Less than a year ago, I found myself in beautiful Tampa, Florida. I had received a call from a CEO there who expressed his need for my help. He told me that morale in his company was far below what it needed to be. He asked me to come in and train his upper management in positive thinking.

I had other business in Tampa and didn't see him until my third day there. I walked into his office suite (and was it ever 'sweet'). This man had started this company 'with his own two hands' (as he put it). He was very proud to say that he had 'run this company single-handedly for 32 years'.

He started in telling me how his management and employees had a very bad attitude towards him, his company and his industry. His sales staff was turning over every six months. His VP of sales had been with him one year and he felt as if he was about to put in his resignation.

To my horror, he offered me the job as his sales manager. I told him 'no thanks' faster than a stroke of lightning in the middle of a Texas thunderstorm. In fact, he hired me for a month at more than the salary he was paying his sales manager on an annual basis.

He let me know that he could 'probably double that for me'. This poor man was clueless (and I'm about 1000% sure that he won't see this article here :).

The first order of business was for him to pay my full fee upfront. I knew that what I had to tell him might affect how good my check would be if I waited until the end of my services with him.

He put me up at very lovely resort 3 blocks from his office.

My first day (after making sure my check had cleared) he sent someone to pick me up. We arrived at his office and I promptly went into his office suite.

He had a list of all of his 'troubled managers'. He wasn't wanting to fire any of them but he did want me to 'fix' their attitudes. I told him that we would be spending our first week on 'his' outlook and philosophy of his company.

As you can imagine, this poor guy had no clue that the basic problem in his company, was him. Much to my surprise, after getting over his shock that I would be so direct in confronting his attitude, he agreed that he knew that he had 'allowed his managers and employees' drag his attitude down as well. (Clueless again.)

Friend, everything starts and stops with leadership. This man had a lot of pride. However, secretly I think that he knew that the problem in his turnover, financial loses, bitter disputes with customers and almost all out war with his competitors are stemmed from him.

I spent the first two weeks working with him and his upper management. I spent one-on-one time with each one of them (he had 12 in all). I ate lunch with them, watched football games with them and even drove a few of them on the golf course (I don't play golf; well I do but you wouldn't want to see it. Its not a pretty site.)

If everything rises and falls on leadership, then leadership rises and falls on attitude.

I determined whether his 12 managers were really sold out to the company of whether or not they were irredeemable. I listened to their complaints, gripes and general unhappiness. We identified why they were still with the company and discovered their future hopes for themselves and their employment there.

You have an amazing power within your control at this very moment. It is the power of choice. You can choose to have an awesome attitude or you can default into negativity. Let me be very direct.

Negativity leads to poverty. Positivity leads to prosperity. For you. For your company. For your employees.

The great motivator and author, Keith Harrell said it best. 'Attitude is Everything!'

We developed a training program that is still being utilized in that company. We called it 'attitude training'. Along with all technical aspects of a business enterprise 'attitude training' will determine profits.

Attitude is far beyond 'positive thinking'. It is the perpetual, consistent outlook that you choose to have. I believe that attitude can be taught. When attitude is taught, then it can be caught and have a phenomenal synergistic effect on everything.

It might seem trite now, but when Zig wrote many years ago about, 'stinking thinking', he discovered a key that would make or break an individual or a company.

Do a check up from the neck up right now.

1. Rate your overall attitude regarding life in general. Give it a 10 for possessing an awesome, powerful attitude. Give it a 0 if your attitude stinks.

2. Make a decision now to do something about your attitude if you know that it needs improvement.

3. If you are a business owner or manager, take responsibility for the morale that exists around you. You can't change what you won't acknowledge.

4. If your personal or corporate profits are suffering find out why. Even though you may have changes in your industry and business you still need to assess you 'umbrella of attitude' that exists in your company and environment.

5. Be honest if you are having trouble with your own attitude. Also, if it is something that you don't know what to do about, get some outside help.

Take action to turn your personal attitude to one that seeks, explores and finds new opportunities.

If you haven't done so in a while, set some new goals in your life and/or in your company. If you feel that you or your company has lost its edge, then decide now that you are going to do something about it.

Go to the local bookstore and find a book on attitude. Hire a consultant to come in an assess where the problem is.

Start some 'attitude training' in your company. I guarantee that if you identify with this article, your profits can and will go up very quickly we you choose to turn attitudes around.

Do something to stir your passion up again for your life and/or business. Take positive action today.

Sage Narad was on his way to meet Lord Vishnu. Enroute he was accosted by a rishi doing penance. The rishi requested sage Narad to confirm with Lord Vishnu when he would get the fruits of his penance. The sage promised to do so. On his way further, another rishi approached Sage Narad with the same request. Narad promised him too.


After his meeting with Lord Vishnu the sage was returning. One rishi with all anxiety enquired what the reply was. Thereupon the sage said, “Oh Rishi! Count the number of leaves of this tree under which you are doing penance. That many years will take for you to reap benefits of your penance.”

“Still so many years to go? Oh god! What a long wait!’’ grumbling so, the rishi deserted the place abandoning tapasya. Narad gave the same reply to the other rishi who was all curious. To Narad’s surprise the rishi started dancing out of joy. The rishi profusely thanked Narad for conveying the good news and also expressed his gratitude to god. Narad enquired what made him rejoice when the other rishi was repulsive to the same answer.


The all glee rishi said, “Oh wise sage! For two reasons I celebrate now. One is that it is now confirmed that my penance is to fructify. The second reason is that it is no indefinite wait. Precisely after how many years I am going to get the fruits of my penance is now known’’.


ATTITUDE shapes destiny


The moral of the story is that it is not what happens in life but what you do with what happens in life that shapes the outcome of any event in life. What we do with what happens is a matter of attitude. The benefit from the outcome of our effort is based on the appropriateness or inappropriateness of our attitude.


A person with a positive attitude says, GOOD MORNING GOD!’ A person with a negative attitude says, “Oh my God it’s morning”. Like it or not, life is a ceaseless reflection of our attitude every moment. Looking back at your life you will find that all your past successes and failures were the resultant of your attitude then. Attitude is the anvil on which your life is shaped; destiny is designed.


ATTITUDE is not a skill


The dictionary meaning of attitude is ‘a way of thinking, behaving, and feeling’ Attitude is mental poise; a matter of conviction; a simple declaration to your self. Attitude is not an objective skill you can employ at your will Attitude is a subjective determinant of the consequences of every event of your life


ATTITUDE GDP


Attitude of Gratitude - Count your blessings. Immaterial of the magnitude, feel proud of your achievements and comforts of your life. Celebrate life for the opportunities it provides. Express gratitude to God for His Blessings.


Attitude of Desire - Desire for success, wealth and prosperity. Desire for living life in full glory. Desire for abundance and accomplishments. Desire for your contributions to life. Desire not only take care of your life but your family and society is an enlightened desire. Desire is the propulsion for action.


Attitude of Positivism - HOPE is Happenings Of Positive Expectation. Develop an attitude of positive expectation from life. Believe tomorrow is always bright. Look only for the best; seek only the best; expect only the best. You will be amazed life always gives you the best. Your creative channels open up. Infinite possibilities open up. You are sure to get a sense of accomplishment; find meaning and purpose to life.


LIFE is Living In Full Enthusiasm

Of all the positive attitude tips offered on the many self help resources available the best is to change the way you think. And if it was really that simple then this article would end here.

However, knowing what to do is different from figuring out how to do it. You cannot change the way you are thinking if you are not aware of how you are thinking, so any list of positive attitude tips must include suggestions for self analysis and emotional reflection.

Starting at the beginning it becomes self evident that positive attitude tips can only be offered if we first understand what the word attitude really means. In everyday common language the word attitude has many meanings, but it is mostly used to refer to a cognitive construct or in simpler terms a "pattern of thinking".

Since we cannot see the way a person is thinking, attitude is usually inferred from behaviour. When a person's cognitive construct or way of thinking is positive their behaviour will reflect what will be interpreted as a positive attitude.

A positive attitude allows a person to create the life they want because they are not afraid to see things as they really are and work to create their own reality. A positive attitude really reflects a lack of fear in moving forward and creating change.

There are many benefits of a positive attitude including:

* better health
* improved relationships with others both at home and at work
* more opportunities for success
* improved productivity

How Do You Devleop a Positive Attitude?

It is a partially true statement that we get our attitude from our parents! It is partially true because what happens to us in life is only part of the equation for developing a positive attitude How we interpret what happens to us is equally if not more important in creating our attitudes.

What is a cognitive distortion?

If you interpret what happens to you in a negative way you develop what are called cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are nothing more that errors in interpretation and those errors can be changed if identified, examined, and re-interpreted in a positive way.

Positive attitutde tips must include the reccommendation to become aware of your own cognitive distortions and change them! Cgnitive distortions keep you in a pattern of thinking which forms a barrier to creating the life you really want.

The cognitive distortions which would be behind a negative attitude would go something like this:

* "I screwed up again."
* "I am not smart enough to try that."
* "It is not really what I want but it is good enough for me."
* "If I ask for help people will think I am stupid and know that I cannot even run my own life"

The cognitive construct behind a positive attitude would go something like this:

* "Even though this bad thing happened, I am still a good person."
* "I am going to take this opportunity to learn as much about why this happened as I can because I do not want it to happen to me again."
* "I think that perhaps I need some help with this because I do not seem to be able to help myself in a way that is helping to resolve this problem."

The difference between these two ways of thinking is immedaately obvious. Think of it this way:

Developing a positive attitude means interpreting life's events in a way that is truthful, honest, and self affirming and keeping a positive attitude means continuing with these positive and self affirming interpretations of life's events, even negative events.

It is possible to change your attitude! But it does require identification and critical analysis of your own beliefs about yourself and the life you think you deserve.

The best possible of all the positive attitude tips? Change the way you think!

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/positive-attitude-tips-identify-and-change-your-cognitive-distortions-855319.html#ixzz0oa8omwZD
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Lately I've been on a binge of reading leadership books, and I have just finished "Today Matters" by John C. Maxwell. In the book, he talks about the 12 daily practices that anyone can adopt to guarantee success, and the very first practice he discusses is choosing the right attitude daily.

If you are not convinced why the right attitude is so important, just find out how many athletes attribute their success to their "winning attitude". Your attitude at the beginning of a task affects its outcome more than anything else. So, it is definitely beneficial for us to check our own attitudes daily.

The great thing about this practice of choosing the right attitude is that anybody can do it. It really doesn't require any special skills or years of learning except maybe total honesty. However, there are some tips that can help you become better at it, and I am going to reveal the process to you now.

1. Start noticing your attitude

Do you have habits that you are unconscious about? I know women who play with their hair, or men who jiggle the change in their pockets, and they are completely unaware that they are doing it most of the time. Do you let your attitude degrade and assume the whiner or victim mentality, like a bad habit, without even noticing? If that is the case, you need to start noticing now.

Check your attitude about a task, a person, or a situation. How do you feel about the situation? What are your actions saying about your attitude? Do this every day, or even multiple times a day when circumstances change, or your mood changes, or you feel particularly challenged about something in your day.

2. Check the impact of your attitude

Once you've noticed what attitude you have, now you have to decide if it is the right attitude to have. The determining factor is the result or outcome you want and the impact your attitude has on your ability to achieve that outcome.

Does your attitude: • Help you stay motivated? • Improve your confidence? • Help you believe in yourself? • Reduce your stress? • Make you feel more in control? • Keep you focused? • Get you excited? • Make you feel grateful?

If you can answer "yes" to many of these questions, then you have the right attitude. If the answers are "no", then make up your mind to change your attitude immediately. There may be other questions you can ask that is more relevant to your situation. I trust you get the general idea of how to decide if you have the right attitude.

3. Choose another attitude

Now that you have noticed your sorry attitude, and determined that it is indeed a sorry attitude to have, you need to drop it like a hot potato and pick another one. It is really that simple. You just have to make up your mind that you are choosing to change your attitude and do it.

Just because I said that it is simple does not mean that it is easy. In order to change your attitude, we may have to change your belief system, and many of our beliefs are tied into our words.

4. Change your vocabulary

In order to have a more powerful and helpful attitude, stop using these words:

"Can't" - people use can't when they either don't know how to do something, or they don't want to. If you don't know how, you can find out and learn. If you don't want to, then you need to admit that you don't want to. Stop saying "I can't" and start believing "I can."

"Try" - as Yoda said: "Do, or not do, there is no try." And wise creature that he is, he is absolutely right. There is no state of trying. You are either doing something, or you are not. When you use "try", there is an implied possibility of failure, and you are accepting it. So, delete "try" from your vocabulary, and just do your best.

There are many other "weasel" words that we use often. Start paying attention to your own speech pattern and eliminate them from your vocabulary. It will help your attitude.

5. Practice, Practice, Practice

Now all that's left is for you to take this knowledge and put it into use. Start small; pick one thing you want to change your attitude about and just do it. Check out the results after you made the change, then move on to the next thing.

Don't expect to transform yourself overnight. It takes 21 days to form a new habit, and this is definitely a new habit you want to keep. So, start today, and stay with it until you start noticing that other people are hanging around you. You see, attitudes are contagious, and if you always have a super attitude, people really like being around you because they want some of what you have to rub off on them!

What is attitude? It is what you think, believe, feel, expect, act, in relation to yourself, life, people, and your goals. Attitude can be positive or it can be negative; it can be limiting or it can be expanding; if you have a positive attitude, you feel alive, well, loved, happy, liked, confident,...you feel good; if you have a negative attitude, you feel angry, resentful, fearful, depressed, anxious, hopeless,... you feel bad. Your feelings are your thermometer to your attitude and, as we will see below, your life is the mirror to your attitude.

Now, how is your attitude, how is your dominant attitude? Is it positive, and expanding, or is it negative and limiting? What do you think you can achieve? Who do you think you are? What do you think about yourself? What do you think about other people? Do you think they are out there to get you or to help you? Do you expect to be liked by people or do you expect to be 'judged'? Do you expect to be lucky? Do you expect to achieve your goals? Do you expect that life is going to be difficult, that you will have to struggle to make money, or do you expect life is wonderful and enjoyable?

Your expectations determine what will happen in your life, as very simply, what you expect, you get. So, if you are not sure of what your expectations really are, take a look at your life: whatever you have in your life right now is a reflection of who you are inside and the vibrations you send out. If you are struggling with money, with your health, with a relationship, with your job, with people, it means that somewhere your attitude is not healthy. So, if you want to change your life, you need to change yourself, you need to change your attitude.

In fact, a healthy attitude is when you feel good about yourself, when you know that you will achieve your goals, when you know people will like and love you, when you know that things will work out, when you know you are precious and the Universe is conspiring to your happiness. A healthy attitude is when you love people, when you love yourself, when you thank God for who you are and for all the wonderful gifts you have, for all the people you have in your life, for all that has happened to you, because that has made you the person you are today.

So, your attitude towards yourself has a strong impact on your self-love, on the way you treat yourself, and so, on your health- mental, emotional, and physical. Your attitude towards people will have a strong impact on the response you will get from them, because if you love them, if you are grateful, if you appreciate them, if you are kind, they will love you back. So, three emotions are a key to great relationships: gratitude, kindness and love. In fact, as the most important needs of any human being are the need for connection, the need to feel appreciated and the need to feel loved, and everything that happens in your life happens through people, whether is in your personal or professional life, you need to have a very positive attitude here. And this means always, really always, look at the positive and best in people, you included. Look at the positive in people and circumstances, and they will become that, you will take out the best from them, and you will attract more of that. And look at the best in you, in how extraordinary and unique you truly are, look at your gifts, qualities and strengths, and you will develop a healthy esteem and love for yourself.

And your attitude towards life will determine your success or failure, whether you will achieve your goals and be the best you can be, or whether you are going to struggle. Now, your attitude towards your goals is also something more than that, because the expectation of achievement whether is the person you want to become or a goal you want to achieve, makes you become that person and achieve what you want before you actually have done it. It is the Law of Attraction. And the more you have expectations and you take actions to achieve your goals, the faster you are going to achieve them. So, let us suppose you want to be confident or you want to be successful, if you have the attitude and the expectations of being confident and successful, you are going to feel confident and successful already now. It is simply a shift in your consciousness.

Now, let us suppose you have developed a healthy attitude towards yourself, life, people, and your goals. What do you do when you encounter negative people or negative circumstances? What do you do when somebody gets angry at you? What do you do when you are driving and someone cuts in your way? Well, we need to develop an immune attitude, learn to be immune to negativity. You need to learn not to let anything disturb your peace of mind. You can simply ignore it and smile it away. And think that things are temporary, that if you have a great attitude, you will create a life where you have all that you desire and deserve, a wonderful life, guaranteed.

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/attitude-for-greatness-113617.html#ixzz0oa8TN4Hl
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It is your basic 'mind set', your outlook, how you view things ...
For example, people with different attitudes will view (perceive) the same situation from quite different perspectives. A particular situation will be seen as a problem by one person and an opportunity by another.

It is usually the person who sees that situation as an opportunity that will be able to think of a useful solution to correct the situation.

So, a positive attitude can see opportunities in a situation where a negative attitude will only see the problems and obstacles. This can apply to all aspects of life.

In business the difference between a positive attitude and a negative attitude can often mean the difference between success and failure. A positive attitude will transmit positive and friendly signals, where a negative attitude repels people. How often have you experienced this as a customer in a business and vowed never to go back again.

People with ingrained negative attitudes often view life and work as a 'struggle'. They have been conditioned by their family or other background to expect life to be a struggle: almost with a fatalistic resignation that 'things don't work out'.

So, a positive attitude can result in -
· Developing a plan (any plan, even a very simple plan) for
your life or business rather than staying in a rut, 'doing
what you've always done'.
· Seeing a problem situation as an opportunity to solve this
problem or create a new approach to doing something, rather
than allowing the problem to block you and your hopes of
achieving your goal.

Note that a positive attitude does not mean everything will go without a hitch. Working towards a goal or implementing a plan does require effort, but this is different to struggle which is effort laced with negative emotion.

Attitude Renewal
Change - and how it affects us.

Changes in life's circumstances can bring about profound changes in our attitudes to both ourselves and life in general. These can relate ...
· to our work and business
· to our colleagues and associates
· to friends and family

In an era of change, these changes can be as diverse as ...
· unemployment
· health
· upheaval to your personal or your business finances
· relationship and family problems

Personal and self-concept issues can arise, bringing about negative attitudes
· hair loss for men
· weight increase
· other personal disappointments

Attitude and Our Sub-Conscious Minds.
Constant exposure to outside negative influences eventually permeates our sub-conscious minds, for example
· endless bad news stories in the media
· lyrics espousing a very negative and defeatist outlook
in some music
· friends with a negative outlook

These issues highlight the power of our sub-conscious minds. The maxim: 'whatever you fill your head with, you become' shows how constant exposure to any influence penetrates through the conscious area of our minds into the sub-conscious area. This is where our beliefs and attitudes develop and are held.

Keeping Your Attitude Fresh.
So, when your attitude goes sour, what do you do ?

Strategically plan to insulate yourself against avoidable negative influences that will corrupt your attitudes. Use your intuition to warn you of negative situations and people - and avoid both.

If however, you are in a negative situation that is having a debilitating effect on your attitude, there are some practical things you can implement to limit the impact of these things on your attitudes.

· It's of great value to have someone with whom you can talk
things through.
· Physical (strenuous) activity can relieve stress caused by
negative situations.
· Hire a humorous movie. Laughter is a great restorer !
· A change in your environment. A weekend away can give you the
refreshment you crave.

If you go through your life with negative attitudes you will end up being one of those people who look back on their life with regrets.

Jim's not working out, he's got a bad attitude". "We are looking for people with a can-do attitude". These are common statements I hear, or read regularly from managers about to hire new staff or address performance issues with the current team. Just what is attitude and can you identify it before you hire it?

Let's start with a simple definition - Attitudes are predispositions to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something in your environment.

Attitudes are influenced by values, but they focus on specific people or objects, while values have a more general focus. 'Employees should be allowed to participate' is a value; your positive or negative feeling about your job because of the participation it allows is an attitude.

As an example, when you say you "like" or "dislike" someone or something, you are expressing an attitude. One important work-related attitude is job satisfaction. This attitude expresses a person's positive or negative feelings about various aspects of his or her job and/or working environment.

It is important to remember that an attitude, like values, is a hypothetical construct; that is, no one ever sees, touches, or actually isolates an attitude. Rather, attitudes are inferred from the things people say (informally or formally), or do (their behaviour).

The components of attitudes...

The Antecedents of Attitude = Beliefs & values

This leads to Attitude development = It creates a feeling that influences a result

The Results = The intended behaviour

For example...

"My job lacks responsibility" (leads to) "I do not like my job" (This leads to)"I am going to quit my job"

It's essential to recognise that one's attitude (feelings) influences one's intended behaviour.

So back to the original question, "Can attitudes be identified in the job candidate before you hire?" The answer is yes, with a relative degree of accuracy. I use the word "relative" because the tests used to identify "bad attitudes" are usually only accurate if the beliefs and values of a person, in relation to the attitudes being measured, are strong.

Richard I. Lanyon, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and a consulting psychologist in Scottsdale, AZ. He is a world leader in attitude testing. Lanyon designed the attitudes inventory that is a major component of our JobCLUES assessments. JobCLUES also tests for workplace personality and mental ability. The attitudes measure in JobCLUES tests six key attitudes relating to work. They are:

1. Hostility/Aggression in the workplace -- will the candidate exhibit emotion physically -- punch the boss's lights out?

2. Dependability/Conscientiousness -- will the candidate lack motivation, persistence and organisation. Be careless and lackadaisical -- show up for work on time etc?

3. Integrity/Honesty -- will they rob you blind, short change customers, lie on expense sheets, exaggerate job qualifications etc?

4. Substance Abuse -- Are they users of illegal drugs, consume alcohol while at work; show up often demonstrating the effects of the "night before"?

4. Sexual Harassment -- Will they proposition fellow workers, make sexual remarks or tell dirty jokes inappropriately?

6. Computer Misuse -- Will they spend all day sending personal emails, surf the web or download pornography etc?

JobCLUES Attitude profile takes about 15 minutes to complete. The personality section takes 10 minutes while the mental abilities section is timed at 6 minutes. All can be used online together or as separate assessments. Reports are generated immediately against anyone of 60 job, and or, industry benchmarks.

Apart from very robust psychometric, jobCLUES is so well priced -- you can purchase 5, 10 or 20 assessments (includes all modules and reports) from $39 (plus GST) each. If you are a larger organisation you can have unlimited testing for an annual fee of $1500 for business up to 50 employees - $30 an employee annually thereafter. It really is a "no-brainer" price for such a highly valid pre-screening selection tool.

This instrument combined with a good application form, a behavioural based interview (JobCLUES provides these tailored to the role) and reference/background checking will help you avoid hiring "bad attitude".

Is your attitude rubbing the people around you the wrong way? If so, you need to reflect on your attitude. And you can make tweaks to your attitude with the use of positive attitude affirmations.

Attitude, what? This is a question that many people ask when they first hear about attitude affirmations but it is actually very simple. Free positive affirmations are little statements that you can adopt as your own that you can say to yourself every day and in those tough situations that bring out the worst of your attitude to help you look at the world in a more positive way.

For example, you might say to yourself: "I accept my faults and I accept the faults of others." Or "I have an attitude of gratitude."

Using Attitude Affirmations to Embrace Positive Thoughts

Giving your attitude a little boost is a lot easier when you use attitude affirmations because you are replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. When you are constantly projecting positive thoughts through the use of free positive affirmations. you will find that you will like yourself more, and others around you will appreciate your presence more! Who doesn't want to be more likable? When you make use of attitude affirmations as part of your life, you can instantly make yourself more likable and feel a whole lot better about yourself, too!

Having a bad attitude is not only not conducive to good interpersonal relationships it's not good for you! It's a drag on your day, your outlook, and even your family. And remember you're your attitude is your choice. You choose to have a rotten attitude, or a pleasant one.

Attitude affirmations can help you change those situations where you tend to get negative or mean and help you approach life with a lot more positive thoughts. Free positive affirmations can be built into your life and in very little time you will see a change in your attitude if you believe that you can change.

Attitude affirmations really do work. It's all in the power of positive thought and action. When you believe that you can change, you can take these seemingly simple attitude affirmations and change your life with them. If you know that you need a little attitude pick-me-up, why not go for it? You don't have anything to lose by learning about free positive affirmations and seeing what they can do for you and your life.

Allow your bad attitude to be a thing of the past. Find a few attitude affirmations that you believe in and then use them to your advantage. When you feel that bad attitude kicking into high gear or you know that you will be facing something that brings out the worst in you, use your free positive affirmations. Don't wait for things to get out of hand.

Taking the upper hand and turning negatives into positives will allow for you to change who you are, how you feel, and how others perceive you. It's easier than you might think and you'll be amazed by the power that attitude affirmations truly have.

Speaking of thought, let's listen to your thoughts first, now tell me - what thoughts fill your head? Would you label them as positive, or negative?

Let's say you are walking down the street with these thoughts. Do you think anyone who is going to meet you would be able to tell you what is in your mind?

The answer is up to you, it can be pretty generic although people will not be able to tell you exactly what are you thinking, but they will more or less have an idea of how you are feeling.

Here's another question - When you enter a party filled with friends, do they all fall silent as if something terrible had happened? Or does everybody there perk up as if waiting for something exciting to happen?

You know what? The answer to all these questions is depends on your frame of mind.

Thoughts are very powerful; they affect your general attitude. The attitude you carry reflects on your appearance too - unless, of course, you are a great actor.

And it doesn't just end there, more than that; your attitude can also affect people around you.

The type of attitude you carry depends on you. It can be either positive or negative.

Positive thoughts have a filling effect. They are admittedly invigorating. Plus, people around the person who is carrying the positive thoughts are usually energized by this type of attitude.

Negative thoughts on the other hand have a sapping effect on other people. Aside from making you look gloomy and sad, negative thoughts can turn a festive gathering into a funeral wake.

So basically, a positive attitude attracts people, while a negative attitude repels them. If you pay attention to the around that you are in, you will see people tend to shy away from those who carry a negative attitude.

In addition, attitude can also define as the way of looking at the world. If you choose to focus on the negative things in the world, more or less you will have a negative attitude brewing up. However, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you are more likely carry a positive attitude.

Believe me - you will have much to gain from a very positive attitude compare with a negative one. Studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes people better health; it actually retards aging and makes you healthier, it helps you handle stress and problems better.

Speaking of it, then how a positive attitude begins?

A positive attitude begins with a healthy self-image. If you love the way you are and satisfied, confident, and self-assured with yourself, people that around you will feel the same way.

A negative attitude, on the other hand, has an opposite effect. It has a twofold drawback, negative attitude make you feel bad about yourself, and in result, you will make others feel the same way.

If you want to have a positive attitude, you have to have healthy thoughts first. However, this is probably very hard to do nowadays since we watch, read and listening those media that feeds us nothing but negative thoughts.

A study shows that for every 14 things a parent says to his or her child, only one is positive. This is truly a saddening thought.

So if you want to have a healthier outlook in life, you need to think and have happy thoughts, hanging out with people that have positive attitude, read good stuff, see a funny movie, play with children, spend sometime telling jokes with friends to stimulate your thoughts.

Understand in the daily life, it is impossible to keep yourself from the negative things around you, but still, you can carry a positive attitude by focusing on the good things and the positive things in life. And the positive attitude that you have could help and bring the benefits to others.

Example, sometime when other people feel down, all they need is somebody sits beside them, and listens to them. If you have a positive attitude you may be able to cheer them up without even having to say anything.

You may wonder if positive attitude is really great, why people choose to have a negative attitude instead.

Well, sometime one who carries a negative attitude may be actually sending a signal to others for seeking certain kind of attention.

No matter of what, as always, if you are beset by troubles, even in your darkest hour, remember to focus on the good things in life, once you switched your thoughts and changed your attitude, you will find there always hopes there, problems and obstacles become something you can overcome easily.

Since you don't have anything to lose by having a healthy, positive attitude, why don't starts adopt one today?

The first key to excellence is attitude - and I don't mean everyone else's attitude, I mean yours. Your attitude determines your altitude: by this I mean that how successful you are is determined firstly and foremostly by how you approach life. Make no doubt that this is a one of the most important keys to success in any and every area of your life. Master your attitude and you have endless possibilities ahead of you. The reverse is also true - if your attitude masters you, life can be a struggle. A bad attitude can have disastrous results, and a great attitude can have miraculous results. Said briefly, attitude is the way you show up in life. It's not always about being positive or negative - life is not that black and white. You may have a good attitude towards your physical wellbeing but an attitude of self-sabotage when it comes to your financial situation; or you may have an excellent relationship but be totally stressed out.

Worse still, you may have an attitude of apathy - one where you can't be bothered about anything, and this is the worst attitude to take. This is where life happens to you - you're not grabbing it by the horns and riding it for all it's worth. Taking a negative attitude in any area of your life is saying "I'm too scared to do this" or "I don't know how I can afford this". This is where you perpetuate your circumstance by acting like a victim. Taking an attitude of apathy is where you take the "whatever" or "I can't be bothered" approach to an area of your life, and this is really dangerous. Now I'm not saying that it is better to have a negative attitude than an apathetic attitude. It's nothing like that at all. I'm just saying that a person with a negative attitude most likely is aware that they have this attitude, but an apathetic person isn't aware - or maybe can't be bothered about being aware! The sad fact of the matter is that more and more people are falling into the apathetic attitude - just look at people complaining about their government not doing enough for them - but how many people will take the effort to get up and vote? In Australia we have compulsory voting, and even then people have an issue with spending ten minutes every few years to stand up and be counted!

Even worse, you may have an apathetic attitude, but then you tend to take a negative attitude towards others who are succeeding! This is commonly known as "Tall Poppy Syndrome" where you wouldn't want people around you to succeed, so you cut them down to size! Now you may not be like this yourself, but I'm sure you know someone who is, right?

Look, what I'm saying is that if you well and truly want your life to work, then you need to master your attitude. If you don't show up in life it will pass you by. Face the fact - one day, you will grow cold, close your eyes and die - it doesn't matter what your attitude is! So if you're not a master of your attitude, it's time to wake up and make life happen for you! Yes, I'm talking to you! Now I know that you're committed to doing that, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this! So congratulations on taking the first step, and now lets see what we can do about kick starting your life. It's never too late to start, and if you want to give up you can at any time. Many people will, and many people already have. You can join their ranks at any time - I promise! The question now is - do you want to? I would suggest that the answer is "no". This being the case, lets get to work.

Success in anything you want for yourself starts with your attitude. Your attitude determines your mindset and your mindset determines your results. This can be a slow process for some so I suggest that patience is necessary. Lack of patience is only a reflection of your lack of confidence, and confidence is determined by your attitude. You may want to start applying this to the area of your life which needs the most work - for some people it may be finances, for others it may be their physical health. I would suggest that when you start, pick the area of your life that you want to go to work on the most, and as you build up momentum and strength, you can then start to pick up the next area of your life, and then the next and so on. Next Generation Success means that all areas of your life are being lived at 100%, not just perfection at one thing. The game is not about perfection, it's about playing everywhere, and all the time!