You Cant stop the waves, but you can learn to surf! John Kabat
Attitude: It is a little thing that makes a big difference
I don’t know about you, but I have felt many waves over the years, not to mention over the last few months. I remember hearing someone say, “never turn your back to the waves, they will catch you by surprise and knock you down”. I am pretty sure that I have had the “waves” of life knock me down a few times, sometimes when it was least expected.
As I sat down to write this month’s letter, I was looking at a framed picture with an inspirational saying, “Attitude, it is a little thing that makes a big difference.” I look at that picture every day. It reminds me to do a check-in to see how I am aligned. The picture is a drop of water landing in a pool of water creating a ripple effect that spreads out reaching far and wide. It reminds me that the impact of an attitude is powerful and is something that can reach so many positive or negative.
As the waves come and we start to surf I wonder how a simple thing like attitude can make a difference in how well we surf the wave? Often, we can tend to get in a rut, thinking that the outcome must be a certain way, so we dig in and stop listening to possibility. How we approach our day, a project, a situation or a challenge can be a much different experience depending on the attitude we bring. Having the awareness of how we are showing up during those times can be key to making a big difference in so many ways.
Have you ever noticed that negative attracts negative, the more we focus on that the more we get, the reverse is true as well, the more we show up in the positive the more positive we attract, we are more open to creating something new or different. An attitude of gratitude can be a way to take our power back to do better, be better. When ‘flipping the script’ from an attitude perspective we have the power to shift the situation to a more positive outcome for ourselves and others.
Some questions to ponder about the power of attitude:
· Have you ever noticed that how your day goes can be determined by how you wake up in the morning, energized, tired, worried, stressed, excited?
· What can you put into place as a daily practice to create alignment and a positive attitude?
· How do you work with your clients to create clarity on how they are showing up in terms of how their attitude is important on how they approach life, situations, challenges?
My hope for you is that you find a way to do an attitude check-in that will help you align in the most positive way.
Take care,
Deb Johnson
ICF Minnesota Chapter President |