Attitude determines Altitude

Charles Swindoll (http://www.insight.org/) accurately stated: “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past ... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitude. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.”

MarketingProfs blog had a similar take, addressing the topic of surviving in tough times (http://www.marketingprofs.com/9/how-survive-tough-times-personally-professionally-beck.asp?adref=znnpbsc4389)

“Start by working on your attitude. How do you work on attitude? Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Cut out the negative messages. Stop watching TV news. Stop reading the newspaper. Trust me. In this day and age, you can't help but hear about the really important things. There's no need to seek them out (along with all the negative news and stories).

Avoid negative people. What you focus on determines your reality. If you hang around with people who see everything in a negative light, you will see everything in a negative light. It will become your reality. You can see where I'm headed with this.

If you want positive things to happen in your life, hang out with positive people. Positive people share what works; negative people share what doesn't work. Positive people are more creative. When they are faced with a challenge, they decide to overcome it and are solution-oriented. Negative people tend to focus on the obstacle and get "stuck." Your present reality will slowly shift to a more positive reality as you associate with positive people.

If you really want to kick your attitude into high gear, don't just eliminate negative messages; rather, decide to introduce positive messages. Get your hands on some tapes or CDs that will help you grow. Will you notice an immediate change? No, but you will over time.

The key to making friends, finding prospects, getting referrals, and making sales in challenging times is relationship-building with a positive attitude. Resolve to make a greater effort to take an interest in people!