive attitude it’s up to you, and you alone to make that happen.

If you find your attitude slipping then you must change your input in order to change your attitude. Expose and surround yourself to and with positive information. Encircle yourself with positive people, people that have your best interests in mind. I’m not talking about burying your head in the sand, I’m just saying to make sure the positive “inputs” in your life outweigh the negatives. That’s something you have complete control over.

Don’t wait for someone else to provide you with an attitude adjustment, the only attitude adjustment you need, and the only one that truly works is inside you just waiting to be unleashed. Let it out and you can overcome any challenge that comes your way.

Your Most Important Decision of the Day

Steve Keating 4 Comments

If you’re like me, if you’re human, if you have a pulse, then you make lots of decisions everyday. Most of them are tiny decisions, made with barely a conscious thought. Brand of gum to chew, water with lemon or lime, which color of socks should I wear today. Those are easy (I hope) decisions and they have little or no lasting impact on your future.

Some are more consequential, they shape your future and you likely give them a fair amount of thought.

Some are downright huge! The have long-range of even life long impact on your life. You do research, fact check, ask others for advice and struggle to be sure of your decision.

But one, one decision is the biggest of all. It is positively monumental! 

It’s a decision you should be making everyday. In fact, it might be wise to make it several times a day. Yet most people never make it at all. Many people don’t even realize it’s a decision that is available for them to make. You may be one of them.

So, what is this monumental decision. It’s the decision on whether or not you’ll have a positive attitude. 

YOU get to decide that. 

EVERYDAY! 

ALL DAY!     

If you’re like most people you probably never even give that decision a thought. You just allow your attitude to be determined by the people around you and the events of your day. 

If you’re like most people your attitude “reflects.” The attitude of successful people “radiates.” 

The most successful people decide that they, and they alone, will control their attitude. Nothing and no one will rob them of the incredible strength, focus, and energy provided by a positive attitude.  Sometimes they have to make that choice more than once a day, sometimes many times a day. But make it they do!

Attitude is contagious. It seems as if a negative attitude is the most contagious of all. The best antidote to a negative attitude is a decision. It’s a decision to choose, and choose positive. 

It’s a decision that is yours and yours alone. All you have to do is make it!