8 Ways to Improve Your Attitude

A positive attitude make success easy; a negative one makes success pointless.

If you truly want to be successful, your number one task should be to create and maintain a positive attitude. When you've got an attitude of optimism, expectancy and enthusiasm, opportunities grow, and problems shrink.

If you're a leader, a positive attitude draws people to your side and encourages them to do their best work. A leader with a negative attitude, however, can only compel others to take action through fear.

More importantly, what would be point of being successful if you're always feeling lousy?  With that in mind, here's how to ensure your attitude stays upbeat:

1. Always act with a purpose.

Before you take any action, decide how it will serve your greater goals.  If the connection is weak or non-existent, take that action off your to-do list. Aimless activity wastes time and energy.

2. Stretch yourself past your limits every day.

Doing the same-old, same-old is depressing, even if your same-old has been successful in the past. Success is like athletics; if you don't stretch yourself every day, you gradually become slow and brittle.

3. Take action without expecting results.

While you naturally must make decisions and take action based upon the results you'd like to achieve, it's a big mistake to expect those results and then be disappointed when you don't get them.  Take your best shot but don't obsess about the target.

4. Use setbacks to improve your skills.

Rather than feeling bad if you fail or get rejected, look back at your actions and see what you can do (if anything) to improve your performances.  Remember: the results you receiveare the signposts for the results you want to achieve.

5. Seek out those who share your positive attitude.

It's a scientific fact your brain automatically imitates the behaviors of the people around you.  (It's because of something called a mirror neuron).  Therefore, you should surround yourself with positive thinkers and shun those who are excessively negative.

6. Don't take yourself so seriously.

If you want to be happier and make those around you feel more comfortable, cultivate the ability to laugh at yourself.  If you don't (or can't) laugh at yourself, I guarantee you that the people you work with are laughing behind your back!

7. Forgive the limitations of others.

High standards are important, but humans are, well, human. It's crazy to make yourself miserable because other people can't do a job as well as you think you could, or when people don't share your vision with the same passion that you feel.

8. Say "thank you" more frequently.

Achieving an "attitude of gratitude" requires more than simply being aware of what's wonderful in your life.  You must, and should, thank other people for their gifts to you, even if that gift is something as simple as a smile.

iMAGE: ANDY PETERS/FLICKR

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-ways-to-improve-your-attitude.html

Positive Attitude Keeps You Alive

Robert Kowalski on the relationship between attitude and heart health. A positive oulook can keep lower the stress level on the heart.

11 Tips for Maintaining your Positive Attitude

Maintaining your positive attitude is critical when you want to achieve anything… or just to improve the quality of your life. Most success literature will talk about the power of positive thinking and how important it is. It’s often easier said than done.

Today we’ll look at 11 tips for maintaining your positive attitude no matter what’s going on in your life.

1. You Determine Your Reality

It’s important to realize that you determine your reality by the way you react to the outside world. When something happensyou get to choose whether it’s a positive or negative experience and react accordingly. Losing your job might be a disaster or it might be the opportunity for bigger and brighter things… you choose what it will mean to you.

2. Start Your Day Strong

Most of the population have to drag themselves out of bed and this sets a negative frame for their entire day. Positive people create a morning ritual that reinforces how great life is and how happy they are to be alive.

I used to wake up and immediately turn on Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life“ to get me into state. Now I start my day by reading or listening to something positive. Whether you have 1 minute, 15 minutes or an hour to dedicate to your ritual you can start the day in whatever state you prefer.

3. Exercise Is The Natural Feel Good Drug

Exercise is a great way to maintain your positive attitude because of all the positive chemicals it releases into the blood stream. I used to exercise in the morning (after Bon Jovi) and this is often recommended as a powerful way to start the day. Now I exercise by doing activities I love (kung fu and dancing) most evenings but even a walk around the block with inspiring audio will help.

4. Use Books, Audio And Videos To Overload Your Brain With Positivity

There are millions of amazing books, audios and videos for you to absorb from people who are inspiring and living the life of their dreams. Tap into their positive emotions and their experience by learning how they think and what they do to create the lives they want. You can do this in the morning or while exercising, eating, commuting, cooking, cleaning… there’s always time for positivity.

5. Your Language Shapes Your Thoughts

Little changes in your language can change the way you think and how you act. Whenever someone greets you and asks how you’re doing do you answer with “fine” or “not too bad?” Think about just what this language is communicating to others… and yourself.

I always answer with “great,” “fantastic,” or “amazing.” Not only does this remind me that life really is great but it usually surprises and lifts the state of the person I’m talking to as well.

6. Hang Out With Positive People

It is often said that you will have a similar level of health, income and lifestyle as the 5 people you spend the most time with. So if you want to be fit then starting hanging out with fit people… want to start a business then hang out with business owners. And if you want to be positive make sure you’re hanging out with positive people.

7. Show Your Appreciation For Others

By appreciating others for a job well done, their outfit or their smile you start to cause a positive chain reaction. Don’t you feel great when you receive a compliment from someone else? Well if you want to receive more then start giving them out and watch what happens to the people around you.

8. Garbage In, Garbage Out

This is an expression from programming where the result is only as good as the input. So if you’re feeding yourself with negativity all day long then it’s pretty obvious you’re going to be feeling negative as well. A lot of the media including news and TV thrive on negativity so put yourself on a negativity diet (including people) and watch how much easier it is to maintain your positive attitude.

9. Stop Negative Thoughts In Their Tracks

It’s hard to be a constantly positive person and negative thoughts are going to bubble up from time to time. These will be more frequent in the beginning but decrease as you practice the tips we’re talking about. When you start to notice negative thoughts you can use a pattern interrupt to stop them in their tracks.

The idea is to interrupt your current thought pattern and change your state. My most successful one is The Smurfs theme song. Whenever I start to feel frustrated, sad or angry I simply start humming the tune and pretty soon a big silly smile comes over my face.

10. Live With Gratitude

So many positive things happen during our day and we often ignore them while letting one negative comment or event ruin our mood. It can help to keep a gratitude journal where you jot down things you are grateful for each night or during the day. If you’re reading this then you probably live with a roof over your head and food in your belly which is a daily struggle for most of the world… so it should be easy to find tons of things you’re grateful for.

11. Recharge Your Batteries

A key to maintaining your positive attitude is taking the time to recharge your batteries. This might mean taking a few hours on the weekend to read a positive book or taking a few weeks for a holiday. If you’re not in the position to travel you can always have a Home Holiday where you simply switch off from the outside world and spend time doing things you love.

How To Use These 11 Tips

You now have 11 tips for maintaining your positive attitude but they are no use to you unless you implement them into your life. So pick the easiest tip or the one that you really love and introduce it into your life starting right now. Then over time start implementing the other tips and watch your positivity soar.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/11-tips-for-maintaining-your-positive-attitude.html

Top 10 Tips for Maintaining a Positive Attitude

Having and maintaining a positive attitude is vital for success in life and business. Zig Ziglar gets it right when he says, "It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude." Sure you need skills, but you can learn skills - in fact a positive attitude will make it much more likely that you will learn the skills necessary to succeed. If you take two people with an equal skill set the person with the better attitude will win.

Unfortunately it is not always easy to stay positive and keep a good attitude. As things go wrong throughout your day, it is easy to let negative thoughts start to take over. Thankfully there are many things that you can do to help maintain a positive attitude. These are things that you can do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to make sure you keep your positive focus. 

1. Read Positive and Inspiring Books
   One of the best ways to maintain a positive attitude is by reading positive books. These books serve to encourage you, inspire you, and teach you. Reading requires that you sit still and focus, and by focusing on something positive it helps you to keep a positive mindset throughout the day. (My favorite books can be found here.)


2. Listen to Podcasts/CDS
   The advantage of listening to podcasts or compact disks is that you can listen on the go. You can listen to motivating podcasts while you clean your house, exercise, or on a flight. In your car, you can play encouraging compact disks that help you make better use of your commute. Listening to recordings from people like Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, or John Maxwell can both teach and inspire you. (My favorite podcastscan be found here.)


3. Wake up Early
   One of the best ways to help you maintain a positive attitude is to create the habit of waking up early. Waking up early allows you to get a head start on the day. You can prepare for work and start your day without feeling rushed. You can get a head start on important projects before the rest of the world is awake to interrupt you. You can spend time reading or in prayer or meditation. I start each day by listening to a 10 minute motivational podcast. (Bonus Article: Simple Ways to Burst Out of Bed.)


4. Exercise
   Very few things in life leverage your time as much as exercise. Obviously it makes a difference for your physical health, but it also has significant benefits to your mental health. Exercise is useful to combat depression and to improve overall positive mood. Further, if you exercise early in the morning you can go through your day knowing that you have already completed the most valuable activity you had to do! (Bonus article: How to Develop the Habit of Daily Exercise.)


5. Plan Your Week and Day
   Having a clear plan to your day and to your week can go a long way to helping you maintain a positive attitude. By knowing what you want to accomplish you will be able to focus on your important life priorities. A weekly plan allows you to match your long-term goals to your weekly accomplishments. Your daily plan allows you complete the activities you need to do so that you meet your weekly goals. (My weekly planning process can be found here.)


6. Understand that Things Won't Always Go as Planned
   If you plan and expect everything in life will go as you planned, you will be quickly disappointed. One of the keys to maintaining a positive attitude is to understand that things will go wrong. If you expect things to go wrong, you won't be phased when they do. So have a plan, but understand that things won't follow the plan. The plan allows you to adapt to what went wrong and move back towards what is important. (Bonus article: A Beautiful Method to Find Peace of Mind)


7. St. John's Wort and Griffonia Seed
   These two herbal supplements can have an important role to play in helping you maintain a positive attitude. Many people know about St. John's Wort as a natural supplement to help prevent or treat depression. St. John's Wort is really a mood stabilizer. Griffonia seed works to elevate positive mood. Together they are helpful in maintaining a positive mental attitude.


8. Get Spiritually Connected
   Naturally this one will look different for everyone, and this is simply an option to consider. If you are spiritually connected, you will have a positive outlook on life. This might mean prayer, meditation or reading Scripture. Set aside time each day to be connected spiritually.


9. Be Thankful
   Take some time and be thankful. Be thankful about what you have, who you are, and what your life is like. Think through all of the things that you can be thankful for. Even if you are in a tough time in life there are many things you have that you can be thankful for. You need to look for them and recognize them. The very act of focusing on what you are thankful for will help you maintain your positive attitude.(Bonus article: The Principle of Thankfulness)


10. Surround Yourself with Positive People
    The people around you have a big impact on you. They impact who you are, how much money you will make, and what you value. They also impact how you think. If you surround yourself with negative people you will be negative as well. You can't help it. Hearing negativity all day leads you to negativity. The opposite is also true. Surround yourself with positive people and you will be more positive.  http://www.dumblittleman.com/2009/08/top-10-tips-for-maintaining-positive.html                Images are courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net