Improving Your Attitude

As a former Navy Fighter Pilot, I know a little bit about flying.  On the instrument panel of every airplane is a device called the attitude indicator.  This instrument shows the pilot the airplane's true orientation relative to the horizon.  This indicator is not affected by conditions of rain, fog, darkness or any other environmental circumstances.  Even if the ground is invisible, to the pilot, he or she can know with certainty whether the plane is level or banking or if the nose is pitched upward or downward, thanks to the attitude indicator.  If the nose is pitched upward while the power is applied, then the plane will climb; if downward, the plane descends.  The plane's attitude is a key factor in determining whether an airplane goes up or down.  The same thing is true of us in the way we live our lives.  We can go as high as our attitude will take us, or if our attitude points in the wrong direction we can crash and burn.  Positive thoughts create constructive actions that lift us up toward our goals.  Negative thoughts breed destructive reactions that drag us toward the muck and mire of failure.  It all depends on attitude.

Your attitude can help you to overcome the worst imaginable circumstances in life. During the Vietnam war there was an Air Force Colonel who was shot down and captured in North Vietnam.  He spent five and a half years in solitary confinement as a prisoner of war.  The boredom and sensory deprivation of the dreadful existence destroyed the minds and lives of many other brave men.  Though he was barefoot and dressed in his black prison uniform, shut up in a tiny cubicle, he discovered that through his mind he had an amazing freedom.  He was able to leave his prison cell clad in a Polo shirt Polo shirt and slacks.  He wore clean black and white golf shoes.  He could feel the thick green grass of Pebble Beach golf course in northern California.   The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze coming off the Pacific Ocean.  The Colonel played each hole, starting with the first and ending with the eighteenth.  He studied each shot, measured each swing, felt each blade of grass between his fingers as he replaced every divot.  He noted the sand in each bunker, hit each shot, sank each putt and strode on to the next hole - all in his imagination.  Every day for five and a half years he played a perfect game of golf on the Pebble Beach course.  The Colonel realized that only he had the power to make a choice between being resigned to his fate of fear and hopelessness or he could replay his happiest moments from the past, taking his mind off solitary confinement and setting it free upon a beautiful and famous golf course.  When he returned from his captivity, in his first golf game he shot a 76-not a bad score for a professional golfer, but even more amazing for an amateur.  When asked how he had accomplished such a feat, he replied "In the past five and a half years, I never putted a green in more than two strokes".   All those years of playing perfect games in the recesses of his mind, had produced a near perfect performance on a real golf course!

Prior to 1954, practically everyone considered it impossible for a human being to run the mile in less than four minutes. Everyone except Roger Bannister...he achieved the 'impossible' not only by intense physical training, but also by 'seeing' himself breaking the record, over and over in his mind. This developed in him a deep belief that he would succeed. Roger's stunning feat in 1954 was significant not only because he did run a sub four-minute mile, but also because of the effect it had on other runners and their beliefs in what was possible.  In the six years following Roger's record achievement, 36 other runners also ran sub four-minute miles.  Once one person did it the 'mental barrier' was broken in everyone else too.

It should come as no surprise to you that we act out precisely what our minds take in.  In other words we become what we think.  Psychologists tell us that we move toward our most predominate thought.  The Bible says "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he". For too many years, many of us have convinced ourselves we lack this or we cannot do that......we should not risk......we are sure to fail or we ought to accept the status quo as our standard.  All of us have formed our own kind of negative self talk.

All of us have had a negative attitude at sometime or another.  It may be about people we're associated with.  It may be about our career. It may even be about us.  We choose our pattern of thinking.  We may not be able to control our surroundings or circumstances but we can control our reaction.  We choose to be positive or negative.

Here are some techniques to help you turn negative feelings into positive ones. Try these concepts and see if they will work for you.

-      Change beliefs through affirmations. Start with some of your negative beliefs like "I'm no good at computers." This thought process is just blocking your success. Turn that negative thought into a positive one.  Say to yourself, "I enjoy working with computers: I can do it when I try hard enough."  Keep talking to yourself that way, no matter how much you believe it is not true. Research shows that going through the motions outside creates the emotions inside.

-     Avoid negative thinking.  I realize we all have bad days, but sometimes we create our own bad days because we tell our selves it's going to be a bad day.  I always try to wake up and say "good morning Lord."  I think it is much better than waking up and saying, "Good Lord, morning?" 

-      Write out your negative thoughts. Keep a journal of your negative thoughts and write down how these thoughts have affected your attitude and behavior that day. Rewrite the negative thoughts to reflect a more positive approach. Then reread it once a day. You will soon find you are having less negative thoughts as you retrain yourself to think in a more positive way.

-      Practice mental focus. Learn to live in the moment and to savor each experience. Really enjoy and concentrate on each minute in time. Realize each day is a precious gift.  Focus on the thought, "This is a day that will hold exciting new opportunities and challenges.     

-      Choose each day what kind of a day you are going to have. You already do that unconsciously. Do you have to force yourself out of bed because you dread the day ahead?  If so, your attitude will become a self-fulfilling prophesy and you will most likely have a bad day.  When you find yourself doing that, force yourself to think of one positive thing about the day and then move on from there to think about other positive events. Maybe it will be going to lunch at a place you particularly like or treating yourself to an activity after work.

At the age of 67, Thomas Edison watched as fire destroyed much of his work and equipment. Time to retire? Time to hang up the lab coat?  No way. "All our mistakes are burned up," the inventor said. "Now we can start anew." There is a time to retire, but Edison knew his time hadn't come. The fire that consumed his work didn't destroy the fire that burned within him to continue his work. Edison's commitment remained.