7 - A Winning Attitude
It has been said that your attitude determines your altitude. In other words, the height of achievement is directly related to your attitude.
Attitude is the “prophet” of your future. It offers a glimpse of what you are drawing to yourself. It grows from roots deep within your heart and brings fruit out into the open. Your attitude can draw people to you or repel them.
Having a winning attitude means to have a heart that exudes brotherly and sisterly love.
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
—1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)
To love one another means giving up our need to be right, being slow to anger, and being forgiving. Loving others means treating your fellow man the way you want to be treated.
“Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy;
love does not parade itself,
is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails....”
—1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NKJV)
Dale Carnegie talks about the “3 Cs” of human relationship … Do not Criticize, Condemn, or Complain.
Criticism is futile because it puts a person at odds with you and usually makes him strive to justify himself. The person’s back is against a wall, and he or she will become defensive. Criticizing and condemning is bad because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance and arouses resentment.
Don’t harbor anger against your fellow man. By fighting you never get enough, but by yielding you get more than you expect. Hatred is never ended by hatred but by love.
“Let nothing be done
through selfish ambition or conceit,
but in lowliness of mind
let each esteem others better than himself.
Let each of you look out
not only for his own interests,
but also for the interests of others.”
—Philippians 2:3–4 (NKJV)
Live your life with integrity. Integrity is doing what you say, when you say you will do it. Be a good role model to your kids, your brothers and sisters, peers and subordinates.
Our attitude can turn problems into blessings. It’s not what is happening to me, but my reaction to what happened that will make a difference. If I look at my circumstances as a curse, they will curse me. If I call it a blessing, it will bless me.
Step up and learn from your situation. My past is nothing more than the trail I have left behind. What drives my life is the energy that I generate in my present moment.
ACTION PLAN #7
For an entire week, treat every person you meet as the most important person in your life.
Try, one day at a time for a week, to honor the “3 Cs” of relationships. Do not criticize, condemn, or complain. The poem below may be an inspiration to you, especially concerning your relationships with children or other young people in your life.
Make a list of your blessings, the things for which you are thankful.
CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE
—Dorothy Law Nolte
If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
He learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.