“Frankly, I find that people,” She said “with a ‘positive mental attitude’ tend to deny reality and live in their own little dream world.” The “She” who made this statement considered herself to be a no-nonsense, hard-driving, highly educated professional—who just happened to have been unemployed for over nine months. Her assessment of a positive mental attitude was a retort that was hurled at me after I explained why two client companies of mine had refused to make her an offer. In both instances, the hiring managers had said she had the qualifications they were looking for, but that she, as one of them succinctly put it, “reeked of negativity”.
Unfortunately, “She’s” definition of having a positive attitude is shared by many people who haven’t really encountered truly optimistic people. Optimism—a positive mental attitude—isn’t about overlooking adversities or denying difficulties, in fact, it is just the opposite. An optimistic individual is one who knows the score but refuses to cave in when the going gets rough. The practitioner of a positive mental attitude believes in solution oriented thinking. They know while “hope is not a plan”, careful planning produces hope, which sparks creative thinking, which produces results.
Whether you are trying to solve a problem, overcome setbacks or launch a new business, a positive mental attitude can serve as the foundation for clear thinking and motivation. But how does one develop such an attitude? Below are six keys to having a more positive attitude. You may be surprised by a couple of the steps below, but by putting them into practice, over time you will discover a shift in your attitude and if you aren’t careful, you too will become a person with a positive mental attitude.
Think Accuracy—This simply means that we gather all the pertinent information we need to determine the viability of our course of action or objective. Once we have sufficient information, we must then separate the facts from fiction and opinions.
It is at this point that some people give up on an idea because they only look at “hard” facts without taking into account “soft” facts. Soft facts include variables that affect hard facts. For example, suppose I wanted to become a long haul truck driver. I’ve never been behind the wheel of a big rig, don’t know how to shift one, nor do I have any experience in backing an 18 wheeler up to a loading dock. Such hard facts could cause me to give up on the idea of becoming a truck driver. However, when I add in a few soft facts, my objective becomes viable. These soft facts would include things like knowing how to drive a car, that I am reasonable intelligent, still have good reflexes, and that there are truck driving schools where I can learn to safely operate a big rig. Rather than quashing ideas, accurate thinking helps put things into proper prospective and assist us in developing reasonable timelines and realistic expectations.
Think Accent—Once we have established that our idea is feasible, we must develop the type of self-confidence required to take the steps necessary to begin making it become a reality. Accent thinking refers to focusing on our past accomplishments so as to bolster our belief that we can accomplish our new objective.
I recently read an example of this in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. A man who had successfully built a wholesale bagel business was going to be taking over the operation of his family’s deli. He admitted that he knew nothing about retail food service, but felt that his experience in building his bagel business would provide the foundation he needed. Rather than accent his lack of knowledge of the deli business, he accented the transferable experiences from his past success that were applicable to the deli business.
Think Actualization—At this point, it is important that we create a clear mental picture of the benefits that a successful outcome will provide for us. This picture should not be full of generalizations (bigger house, better car, etc), rather it should be as concise as possible. Back to the example of driving an 18 wheeler cross country, engage your senses. See the beautiful scenery rolling by, imagine the smell of newly mowed hay, taste the “home cooking” at the truck stops. This helps make the outcome “real” to you and, by returning to it regularly, it will help motivate you to keep on “truckin’” when things become difficult. Naturally, as you progress toward your objective, you can refine your mental image of the outcome.
Think Activity—Activity thinking moves us from the assessment area of thinking (accuracy, accent and actualization) into developing the steps we need to begin realizing our objective. Turn your objective into a goal. Organize your steps in the right sequence, develop your plan and establish your benchmarks and set deadlines for yourself.
Think Action—Now, get started! Make sure that you do something toward achieving your goal everyday.
Think Affirmation—Affirmation simply refers to reminding yourself that you are on the right track, that you are moving, be it ever so slowly toward your goal.
Have a great and profitable week!
Robert Hidde
bob@confidentliving.com
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