Setting up Positive mindset
I would like to begin with a small story to just illustrate the importance of Positive Attitude in one’s life.If you are reading this let me tell, you are already on the path of SUCCESS because you have that urge to change your attitude and your life.
There was a man who made a living by selling balloons at a fair. He had all colours of balloons, including red, yellow, blue, and green. Whenever business was slow, he would release a helium-filled balloon into the air and when the children saw it go up, they all wanted to buy one. They would come up to him, buy a balloon, and his sales would go up again. He continued this process all day. One day, he felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around and saw a little boy who asked, “If you release a black balloon, would that also fly?” Moved by the boy’s concern, the man replied with empathy, “Son, it is not the colour of the balloon, it is what is inside that makes it go up.”
The same thing applies to our lives. It is what is inside that counts. The thing inside of us that makes us go up is our attitude.
Majority of us always dream about becoming successful in our lives, but are we really working for that?No, because many of us do not even have clarity about their goal in their lives.They are pursuing a meaningless goal.Clarity of goal in your mind is the first milestone in the conquest of much-coveted SUCCESS.
I have met many people in my life, most of them were the ones who had dreams but were never willing to work for it. On the other hand, I also encountered people who had an extremely positive way of looking at things.These people with the positive outlook are the TOP QUALITY PEOPLE, who are focused and determined to work for their goals.Positive people not only become successful in their lives but they believe in helping others as well. They say “We rise by, lifting others.” These people own the valuable asset of thinking and acting more efficiently.
William James of Harvard University said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”
Your Attitude Contributes towards Success:
Having an optimistic outlook on life a general expectation that good things will happen may help people live longer, according to a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.The study found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic.
One such prominent story to demonstrate the crucial need of inculcating positive attitude.
ACRES OF DIAMONDS
There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, “If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country.” And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy.
The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn’t find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn’t find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm.
Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantlepiece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, “Is Hafiz back?” The new owner said, “No, why do you ask?” The wise man said, “Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one.” The man said, no, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I’ll show you. There are much more.” They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.
#What is the moral of this story?This story can have many morals but in my perspective, these are the few listed below:
While we are dyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are dyeing the grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us.
When people don’t know how to recognize opportunity, they complain of noise when it knocks.
The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but it is never the same one.
WE NEED TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS:
It is a need of an hour that we learn to make better decisions in life.Make a decision to be better, to be strong and to be unstoppable.Do things to achieve your goals.Start doing things, you never do.Make goals and work for them.Push yourself beyond your limits.It is not that easy, but Decide to “Never give up” and do whatever it takes to be there.Famous people like Nicholas James Vujicic is an Australian Christian evangelist and motivational born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of arms and legs. He is one of the seven known surviving individuals planet-wide who live with the syndrome.In 2005, Vujicic founded Life Without Limbs, an international non-profit organization and ministry. In 2007, he founded Attitude is Altitude, a secular motivational speaking company.Link to the Nic’s video.
If Nicholas James Vujicic did not stop in spite of all the problems he faced then why we always make excuses.The only thing he believed in was Commitment and self-discipline.We always say I should lose weight, I should study well, I should focus on my work and so on.Replace your “SHOULD” with a “MUST” and there see the difference.Always say to yourself “I must do my work to be successful” and the things will soon get started.
FACTORS THAT DETERMINE OUR ATTITUDE:
Are we born with attitudes or do we develop them as we mature? What are the factors that form our attitudes?
If you have a negative outlook on life because of your environment, can you change your attitude? Most of our
attitude is shaped during our formative years.
There are primarily three factors that determine our attitude. They are:
1. Environment
2. Experience
3. Education
These are called the triple Es of attitude. Let’s evaluate each of the factors individually.
1. Environment
The environment consists of the following:
• Home: positive or negative influences
• School: peer pressure
• Work: supportive or over critical supervisor
• Media: television, newspapers, magazines, radio, movies
• Cultural background
• Religious background
• Traditions and beliefs
• Social environment
• Political environment
All of these environments create a culture. Every place be it a home, organization or a country has a culture.
Have you noticed that sometimes you go to a store and you find the salesperson polite, the supervisor, manager
and owner polite as well? Yet you go to another shop and you find everyone rude and discourteous.
You go to a home and you find the kids and parents well-behaved, courteous and considerate. You go to another, home where everyone is fighting like cats and dogs.
In countries where the government and political environment is honest, generally, you will find that the people are honest, law-abiding and helpful. And the reverse is true too. In a corrupt environment, an honest person has a tough time. Whereas in an honest environment, the corrupt one has a tough time.
In a positive environment, a marginal performer’s output goes up. In a negative environment, a good performer’s
output goes down. Culture in any place always goes top down, never bottom up. We need to step back and look at what kind of environment we have created for ourselves and those around us. It is tough to expect positive behaviour in a negative environment. Where lawlessness becomes the law, honest citizens become cheats, crooks and thieves. Isn’t it time to evaluate the environment that we are in or we have created for others?
2. Experiences
Our behaviour changes according to our experiences with people and events in our life. If we have a positive experience with a person, our attitude toward him becomes positive and vice versa.
3. Education
I refer to both formal and informal education, not just academic qualifications. Knowledge strategically applied translates into wisdom, ensuring success. I talk of education in the broader sense. It makes the role of the; educator vital. A teacher affects eternity. The ripple effect is immeasurable. We are drowning in information but starving for knowledge and wisdom. Education ought to teach us not only how to make a living but also how to live.
HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE PEOPLE WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE?
Just like an absence of ill health does not equal good health, an absence of negativity alone does not make a person positive. People with positive attitudes have certain personality traits that are easy to recognize. They are caring, confident, patient, and humble. They have high expectations of themselves and others. They anticipate positive outcomes. A person with a positive attitude is like a fruit of all seasons.Positive Person is always welcome.
THE BENEFITS OF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
These are many and easy to see. But what is easy to see is also easy to miss. To mention a few, a positive attitude
• increases productivity
• fosters teamwork
• solves problems
• improves quality
• makes for congenial atmosphere
• breeds loyalty
• increases profits
• fosters better relationships with employers, employees, and customers
• reduces stress
• helps a person become a contributing member of society and an asset to their country
• makes for a pleasing personality
It is the high time to change.Change is uncomfortable.Regardless of its positive or negative effect, change can be stressful.Sometimes the negative zone becomes our comfort zone, which makes it very hard to stay positive even if we know the bad consequences of negative attitude.We need to realize the importance of positive mindset.
Charles Dickens wrote about a prisoner who stayed for many years in a dungeon. After serving his sentence, he got his freedom. He was brought out from his cell into the bright daylight of the open world. This man looked all around and after a few moments was so uncomfortable with his newly acquired freedom that he asked to be brought back to his cell into confinement. To him, the dungeon, the chains and the darkness were more secure and comfortable than accepting the change of freedom and the open world.
STEPS TO BUILDING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
During childhood, we form attitudes that last a lifetime. Undoubtedly, it would be a lot easier and better to have acquired a positive attitude during our formative years. Does that mean if we acquire a negative attitude, whether by design or by default, we are stuck with it? Of course not. Can we change? Yes. Is it easy? Absolutely not. How do you build and maintain a positive attitude? Just by making few decisions, you can change your lifestyle.
If we want to build and maintain a positive attitude, we need to consciously practice the following steps:
Step 1: Change Focus, Look for the Positive
Even in paradise, fault finders will find faults. Most people find what they are looking for. If they are looking for friendship, happiness and the positive, that is what they get. If they are looking for fights or indifference, then that is what they get. Caution looking for the positive does not mean overlooking faults.
Step 2: Do not enjoy the company of negative people, know the difference
Negative people, pessimists or the cribbers they will always find a way to point at a negative side of each aspect and ignoring all the positive impacts of it.They do not believe in hard work, so they try to distract others also.Try to differentiate between positive and negative person.Having no negativity does not make you positive but practising positive traits does.
At last, I think we must try to exercise all these factors to accomplish the most craved SUCCESS.Once we realize the importance of Positive Attitude we would reach the zenith and will be the happiest person on this earth.
#REFERENCES
1: Be inspired
2: You can win by Shiv Khera
3: Attitude is Altitude
I’d love to hear from anyone who has changed the way they think, and experienced some positive life changing experiences because of it. If you have any other reasons to have a positive attitude, please share them. Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any.Thank you!
Thank you!
Think and Pen 