Your ATTITUDE determines how you respond to EVERYTHING.

Attitude according to Merriam Webster Dictionary is a bodily state of readiness to respond in a characteristic way to a stimulus (such as an object, concept, or situation).

Your attitude determines your life. It is the result of your perception of reality. The way you chose to deal with any situation and the consequences of the choices you make determine your attitude, in fact that's your attitude.

Let’s look at this from two angles: how to develop the right attitude towards Life and Work.

HOW TO DEVELOP THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE.

• Realize that you control your attitude.

Your attitude is the result of the way you decide to interpret and respond to an event or situation. You are the one who decides how you interpret the situation, thereby you control the way you feel about things. Remember you have the power to control your reactions. What you believe in your mind is what you will see around you. Although you cannot control many situations in your life, you can definitely control your reactions to them.

• Embrace life.

Embrace every moment you live. Stop fussing over unnecessary things and trivial matters and start focusing on now and things that are important. Don’t give too much concern how someone looks at you, or what is being said about you. Funny enough, people are too busy with life, they are not even paying too much attention to you. If you have any issue with someone and you strongly feel you are being discussed or somehow you are affected by something someone does, don’t fuss, walk up to the person and ask. It is either of two things, they give you an explanation which is either of two things too, and that is it involves you or not, and the second option when you ask for an explanation is that the person says No, he/she is not giving you one, well, at that point you know you have done your best. Pay attention to more important things, things of value.

I use to have an issue in this area. I perceive myself in a particular way, and really love people to see me that exact way, but obviously that doesn’t always happen so I sometimes get worried when this occurs and put in a lot of effort to convince them otherwise. One day, I just snapped, it doesn’t matter anyway, everyone can’t see me in a same light and that’s perfectly fine. How many people would I have to go about convincing; plus, we are all humans after all, we all make mistakes, we have similar passions and insecurities, so if I am truly want anyone thinks I am, which most times might not perfect (and I don’t like being seen in that light), then it’s totally fine. We are all in this together. We are all getting there.

And like someone I know would say whenever you say something that doesn’t agree with his own philosophy of life, “that one is for you”. No beating up yourself about unnecessary, unimportant and unchangeable bunch of stuff.

• Choose to see good in everything.

This is absolutely important. God give equal opportunities to everyone to learn, only the ones that take advantage of them and take every as an avenue to learn and grow are the wise ones. When you choose to see good in everything, then every setback would be seen as an opportunity to grow and learn, and very little would bother you.

• Stop believing others’ opinions about you.

Never give other people’s opinions about you any significance, unless you identify or agree with them. Become aware of who you are and stop identifying with others’ opinions about you. Never let others people’s opinions affect what you think about yourself. Always believe you are powerful and can achieve whatever you put your mind to.

Be mindful to take corrections, but find the line where people are positively criticizing you or saying things about you that are just their opinions. Remember “that one is for you” story I told you above, it applies here again.

HOW TO DEVELOP THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS WORK.

Let me bring this home. In places like this country of mine (the greatest country in the world, sue me if you want 😂), you can’t decide to chase your happiness when it comes to what career path you want to take or what kind of job you want if not you might go hungry. But in places like America, where there is a support system for the unemployed, foster homes, shelter for the homeless and stuff, and also a place where everything is valued, they can afford to drop their 9-5 job to chase their dreams (which in some cases is travelling from city to city in a van with the love of your life and 2 greyhound dogs) or start blogging about dogs; no pun intended.

All that is on a lighter note. The truth is, you may not always get the kind of job you love and even if you do, there are some places where things aren’t going to work out the way you would expect them to.

In situations like these, what do you do?

• Have a positive outlook about life generally.

That’s treated extensively above.

• Learn to be a team player.

If you want to develop a positive attitude at work, you have to learn to be the team player. One of the most important positive things most team players do is shouldering those responsibilities that you are not keen on doing but you understand they are a must for the welfare of the team in the future.

• See problems as new opportunities.

Another thing you could do in order to stay positive at work is going through problems as if they are a new opportunity altogether. This is so similar to one of the points above. One can never avoid problems at workplace. Always expect to learn something new out of every problem. Look at it as if it’s a challenge. Every situation has something important to teach. So try to understand ways in which your work life can improve through this situation.

• Don’t forget that your job is just a part of your life.

It isn't everything and shouldn’t become one either. No matter what, do not let your job take over your life. It doesn’t characterize you in any way. It shouldn’t matter if you don’t like your job or your employees or employers. At the end of the day, you are going back to your family. People that loves regardless of anything. It is important to care about your job and make a few positive changes but when you really start to feel upset about something, just look at the clock and remind yourself that it’s just a matter of time. When you start thinking positive like this, you will be able to utilize the time and enjoy the work better.

• Always remember to smile.

It always works like magic. There is something about smile that just changes how you feel and how you look. When you put on a smile, I believe it transmit some endorphins around your brain and system that communicates relief and peace. So always remember to smile, regardless of how bad your day is going or the challenges work is bringing up that day. You will definitely forget at the thick of the moment but stick it on your computer desktop or the side of your desk if need be.

Conclusively,

Your attitude not your aptitude will determine your altitude - Zig Ziglar