Apr 14
When I spoke of the 7 things I’m teaching my kids, one was keeping a positive attitude.
I thought I’d expand on that a bit.
- All things equal, positive attitude wins out - if you had to choose between two job candidates, both with the same credentials, same skillset, and such, but one has the cheery, genuine I-want-to-know-you kind of smile, whom would you select?
- All things UNequal, positive attitude wins out - or how about if one candidate is quite a bit more qualified than the other candidate, but the other is more personable, and you can tell she would work well within the team, whom would you choose? Along those lines, I tell my son that we may not be the tallest, fastest, strongest, best-looking, smartest, wittiest person — although we can certainly strive towards excellence — but how far we can get in life can depend a lot on a positive attitude.
- Positive Attitudes Helps You Overcome Setbacks - one of the most upsetting things the older brother does is to have fits over minor setbacks, such as forgetting to write a word in an alphabetizing exercise and needing to start over. I tell him with a bad attitude that puts you in a sulky mood, unwilling to go further, how will the work get done.0
- Positive Attitude invites compassion - I tell my son that if he has a good attitude, when he is stuck at something, I am more than happy to help, even if it’s an “easy” question (up to a point). However, I tell him, a bad attitude from him puts me in a bad mood also, and then I’m just not that open to helping.
- Positive Attitude is Charisma - I touched on this in my D&D post, but we’ve heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know”, really refers to our charisma. Of course, we need to know something, have some skill or expertise, but charisma is what gains another person’s trust — meaning a customer or client, or employment, or cutting through some red tape, etc. Having a positive attitude is really an important component to having a strong charisma.
It’s not easy raising two rambunctious little boys, and I must admit, I sometimes lose patience with them — that’s when I take my own time-out and go read in my bedroom while their mom takes over. 
But I’m hoping that constant drilling and reminders now will help them tremendously when they’re older.
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Stumble it!
April 15th, 2008 at 9:22 am
The biggest reason is that when you give positive you get positive. When you get positive you give positive. The whole give and take / consume and produce issue is something I just finished writing about. Maybe it can help you and your readers? Or possibly just a cool debate that is going on; but you and your actions are so much more beneficial to you and everyone else when they are positive!
http://ya-ttitude.com/blog/2008/04/02/ya-ttitude-give-and-take/
Benny
April 15th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Hi Benny,
That’s a great a point. It’s like the “vicious cycle” we hear about in abusive relationships, except it’s no longer vicious.
Thanks for stopping by.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I guess that is one way of looking at it - though not the first example that would have jumped to mind.
When you give positive - you get positive
When you get positive - you give positive
Benny
April 15th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Very well stated and an excellent reminder that of course we ALL need…no matter how often we try and look on the bright side. We attract that which we reflect. Ultimately nothing is really that important to sacrifice your attitude for. Sometimes I will feel completely overwhelmed like the weight of the world is on my shoulders, and then I remind myself how completeley insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things, and that always seems to cheer me right up!
Dr. Nicole’s last blog post..Fish Oil vs Flax Oil? The Great Debate
April 16th, 2008 at 9:31 am
That is interesting Nicole (if I may call you Nicole) as maybe if you realized that you are not at all insignificant perhaps you would be smiling all the time!
Benny
http://www.ya-ttitude.com
April 16th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Hi Nez,
Another great post with a great message. Your sons are fortunate to have a dad that teaches them how a shift in attitude will get them further in life.
If only we could bottle it.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Blogging - Year One - Lesson 3
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:40 am
Hi Nez - these are great things to teach your kids. Number 4 is so true. It’s really difficult to want to help someone when they come to you with a negative attitude to begin with.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Does Your Business Feel Like A Prison?
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:59 pm
@Barbara: Thanks for the kind words. It’s definitely not easy being a parent, but I’m glad for the experience. (Let’s see if I feel this way when they’re teenagers!)
@Catherine: I totally agree. So much of our conflicts arise from bad or negative attitudes.