Over the centuries, numerous philosophers have stated that a person’s attitude has far more to do with his or her success than ability. For example, philosopher William James said, “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task, which more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” Whether a hill is steep or gradual, whether a glass is half-empty or half-full, or whether a dream seems impossible or doable all depend on our attitude. And guess what? We have the freedom to choose our attitude! Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, describes this choice as the one freedom that no one can take away from us. If we choose a positive attitude, our life will be full of exciting and wonderful accomplishments and adventures. If we choose to have a negative attitude we will see ourselves as hapless victims of circumstances. As Thomas Jefferson put it, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” So, we need to seize the initiative and make sure we choose wisely.
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Recommended Reading
Instant Turnaround!: Getting People Excited About Coming to Work and Working Hard
Transform Your Workplace!
Imagine a company where people are excited about coming to work and giving their best efforts every day. In this innovative and engrossing business parable, Harry Paul and Ross Reck show managers at all levels how they can immediately and easily increase productivity by tapping into the discretionary effort of the people who work for them. Starting from the most basic aspect of business reality—that people intentionally regulate the amount of effort they put into their jobs based upon how they feel they’re being treated—the authors point out that the most important part of the job of every manager, team leader, supervisor, and executive is to treat people in such a way that they become excited about applying all their discretionary effort toward performing their jobs.
At the book’s center is the story of Nancy Kim, a human resources director at a magazine that is struggling with all the problems associated with unhappy employees—low productivity and morale along with high absenteeism and turnover. After she openly challenges the CEO’s new management-by-the-numbers system, she’s charged with turning the situation around immediately. Filled with real-world studies, Instant Turnaround! shows anyone how to turn the workplace into a destination—a place where working hard feels like hardly working because it’s engaging, enjoyable, and fulfilling.
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