Attitude is the cornerstone of success.

Top achievers understand the importance of a winning edge and are guided by positive attitudes of successful people who have gone before them. They hold themselves responsible for their quality of life. No excuses. A growing body of research confirms that attitude has a compelling impact on success, empowering us to achieve new levels of productivity in our professional and personal lives. A positive approach can enrich our personality and enhance the impression we make on others. In fact, a deeper appreciation of this may cause you to change your outlook and enthusiastically join those of us who consider a positive attitude to be our most priceless possession. Here are my two definitions of attitude: 1) your outlook toward things 2) choice You are what you think. You can choose to be miserable today, or you can choose to make it a great day. My theory is that life is too short to be miserable, but its long enough to have some fun. Life offers choices; you can live a life of anticipation or a life of participation. The choice you make determines whether you live with results, or with excuses. You decide. Unfortunately, as we navigate through a typical day we are bombarded with an onslaught of negative inputs. More than 75 per cent of what we hear, see and read is negative. Often we succumb to these negative influences, living in quiet desperation under a tremendous burden of stress, failing to see the few slivers of positives around us. The vaccine for this is to make a conscious choice to embrace and nurture a positive outlook. Seeing the positive is a discipline, it can be hard work. It takes conscious effort and energy to remain positive and energized throughout the day. Consider this For every mile of road to success There is two miles of ditch

Another saboteur of positive attitudes is a lack of daily goals. I call them daily destinations. We often go into our day guided by nothing more than a sense of routine and familiar habit, our daily outcomes determined by the urgency of other peoples objectives. Without goals or destinations of our own, we inevitably become subservient to the demands of others. The sad fact is that up to 80 per cent of our day can be re-active versus pro-active. You can offset this silent theft of time if you are guided by clearly defined daily destinations. Know where your finish line is for each and every day. Experience the euphoria of a productive day versus a day of mere busyness. This simple yet effective strategy will put more enjoyment in your life, one day at a time. Chase two rabbits and both will escape Start today by planning your tomorrows. Fulfill your daily commitments fueled by a sense of optimism guided by clarity of purpose. Make it a great day.

Tim Breithaupt C.G.A.H. Author of The Canadian Bestseller... "Take This Job and Love It. The Joys of Professional Selling"

Attitude Quiz
CHECK YOUR VIEW OF ATTITUDE!
1 Your most priceless possession can be your __________________ a) Attitude b) Demeanor c) Environment d) None of the above 2 __________________ is a way of looking at your whole environment a) Vision b) An Expression c) Attitude d) All of the above 3 The forms of communication between people are __________________ a) Written b) Verbal c) Transmission of Attitude d) All of the above 4 Positive people discipline their minds to concentrate primarily upon__________________ a) Negative factors b) Careers c) Positive factors d) None of the above 5 In most companies management is seeking the following types of people a) Passive b) Spiritual c) Positive d) Answers B & C Answers at the bottom of this page >>

An Attitude Equation Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants over 100%. How about achieving 103%? Here's a little math that might prove helpful. If: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26. Then: HARDWORK 8 1 18 4 23 15 18 11 = 98% KNOWLEDGE 11 14 15 23 12 5 4 7 5 = 96% But, ATTITUDE 1 20 20 9 20 21 4 5 = 100%

Quiz Answers:
1a, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, If you've got them all correct, you've got a positive outlook to life. The key is to keep it as close to 100 % most of the time. Congratulations. Keep up the good work!

Work Attitude and Values Enhancement Another Pain Killer? Got a call this morning. This boss wants a Work Attitude and Values Enhancement(WAVE) workshop for all employees. I do not know who started this program. It isbecoming like a new religion, a panacea, or an all-in-one solution to managers problems with their employees. It seems that every time there is something wrong with the organization, the easy target are the employees. I am not sure if this program is offered only in the Philippines, but I did not find a promotion of WAVE workshops in other countries. Is this another Onli in daPilipins program? Please do not get me wrong. I salute all managers who provide their employees seminars and workshops that will inspire, educate, and empower them. Given that there are many managers who do not introduce professional development programs for employees, the boss who contacted me this morning to request for WAVE workshops for his employees is truly admirable. I told him that before we run another Work Attitude and Values Enhancement workshop, I want him to answer for four questions: 1. What is the issue you have that you hope to solve with Work Attitude and Values Enhancement workshop? 2. What do you do presently to alleviate or solve the issue? 3. What are your other options aside from WAVE workshops? 4. What is the picture of success to you for this project? Are you one of those who also want to conduct your own WAVE program? I encourage you to answer these four questions before you contact another consultant. There are many who are too willing to run a WAVE program for you. The boss needs to identify the problems. It is easy to pin the blame on employees. It is convenient to say that employees are unproductive because of their work attitude and values. I do not know everything there is to know about work, but I have conducted hundreds of workshops on personal development and leadership. I have observed hundreds of companies. I saw that the problem lies greatly on the inability of leaders to articulate the vision, mission, and most importantly, the core values of the organization. Leaders of the organizations must focus on building a work culture around their core values. Many leaders fail to do this and they blame employees for their failures. Work Attitude and Values Enhancement programs do not necessarily promote corporate core values. I do not like the term values enhancement because you do not enhance values. I have no right to enhance your values either. I can only invite you to examine your current practiced values and to encourage you to live your life according to your most desired values. By definition, values are traits or qualities that you consider worthwhile. Values represent your highest priorities and deeply held driving forces. Ideally, employees join organizations with corporate values which are aligned to theirs. Conflict happens when employees have directly opposing values. This does not mean that your employees are bad. Or that you are bad. You and your employees happen to have different sets of values. Your responsibility as a leader is to bring your people to an agreement that you must all practice your core corporate values. Identify the real problem. Most managers purchase another WAVE program to cure the symptoms. The boss needs to examine what they are doing. I suspect the problem lies in their work practices. Everything begins in the hiring process. I wonder if he himself interviewed those whom they hired. When forming a team, the first question is not what or why or where but who. You will work with these persons one-half of your waking life. Choose them well. The first ninety days of your employees at work is a testament of work culture. Einstein was right. Insanity is when you keep on doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I want to know what you are doing now. I want to know what you want to change in what you and your employees do. What do you want to stop, continue, and start doing? A consultant who provides you a WAVE program without requiring you to answer these questions is giving you a pain killer. The boss must consider all his options. The WAVE

program is a good pain killer, but he needs to find the real cure. Training is not always the solution. When people feel that they are not paid enough, the problem is not work attitude but low compensation. Try a new recognition program. Engage them in your corporate social responsibility projects. Send their kids to school. Visit them often. Explore many solutions because training is not enough. I own a company that provides training to many companies in the Philippines. I do value the importance of seminars and workshops. But there are other interventions that you can use. You can try counselling, coaching, and mentoring. You can even try bringing Toastmasters to your organization. The options are many. Look for the best. Contact me when you need more help. The last question defines your desired result. Your answer will give me an idea whether this project is worth my time. We want you to be successful. I want to be successful too. When I go to your organization, I am not there to be recognized as the most dynamic and eloquent inspirational speaker. Others do,but I dont. I do not grow tall when people flatter me. I do not measure my success by the evaluation forms participants must fill in after the workshop. Of course, I want to know that I made them happy and active during the workshop. But I also want to know how they will apply what they are going to learn, the change that you want to see, and the effect of that change to their individual performance and that of your organization. I want you to commit your company to the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the programs. When you are able to do this, I will commit to you my time. In this website, you will find many personal development programs like Winners@Work. But we do not offer them as a WAVE alternatives. Winners@Work is not another values enhancement seminar. It is about changing mindset, working like a winner, and making things happen through massive action. But do not forget the four questions. Answer them and you will not be wasting money on pain killers again.

Why attitude is important in the workplace

Most individuals spend a majority of their time at work. If you have to live in an environment of negative attitudes, it makes getting through your day very difficult. Dealing with challenges and conflict becomes much more difficult without positive attitudes. The effects of having a positive attitude are significant and creates an environment where people can collaborate and work together to get their jobs done. Lets take a look at the way positive attitudes improve the working environment. If individuals maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, it attracts people to work together and can help everyone get through conflict and stressful situations in the workplace. Learning to focus on the positive side of your job and discouraging individuals to stay away from the negative side of the workplace is a motivating factor to keep going until their tasks are completed. Whenever you encounter obstacles, your attitude influences how you will handle the obstacles. If you have a positive attitude you will be more determined to work through the difficulties and get the job done. Negative attitudes can stall your progress and make it next to impossible to work through the obstacles effectively. Learn to use positive self talk and tell yourself that you can accomplish anything you want. Positive self talk will help you to find solutions and answers. Negative attitudes breed procrastination and can interfere with your own productivity. Build a network with individuals who display positive attitudes and learn to stay away from the negative and complaining individuals in the organization. Negative individuals are very counterproductive in the workplace and if allowed can cause chaos. Never play into the hand of the negative individuals because they have the potential to take your down. Every individual in the workplace likes to hear praise for a job well done. If you recognize that someone has poured their heart and soul into a project, recognize that individual with positive praise. Many times in the workplace many individuals never seem to get noticed for their hard work and it can have a negative effect on keeping a positive attitude. Simply by giving praise, it serves a duo purpose by giving the other individual positive feedback and it makes yourself feel good to see the positive effects of what you said. This is a mechanism to help maintain positive attitudes in the workplace. Attitude is an important factor in the work environment. Positive attitudes can affect productivity and enhance the working relationships between colleagues. If you want to work in an environment where there are motivated and empowered employees, then individuals need to maintain positive healthy attitudes. The path to that type environment requires individuals that are wiling to enforce positive attitudes. Negativity is destructive and can cause an organization to fail to meet its goals.