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BUILDING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

• It is what's inside that counts. And what's inside of us that makes us go up is our attitude.

• Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.

YOUR ATTITUDE CONTRIBUTES TO SUCCESS:

• Harvard University Study: When a person gets a job or a position, 85% of the time it is because of his ATTITUDE, and only 15% of the time because of intelligence and knowledge.

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• Attitude applies to every sphere of life, including one's personal and professional life.

• Can an executive be a good executive without a good attitude?

• Can a student be a good student without a good attitude?

• Can parents, teachers, salespersons, employers, or employees be good in their roles without a good attitude?

• The foundation of success, regardless of your chosen field, is attitude.

• To a positive thinker, attitude can be a stepping-stone to success. To a negative thinker, it can be a stumbling block. (Biblical story of David and Goliath).

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• Human resource is the most valuable asset of any business.

• People are more valuable than capital or equipment.

• With better attitudes people would be better team players, cut back on waste and become more loyal.

• People can be an organisation's biggest asset or biggest liability.

• Total Quality People (TQP) are people with character, integrity, good values and positive attitude.

• Someone once approached Blaise Pascal, the famous French philosopher, and said, "If I had your brains, I would be a better person". Pascal replied, "Be a better person and you will have my brains."

• Just like great building stands on a strong foundation, so does success. And the foundation of success is attitude.

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FACTORS THAT DETERMINE OUR ATTITUDES

• Most of our attitudes were shaped during our formative years.

• Three factors (triple Es) that largely determine our attitude formation:

1. Environment

2. Experience

3. Education

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• ENVIRONMENT: consists of the following

o Home :positive or negative influences

o School :peer pressure o Work :supportive or over-critical

supervisor o Media :television, newspapers,

magazines, radio, movies o Cultural backgroundo Religious background o Traditions and beliefs o Social environment o Political environment o All these environments create a culture

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o In countries where the government and

political environment is honest, generally you

will find that the people are honest, law-abiding

and helpful. In societies where lawlessness

becomes the law, honest citizens become

cheats, crooks and dacoits.

o In a positive environment, a marginal

performer's output goes up. In a negative

environment, a good performer's output goes

down.

o Culture in any place always goes from the top

down, never from bottom up.

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o Our behaviour changes according to our experiences with various people.

o Experiences and events become reference points in our lives, we draw conclusions which serve as guidelines for the future.

• EXPERIENCES:

• EDUCATION:

o Education refers to both formal and informal education.

o We are drowning in information' but starving for knowledge and wisdom.

o Strategically applied, knowl,edge translates into wisdom which in turn translates into success.

o The role of the educator is vital. A teacher affects eternity. The ripple effect is immeasurable.

o Education ought to teach us not only how to make a living but also how to live.

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HOW TO RECOGNIZE PEOPLE WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE?

• People with positive attitudes are caring, confident, patient, and humble.

• They have high expectations of themselves and others.

• They anticipate positive outcomes.

• A person with a positive attitude is always welcome.

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BENEFITS OF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

• The advantages are easy to see. But what is easy to see is also easy to miss!

• Your positive attitude benefits you:

- Makes for a pleasing personality

- Is energizing

- Increases your enjoyment of life

- Helps you become a contributing member of society and as asset to your country.

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Your positive attitude benefits your organization:

o Increases productivity

o Fosters team work

o Solves problems

o Improves quality

o Makes for a congenial atmosphere

o Breeds loyalty

o Increase profits

o Fosters better relationships with employers, employees and customers

o Reduces stress'

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THE CONSEQUENCES OF A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE

People with negative attitudes have a hard time keeping friendships, jobs, marriages, and relationships. Negative attitudes lead to:

• Bitterness

• Resentment

• A purposeless life

• III health

• High stress levels for themselves for others

Negative attitude create an unpleasant environment at home, at work and become a liability to society. They pass on their negative behavior, to others around them.

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HOW TO BUILD A POSITIVE ATTITUDE ?

8 STEPS TO ATTITUDE CHANGE

• Step 1 : Change Focus, Look for the Positive

o Look for the gold: Andrew Carnegie, largest steel manufacturer in US, said, "Dealing with people is a lot like digging for gold: when you go digging for an ounce of gold you have to move tons of dirt. But when you go digging, you don't go looking for the dirt, you go looking for the gold."

o Some people always look for the negative: Negative people will always criticize.

o Be an optimist and not a pessimist.

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• Step 2: Making a habit of doing it now

o Live in the present. Never Ieave till tomorrow, which you can do it today.

• Step 3: Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

• Step 4: Get into a Continuous Education Programme

o Education without values: Universities are turning out highly skilled barbarians because we don't provide framework of values to young people, who more and more are searching for it.

o Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is potential power; wisdom is real power. Education takes many forms; it is not just grades and a degree; it is

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• Cultivating your strength

• Learning self-discipline

• Listening

• Eagerness to learn

o If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

o Being ignorant is not so muc,h a shame as being unwilling to learn to do things the right way.

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• Step 5: Build a positive Self-Esteem

• Step 6: Stay Away from Negative Influences

• Step 7: Learn to Like the Things That Need to be Done o Start by doing what is necessary, then

what is possible, and suddenly you are

doing the impossible.

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• Step 8: Start your Day with Something Positive

• In order to bring about a change we need to make a conscious effort and be committed to make positive thoughts and behaviour part of our lives. Practice having positive thoughts and behaviours daily until they become a habit.

• "If you are going to change your life; you need to start immediately."

• If you follow these 8 steps, you will be a WINNER.

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WINNERS VERSUS LOSERS

• The Winner is always part of answer; The Loser is always part of the problem.

• The Winner always has a program; The Loser always has an excuse.

• The Winner says, "Let me do it for you."; The Loser says, "That is not my job."

• The Winner sees an answer for every problem; The Loser sees a problem for every answer

• The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it is possible." The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is too difficult."

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• When a Winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was I wrong.";

When a Loser makes a mistake, he say, "It was'nt my fault.”

• A Winner makes commitments; A Loser makes promises.

• Winners have dreams; Losers have schemes.

• Winners say, "I must do something."; Losers say, "Something must be done."

• Winners are a part of the team; Losers are a part from the team.

• Winners see the gain; • Losers see the pain.

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• Winners see possibilities; Losers see problems.

• Winners believe in win / win; Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.

• Winners see the potential; Losers see the past.

• Winners are like a thermostat; Losers are like thermometers.

• Winners choose what they say; Losers say what they choose.

• Winners use hard arguments but soft words; Losers use soft arguments but hard words.

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• Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things;

• Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.

• Winners follow the philosophy of empathy: "Don't do to others what you would not want them to do to you";

• Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."

• Winners make it happen;

• Losers let it happen.

• Winners plan and prepare to win. The key word is PREPARATION.

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Reference:  Khera, Shiv (2008 Revised ed)You Can Win,Macmillan

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