How to Influence Success
By: David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer                                                            

Have you ever thought about what it takes to be successful? Have you ever wondered why some people achieve so much more than others? Why is it that some people just seem to have it all together and don’t seem to get rattled or derailed by everyday obstacles? Based on my observations it all centers around attitude. The interesting thing about attitude is that we all have one, and we get to control what it is. We can’t determine what happens to us in life, but we can determine what happens in us. We determine our reactions. We determine how we react to what is happening around us. It all depends on our attitude. There are six areas in our life where attitude can be the deciding factor. Let’s take a look at two of them.

Our attitude is often the only difference between success and failure. Henry Ford said, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Ford went bankrupt twice before the Ford Motor Company finally established itself as a viable company. It is also worth noting that Ford was the only United States automaker to not need a bailout by the Federal Government in 2008. Henry Ford had the attitude that failure is our friend as long as we learn from it. Notice that this was an attitude he chose to have.

Our attitude determines our relationships with people. A wise person once said, “The way a person treats us shouldn’t determine how we treat them.”  That is such an amazing concept. Just because we may have been wronged by a person, doesn’t mean we need to treat them in kind. You may wonder how this might impact success. Think of all the energy it takes to be negative and harbor ill feelings. It becomes consuming. Whenever we see that person our heart rate increases and we begin to breath faster. Our minds shift from creativity and innovation to frustration and anger.  We lose the very edge that we need to accomplish the things that lead to success, and it can all be fixed with an attitude adjustment.

Attitude is a choice. What type of attitude will you choose today? If you would like to hear the other four areas where our attitude makes the difference, please join Marisa Norcross and me on The Next Page podcast. We will also discuss tactics to improve our attitude.

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