Sunny Side Up: Having an Attitude that Shines

You may wish your uncle wasn’t so embarrassing. Or wonder why it has to rain every day you’ve got outdoor plans (or have just washed your car). And why is it that, every time you DO have plans, life seems to throw you a curve ball?

In life, you can’t choose your family members. You can’t rain dance a drizzly day away. And, if we could dictate our own fates, no one would ever suffer a stress fracture when training for a big race or get passed over for a promotion.

But, even though it may storm outside or rain on all your plans, there is one thing you can control: your attitude. Yes, you can have a sunny outlook even when it’s gloomy all around you.

That positive outlook is very much present in standout leaders.

If you’re not familiar with Charles R. Swindoll – the inspirational radio host and prolific author – at least familiarize yourself with one of his messages. It’s worth every word:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, 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 everyday 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% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Act with character and, moreover, react with character.

We constantly see people around us reacting to the perhaps unexpected or disappointing throughout the day. Do you throw up your hands and throw a pity party? Or do you roll up your sleeves and roll with the punches?

You put yourself to task for work performance and fulfilling the technical aspects of your job. Well, you should also hold yourself accountable when it comes to your attitude. Think of it as yet another element of superior performance. After all, hard science – this is not mere intuition or speculation – backs up the notion that people like to be around other positive people. Do YOU want to be around the “Negative Nelly”?

Worse yet, don’t BE the “Negative Nelly.”

Be that positive person, and even when it is a little stormy inside or outside of the office, it really doesn’t seem so bad.