What Box?^®

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on my life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past … we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our attitudes.” These words by Charles Swindoll are just as true now as the first day he spoke them.

What kind of attitude do you have?

An attitude that, “Anything is possible,” or that “It will never work,” or “Never ever give up.” Maybe your attitude is a, “Why me?” or “I’ll do what ever it takes.” The kind of life you are creating for yourself, whether or not it is positive or negative, depends very much upon your attitude.

What do successful, satisfied, fulfilled, and happy people have that others who are unsuccessful, unsatisfied, unfulfilled and unhappy don’t have? They have a positive attitude and you can have it too. A positive attitude is the great differentiator between those that achieve and get what they want from life and those that don’t. Sounds so simple doesn’t it?

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.” William James

Let’s face it. It is easy to have a positive attitude when things are going the way you want them to go. It is easy to be positive when things are going smoothly and life is your oyster. It is when things are not going so smoothly, when there is adversity in your life, that a positive attitude makes the greatest difference. Life is not always smooth even for people with the most positive attitudes. The difference is that these people keep a positive attitude even when things look hopeless.

“Get to know yourself. Know your own failings, passions, and prejudices so you can separate them from what you see. Know also when you actually have thought through to the nature of the thing with which you are dealing and when you are not thinking at all … Knowing yourself and knowing the facts, you can judge whether you can change the situation so it is more to your liking. If you cannot–or if you do not know how to improve on things–then discipline yourself to the adjustments that will be necessary.” Bernard M. Baruch, financier

A positive attitude in times of adversity has the power to inspire others, to move mountains, and to change the course of history. People who are positive through difficult times think differently than those that get down during hard times. They see the light at the end of tunnel and focus their attention on that light. They understand that the difficult times will pass and that moving through adversity, no matter how difficult, will only make them stronger.

How do you react to adversity? What kind of attitude do you have when the going gets rough?

In my life I have had more than my fair share of adversity and challenges. I have had no money to pay myself or my employees. I have been depressed to the point of hopelessness and I have been discouraged by the nay-sayers of our society. Through it all I have somehow found the intestinal fortitude to believe it will get better, that I have a purpose on this planet, that to fulfill that purpose I need to move through the hard times to live the joyous times. And guess what? The joyous times have become that much more joyous and meaningful as I have gone through the transformational process of moving through the challenges that living creates.

My positive attitude, even when I have been in a negative situation, has allowed me to reach for something more, something of value and greater meaning. It has enabled me to be open to new ideas and to be creative in my response to the challenges that have been presented to me. A positive attitude can do the same for you.

In the end, the choice to have a positive attitude, no matter what situation you find yourself in, will make all the difference in the world.

“Once you begin to understand, really understand, how your thoughts create your inner reality, and how that reality spills into your world through your words and your deeds, then you are on your way to transforming them, and yourself. In order to live a life of material and spiritual abundance everything about you must be in harmony. Suze Orman

What kind of attitude do you have?

Let me know what you think

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself

It seems like everyone has great ideas today, ideas on how to make any given situation better, or how to achieve a desired goal. The challenge is that many of these ideas are not original, they don’t address the real issue, and in many instances they make the situation worse.

Creativity is the ability to solve a problem or elevate an endeavor to its full potential in imaginative, visionary ways. All of us are solving problems each and every day of our lives. Yet often our ideas are unimaginative and routine and come about as the result of us just going through the motions of trying to solve the problems at hand. The real question is, “How do we generate ideas that are of value?”

Over the years I have been able to identify some key elements to creating ideas that add value to any given situation. These include the following:

•    Clearly understand the challenge at hand
•    Collect as much information as possible on the challenge
•    Come up with as many ideas as possible to solve the challenge
•    Let go of the ideas through rest and relaxation
•    Evaluate and prioritize the best ideas

In order to develop ideas of value it is very important to fully understand the challenge that is in front of you. When you do not fully understand the challenge you are more prone to coming up with solutions that don’t address the problem. If you define the challenge that is in front of you, you will be more likely to come up with valuable idea that will have the potential to solve the problem at hand.

You can never have too much information. I always remind myself that, “The more I know the less I know.” This is universal wisdom. Collect as much information as you can on the subject for which you are attempting to come up with new ideas. The information must be accurate and inspire you to think in new ways. I search the Internet, spread books on the subject around my room, and look for magazines to increase my knowledge. This information is critical for me to be able to apply new thinking and generate ideas of value.

Whenever I need to come up with a new idea, I like to create as many ideas as I can on the subject at hand. I use my imagination to let my mind wander in as many directions as possible. This is the space where I have the greatest potential to uncover valuable ideas that have been not thought of before. I write these ideas down as fast as I can or as slow as they come about. Letting your mind wander allows your mind to work its magic and where the ultimate creative thinking can take place. Go ahead and let your mind wander and see where it takes you.

Whenever I have come up with what I believe is a great idea I like to let it rest. I let go of the idea and stop thinking about it. I will take a walk in the woods on Grand Lake. I will go about my regular activities without thinking about it for as long as I can. When I revisit the idea some time later, I let my mind wander some more to expand the idea and let it become new again. Time is a very important part of the process. When I do not let an idea have the time to percolate and rest, the idea usually will have less value in the end.

The final step in the process of creating ideas of value is to evaluate and prioritize the ideas that have been developed. If you evaluate the idea too soon, you pass judgment on the idea before it has had time to develop. This cannot be stressed enough. Let your ideas run their course before you finally start passing judgment on their value. I like to rate the final ideas on a 1 to 10 scale and then act on them based upon their rating.

Nothing creates value like the introduction of a well thought out idea that in the end creates the kind of value people are looking for. You have the ability to do anything you want to do and create ideas of great value. Today, more than ever, our communities, states, nation, and world are in need of ideas of great value and the people to turn them into action. You can do it!

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself

Doubt can have a very powerful influence on our lives. When we find ourselves doubting what we are about or our abilities, we can be stopped from reaching for our full potential, from living our dreams, or from going for what we want in life. All of us have doubts about what we can do, who we can be, what we can achieve. The difference is that those who achieve what they want in life have figured out how to overcome their doubts. No small task.

“To believe with certainty, we must begin with doubting.”  Stanislaus

Doubt is one of the greatest obstacles we have in achieving our goals. Doubt creates barriers that prevent us from moving forward with an action that can change our lives. Doubt blocks that which inspires us to be more creative and to think differently. Doubt also prevents us from developing new ideas and solutions to life’s challenges. The challenge for each of us is to become aware of our doubts and face them head on.

How often do doubts creep into your thoughts each day?

I know that when I wake up in the morning visualizing my greatest wants, a castle on the hill, my spiritual awakening in the Himalayas, or my New York Times best seller, doubt seems to automatically have a way of creeping in. My mind goes to beliefs I have developed from living a life that has been influenced by people who have let doubts run their lives. They have said, “You can’t do this or that.” In order to let go of the doubts that have crept in, I have to consciously stop my negative thinking and focus my mind on creating and believing in what I want to achieve in my life.

When you believe that you can be, or do anything you set your mind to, you are able to overcome doubt.

One of the most effective ways to overcome doubt is to utilize your imagination to believe you can do what you want to do. You can imagine yourself in the job of your dreams, in winning a marathon, in having the fastest car, in being the best in sales, in hitting a hole in one. If you can imagine it and set your mind to it you can do it.

“The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life.”  David J. Boorstin

Another way to overcome doubt is to disregard negative people and their advice. Don’t buying into their negativity. There are always going to be negative people who keep their power by sabotaging others, casting doubt on ones ability to succeed. Stay away from these people! I have found that many of the negative people in the world have no idea how to overcome the challenges of life. Their negativity causes fear and unrest that is destructive and hurtful. Focus your attention on people who are interested in your success and will give you positive and constructive encouragement.

Being in doubt can keep you from acting on what you believe in and is a sure fire way to prevent your dreams and desires from becoming a reality. When you say to yourself, “I can’t do this,” or “I’m not really able to be successful in this venture,” the outcome of what you believe will come true. Become conscious of your self-doubting thoughts and work hard to replace them with positive thoughts of you believing in yourself. Blocking out doubt and replacing it with, “I can do it,” takes practice and hard work. The more you want to be successful and the more you believe in yourself, the more likely you are to overcome your tendency to doubt your ability to succeed.

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”  Abraham Lincoln

Surrounding yourself with what I like to call “eagles,” or positive successful people, may be one of the most powerful ways to overcome your doubts. By connecting with motivated positive people you have the opportunity to increase your learning and experience traits that produce results. Go ahead and ask them to become your mentors, and focus on learning the keys to success that will enable you to create what you want in your life.

In the end no one can overcome your doubts for you. Only you can do it. Never give up! When you take the steps to consciously face your doubts head on and work to replace them with what is possible, you will be on your way to achieving your hopes and dreams for the future. Let me know what you think.

Dear Sean
Last week you wrote about staying positive when you are in a negative environment. When I’m in a negative situation I become negative too. How do you “let go” of negativity and stay positive?
Confused in Tulsa

Dear Confused,
Negative environments are challenging. Here is what I do. I work to make a game out of the situation. This sets it up to be fun even when it can be negative. I work to ask questions that cause the negative person or people to question their beliefs. “Why does it have to be done this way?” “What if we tried this?” “Let’s try to think a little different?” Keep asking why and how questions in an attempt to whack people out of their negative thinking patterns. In other cases it can be so challenging and energy draining to shift the negative environment that I will walk away for a time or even move on and look for a positive reinforcing environment to spend my time.
Keep on keeping on,
Sean

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself