I was in a meeting years ago when someone spoke up who normally didn’t. He said, “Don’t let your ego get in front of your pocketbook.”. While the comment fell sort of flat, I never forgot what he said. Basically, if you get your attitude right, everything else will take care of itself. We may not be able to control external situations, but we can control our state of mind via our attitude. For example, we could stand two people side by side with virtually equal talent and the person with the superior attitude will win 99 out of 100 times. 

If this seems like common sense, then how is it that so many people suffer from a poor attitude? Is it that we are exposing ourselves to less than desirable information and that influences our behavior? Heaven knows, we are constantly bombarded with a litany of negative propaganda from the media, politicians, family members, people we work with, etc. Of course, that’s not an excuse for having a bad attitude. You have choices every minute of every day in terms of what you allow to impression your mind. Allowing the external world to dampen your attitude essentially causes you to give your power away, which means you are more reactive than in control. Make a choice to have a positive attitude every minute of every day. This will allow you to have power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you.  

My all-time favorite attitude quote is by Charles Swindoll (modified): “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our team members. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.” If you desire excellence not only from yourself, but from your team members, then show up with a positive attitude. As the late great motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar said, “A positive attitude will have positive results because attitudes are contagious.” Be that difference maker in every single encounter you have and do it by adopting a positive attitude that exudes a situation altering SPARK that is the change you seek.