The Attitude Speech

#13

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a motivational speaker and author just like my hero, the great “Zig” Ziglar.

I had the voice for it and the personality. I had plenty of confidence, some good writing skills and I spent a lot of time searching for just the right message, a single message which could become my expertise. 

It had to be a message that would stand the test of time, always be relevant and one that would apply to every single human being on the face of the earth. And there was only one subject that could do all three. It would be my As a Man Thinketh or Think and Grow Rich theme, except it would be simple and straight to the point.  One theme.  One book, in digital format.  Easy to read and re-read.  It would be available only when you wanted it, but would always be there when you needed it.  Simple rules for life, right in the palm of your hand. The “go-to” source for living “a good life.”  It would become life-changing for so many.

Not only that, but it would also include a YouTube presence to spread the message to the masses like wildfire, free of charge and on-demand.

So, what’s the message I decided to share with the world?  One word.  One theme.

A-t-t-i-t-u-d-e

Attitude, attitude and nothing but attitude, so help me God.  I wanted to be an Attitude Coach and Professional Encourager.

It is the most important ingredient for success in life, both personal and professional, and it shapes and defines the “content” of your character.

That’s some powerful stuff!

And every single person already has this power in their possession at this very moment.  They just might not know it.

The awesome power of attitude is a learned behavior, influenced by a variety of sources over time and although everyone uses and misuses it all day, every day, most don’t even know they have the power or don’t understand the power of the power.  Too many don’t know how to use this power and don’t even want to be personally responsible for such a powerful power. 

If we all had this power completely in our control, what would be our excuse when we failed? Whose fault would it be? Who could we blame?  With this power you accept all the responsibility for your actions and that’s a good thing.

It’s empowering when you know you have control over your behavior. Some don’t want that responsibility.

Attitude is built-in power that automatically controls how you act and react, how you behave in every single moment and circumstance of your life. 

The bad news is that this powerful power comes without an instruction manual… until now. Introducing The Attitude Rules: Simple Rules for a Good Life. Are you playing by the rules?

Your mom and dad probably used the word “attitude” but didn’t sit you down and explain exactly how it worked.  They probably didn’t know “the rules” either. It is not taught in the  schools. That’s where they tell you what you think instead of teaching you how to think.  It’s something you can’t buy, borrow or steal.  It’s a personal possession and is not available on Amazon (except as an e-book). And the government can’t give it to you and can’t take it away from you either.

Your parents may have tried to get you to change your behavior by spanking you.  I guess all things are connected… the foot bone’s connected to the leg bone, the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone, the butt bone’s connected to the brain bone…  but indirectly it worked because you did change your behavior.  And it changed instantaneously.  You didn’t realize you changed your thinking, but you did. What you really did was change your behavior which automatically changed your thinking.

Attitude change works from inside-out and from the outside-in.  You can change your thinking and your behavior changes or change your behavior and your thinking changes.  That’s an important discovery.  More on that later.

Rule #1: “Everything begins with the way you consistently ‘choose’ to think.”

Thoughts become actions and reactions which become habits which become attitudes which becomes character which becomes identity which influences the roles you play in life and the quality of life you live.

Thought is the process of thinking.  It’s free will, a voluntary choice which is a gift from God. It’s cognitive, active and on-going.  It never stops and hardly ever slows down. It is everything the conscious mind does.  It has no memory and can only hold one thought at a time. 

The thing to note here is that you can only think one thought at a time and you get to choose the thoughts to act on. The focus should be only on what you want and never on what you don’t want.

There are only two things you can do with a thought.  You can act on it or dismiss it.  When acted on it becomes an action or a reaction.  Actions are what you say and do and reactions are what you say and do in response to someone or something.  Through repetition these behaviors become habits.

Thoughts produce actions and if you can’t or don’t control your thoughts, you can’t and won’t control your actions.

Your attitudes originate in the way you choose to think.  They are habits of thought which have been repeated frequently enough to become ingrained as automatic behaviors which happen without even a single thought.

Thoughts and attitudes and the actions they produce are either good or bad but can’t be both at the same time and can’t be anything other than good or bad and whatever else represents good and bad… positive or negative, optimistic or pessimistic, friendly or unfriendly, happy or unhappy, enthusiastic or apathetic, respectful or disrespectful, Christ-like or not, etc.

There is no gray area between good and bad to hide in.  You must choose a side and there are only two sides to choose from.

Here is an illustration of the unlimited power of good and bad attitudes:

• A good attitude can make the good things in your life seem like they are so good they couldn’t possibly be any better.
• A bad attitude can make the bad things seem like they are about as bad as they could get.
• A bad attitude can even make those good things seem like they aren’t as good as you thought they were.
• But a good attitude can make the bad things seem like they are not so bad after all.

Bad attitudes make both bad things and good things seem worse. Good attitudes make both good things and bad things seem better and better is better than worse; it’s a no brainer.

That’s the power of attitude!

Your attitude affects every single aspect of your life either in a good way or bad way, this way or that way, one way or the other. It affects:

• What you say and how you say it.
• What you do and how you do it.
• What you can do and what you can’t do.
• What you will do and what you won’t do.
• How you treat yourself and how you treat others.
• How you approach the things in life that you want to do, need to do and have to do but might not want to do.
• How you deal with both the good and bad circumstances of life.
• Your job and how well you do it.
• The quality of all your relationships.

In fact, your attitude affects every single aspect of how you live, work and play.

A good attitude makes you look better, feel better, act better, do better, sound better, communicate better, live better, love better, play better, work better, do your job better, lead better and get along with others better. 

Everything is “better” with a good attitude. 

But most importantly, your attitudes shape and define the “content” of your character and it’s your character that reveals your true identity and influences the important roles you play in life and the quality of life you live each day.

So be careful which thoughts and actions you allow to become ingrained as the “characteristics” of your character.

So let me ask you a “rhetorical” question.

What if simply changing your thoughts and attitudes was the difference maker in both your personal and professional lives?

It is! (I told you it was rhetorical!)

It’s the one thing that can change everything, the little thing that can make a big difference.

Just by simply changing your attitudes from bad to good, your relationships will improve, your performance will be enhanced, your productivity will go off the charts and the roles you play will be award-winning.

The difference maker is attitude, attitude and nothing but a good attitude.

You can either be the master or the victim of your attitudes.

Be the master!

I look forward to sharing my thoughts on this powerful power on the blog. I hope you will subscribe and enjoy it.

Rick