Lou Holtz the famous football coach once said, “Ability is what you’re capable of doing, motivation determines what you do and attitude determines how well you do it.” We have heard all our lives how important a role our attitude plays in everything we do every day.
In John Maxwell’s book The Winning Attitude he says that it is absolutely your key to personal success. His list several key principles about how attitude impacts every part of our lives:
- Our attitude determines our approach to life
- Our attitude determines our relationships with people
- Often our attitude is the only difference between success and failure
- Our attitude at the beginning of a task will affect its outcome more than anything else
- Our attitude can turn our problems into blessings
- Our attitude can give us an uncommonly positive perspective
Maintaing the proper perspective is probably the most important one for me. We are all going to encounter problems and setbacks in our lives. It is very important to remember when you are going through difficult times not to focus on what you have lost but what you still have to be thankful for all around you. When you choose to see the glass for the way it is more than half full it will give you the perspective you need to deal with all the other issues.
I found the following to be very helpful about What is an attitude?
It is the “advance man” of our true selves
Its roots are inward but its fruit is outward
It is our best friend or our worst enemy
It is more honest and more consistent that our words
It is an outward look based on past experiences
It is a thing which draws people to us or repels them away
It is never content until it is expressed
It is the librarian of our past
It is the speaker of our present
It is the prophet of our future