In This Edition
1. Ideas for Developing a Positive Attitude and Making Every Day a Great Day
2. We all make Mistakes
3. Quotes
4. Recommended Reading
Ideas For Developing a Positive Attitude and Making Every Day a Great Day
1. Wake up every morning grateful, hopeful and optimistic about the day. The old saying holds true: Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
2. Do not be envious, jealous or resentful. It is so unproductive and a waste of your time. Instead be happy for people who are doing well. Go out of your way to help people who are not as positive and successful as you.
3. Think forward. Don’t think what might have been in the past, because it will complicate matters and get in the way of what you can achieve in the future. We should all think about our past, learn from it, and then move on, people with a great positive attitude know this well. Former U.S. Baseball Player Satchel Page said;
“It’s nice to look back, but don’t stare.” People with great attitudes are forward thinkers.
4. Spend your time with positive people. Who you associate with, spend your time with, will determine a lot about your attitude. Don’t waste your time with people who are negative, choose positive people; people who inspire you and who you can learn from. Stay away from the dream stealers at all costs.
5. Eliminate as much stress and worry in your life as possible. Pursue a hobby that relaxes you, something you enjoy doing. Watch your health and diet. I walk a lot and jog, it gives me time to think. I enjoy the fresh air, even in the winter months, and here in Canada we have winter months! I get a lot of my positive ideas and energy from my walks. Learn to develop a healthy mind, perspective and attitude about yourself and about life.
6. Learn to lighten up and not to take yourself or life so seriously. I don’t mean that you should not be focused and committed to your goals but just learn sometimes to go with the flow. Also be grateful for everything you have. Be comfortable and proud of who you are and where you are going.
7. Make time to identify FIVE people who you admire. Choose people who are enthusiastic and passionate. Find a way to contact them. Call them, write them, ask them out to lunch, ask them to be a mentor to you. Find out what makes them tick. How do they remain so positive even when the going gets tough?
8. Take time to reconnect with people you have been negative with in the past. Think about people to whom you have said things that you may have regretted. Make contact with them and show them your new positive attitude. It takes courage and a BIG person to ask people to give you a second chance, and most people will, not everybody, but most. Make that second chance count.
9. Challenge yourself in everything you say and do. By challenging yourself, you discover things about yourself that you never even knew you were capable of doing. By challenging yourself you develop confidence, and confidence leads to self-worth, self-discovery, and self-esteem, and to a positive attitude.
A great attitude does not happen by itself. Henry Ford said, “you can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” A positive attitude comes from belief, taking action, and your dedication to working on it. Note those two words, BELIEF and ACTION.
Copyright: Charles M. Marcus 2003. All rights worldwide reserved.
WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES
In 1979 H. Ross Perot, CEO of Electronic Data Systems in Texas, or better known to most of us as the larger than life figure who formerly ran for President of the U.S, was pondering an opportunity to buy a fledging company based in Seattle, Washington in the United States.
The current owner was holding out for between $40-$50 million dollars. In the end Perot thought the price was to high and the deal collapsed.
The company was called Microsoft and the owner was Bill Gates! In 2001 Microsoft generated $27 billion dollars in revenues and $6.1 billion dollars in profits, and Bill Gates is one of the most successful and wealthiest people in the world.
Perot admits that he considers that decision one of the biggest mistakes he has ever made. “I should have said, ‘now Bill, you set the price, and I’ll take it.’ I have always regretted that we did not get together.”
The lesson I got from this story was that we all make mistakes, even very successful people like Ross Perot.
Perot, though already successful in 1979, went on to be incredibly wealthy and famous in his own right, despite his mistake with Microsoft. In 1986 the story of his 1978 financing and arranging of a commando raid to rescue two EDS employees from an Iranian jail was made into a book and film On Wings of Eagles. In addition, his passion to serve resulted in him running for president of the United States as an independent candidate in 1992 where he gained 19 million votes.
H. Ross Perot learned to move on from that major mistake in 1979. Successful people know how to do that. Average people let a setback or a mistake eat them up; they can’t put it behind them.
In business and in life, learn from your mistakes. We all make them; I certainly have and will continue to do so, but to be truly successful you must learn to put them behind you, to let go, and to move on.
QUOTES
“There are two ways of meeting difficulties, you alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them”
Phyllis Bottome
“Circumstances may cause interruption and delay, but never lose sight of the goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of the opportunity when it occurs.”
Mario Andretti
“Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is more futile”
Bertrand Russell
RECOMMENDED READING
Life Without Limits by Lucinda Bassett
This is a very good and honest book from the national bestseller author of Panic to Power. It will help you clarify what you want in life, redefine your dreams, and become the person you want to be. Bassett tells her readers that Opportunity is Limitless. Abundance awaits you.
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? By Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
This business book describes IBM’s competitive and cultural transformation under the leadership of Louis Gerstner Jr. who served at the helm of IBM from 1995-2002. This first hand account of IBM’s extraordinary turnaround is fascinating and provides insights into managing a crisis and principles of great leadership.
Shackleton’s Way by Margaret Morrell and Stephanie Capparell
A wonderful read and a wonderful story. Antarctic Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s story of saving the lives of the twenty-seven men stranded with him in the Antarctic for almost two years from 1914-1916 is legendary. It is a story of courage, perseverance, resilience, and heroes. Modern-day leaders including the former Secretary of the Navy and the commander of Apollo 13 have adopted the leadership lessons and principles from this book.
