Choosing your attitude
Choosing your attitude
I was listening to a podcast about how to have more fun and essentially what it comes down to is that you have to create the fun within you. A lot of us always seem to be looking for it out there, the next new thing or restaurant or club or destination. And this got me thinking to a lot of states of being that we create from within, happiness, joy, contentment, excitement, our attitude, yet we are often looking for it elsewhere.
So what is attitude? It is defined in the dictionary as a “settled way of thinking or feeling about something”.
It is deciding how you want to think about something and making peace with that decision. Unfortunately, a lot of people decide they want to think negatively or badly about something and then blame that thing for them being unhappy. Why would you do that? You just end up making yourself and those around you miserable.
Choose a good attitude
I don’t know about you, but I do prefer to choose a good attitude about most things. Yes there are times when bad things happen and you don’t want to feel good about them. My go-to question with something like this is, can I do something about it? If yes, I do what I can even if it is in a small way. If not, I have to decide how I want to feel about it. Having said that, I think there is always something that can be done like contributing to charities, donating or volunteering.
Remember things outside of you are all neutral until you have thoughts about them and give them meaning. Let’s look at an example of outside circumstances.
One of my clients came to me complaining about her job and that she was not very happy. When we explored what kind of thoughts she was having, she was saying/thinking things like –
“I don’t get along with my co-workers”
“My boss doesn’t appreciate me”
“I don’t get paid enough”
“I don’t like the work that I am doing, it’s boring”
Do you see the kind of thoughts she was having was not conducive to a good attitude? We started working on better thoughts she could be thinking, e.g. –
“My co-workers are doing the best job they possibly can”
“I appreciate me and the work that I am doing”
“I am fortunate to have this job and appreciate my salary”
“How can I make my work more exciting?”
“What can I do to uplevel my work?”
She started working on these thoughts and 6 months later she got a promotion. She started thinking differently and she choose to have a much better attitude about her job and she showed up in a different way at work. Her set of circumstances were exactly the same, it is just her attitude that changed and that changed everything else for her.
Choosing your attitude
She started working on these thoughts and 6 months later she got a promotion. She started thinking differently and she choose to have a much better attitude about her job and she showed up in a different way at work. Her set of circumstances were exactly the same, it is just her attitude that changed and that changed everything else for her.
So what is something or a circumstance that you don’t have a good attitude about? What kind of thoughts could you be thinking to change your attitude? If you look for evidence that you have a crappy life, you will find evidence of it everywhere, similarly if you look for evidence that you have a wonderful life, you will find evidence of that too. Which are you going to choose?
Our brains like to create a lot of drama and it wants to keep us stuck and believing our same old stories. The alternative is that you change, you think differently and that scares your brain a bit, because it is unknown.
Your life will be so much more exciting and enjoyable and fun if you change your attitude about things. Even when things don’t go your way, having a more pleasant attitude about things will make it easier for you. Years ago, I travelled to India on my own to stay at an ashram. Towards the end of my stay, we were told that there was a transport strike and we needed to leave the ashram for the closest city in order for us to catch our various flights out. This meant extra expenses as I needed to find accommodation until my flight out. Thankfully 2 other girls were in the same predicament and we ended up sharing a hotel room.
Personal Transformation Coach
Do you want to live your best life?
1 on 1 Personal Coaching
Hi, I’m Antoinette Porter, your hostess at Live Life Inspired where we will explore what is possible in your life. A life you can look back on and say, “Wow!! I did that!”
The next day I got to the airport to catch my flight to Mumbai only to find it was cancelled due to the strike and there were no other flight seats available. Now at this point I would have panicked as lot of other people did, but chose to believe that things will work out and they did. The director of another airline was so kind as to help me get a seat on another flight ahead of a lot of other people. Out of curiosity, I asked him why, he said that I asked him politely for help, he agreed and I sat patiently waiting for him to organize it, while others were getting increasing irate. And….he also had a brother who lived in South Africa.
Now was it that or the fact that I had the attitude of belief? I choose the latter.
If you need help with some better thoughts and creating better attitudes, come chat with me on hello@lliautism.net
Till next week.
A
Xxx
Sometimes you just need someone to talk to, to put things in perspective, a little like therapy but with some helpful feedback and a lot of practical tips. Book some time with ~ email me hello@lliautism.net