Winning in life depends on a positive attitude. I have seen talented and mentally astute people ending up on the losing end because of a negative attitude.
SUCCESS LIFE: JONAH NYONI
If you are a sportsperson, you will understand that a winning team — it could be in football, basketball or any other sport — is determined by a positive attitude or spirit. Good attitude, mixed with competence, consistency, coherence, creativity, passion, perseverance, action and purpose ultimately leads to success.
For me, attitude is a core drive towards winning. This could be in leadership, teamwork, or personal success. One of the statements I said on Wednesday in a SkyzMetro FM radio interview is that: “Everyone carries this invisible tag called attitude. It speaks loudly to others without you opening your mouth. For others, this tag is written: I’m great, worthy, wealthy, I love you, I see greatness in others. For others it’s written – I’m not beautiful, I’m weak, I’m too fat, I’m not good enough, I don’t want you here, life is hard, I’m hurting and I hate you.” Attitude is like perfume; it pervades into the air without your effort. Have a positive attitude!
What is attitude?
The WordWeb Dictionary says that it is “a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways”. It is a state of mind, an inward feeling expressed by behaviour and temperament that makes your presence or gravitas.
The state of our minds determines the way and the speed with which we respond to life’s situations. What happens internally is because of attitude. Then what happens “in us” will affect what happens externally through action, thereby, leading to specific results. These results could be financial, relational, academic or social.
When facing problems, attitude has an effect. Zig Ziglar then says: “The most important and decisive factor in life is not what happens to us, but the attitude we take towards what happens.”
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I had the privilege of speaking on the same stage with Jonah Mungoshi and he said attitude is the most important force that determines whether you win or lose. Attitude can turn our obstructions into opportunities or vice versa. Most opportunities are usually shrouded as problems or difficulties. You decide what you see out of the two.
Talking about storms, Cynthia Hakutangwi said: “Eagles are not intimidated by storms, they know they can use those storms to take them higher. If you have that mindset, as you face your storm, that storm will turn from something that threatens to break you into something that will transform and make you. A chicken, on the other hand, does not have the ability to fly. It is usually cooped up in a coop and fairly happy in its little world. When the storms come the chicken will go running; anything to get away from difficulty. Chickens are small-minded, small-hearted and have limited vision. Eagles on the other hand can see far.”
Have you realised that there are people that are always grumbling, blaming others or complaining? They complain almost about everything. That is negative energy at work. Most of us have fallen into the this trap and you could be one of those. There is better way of seeing things; it’s having a positive attitude. A company is better off employing a person with a great attitude albeit with a lower qualification, than getting a highly qualified person with a poor attitude. Why?
*Attitude determines your approach to life
*Attitude determines your response to problems
*Attitude determines our perspective in life.
*Attitude determines how we react to failure.
*Attitude determines our relationships with people.
*Attitude determines what and who we attract.
*Attitude determines the effectiveness of a team work.
*Attitude determines the level of our ignorance. If you have an I-know-it-all attitude, there are great chances that you are not willing to learn from others.
How do we reconstruct our attitude?
Soar with eagles: lower-minded people want you to remain at the same level with them. Detoxify your mind from all negative ingestions. Your mind has to unlearn to relearn new things. Do a self-clean-up effort.
Learn about yourself: Most people would rather spend time reading and learning about others, but they never endeavour to learn about the person they spend 24 hours with and that person is you. Know yourself. Know your personality, accept and admit that you can improve on it. Are you choleric, sanguine, introspective, phlegmatic or melancholic? How has that affected your behaviour and character? How can you improve it?
Improve your internal or self-talk: Did you know that the most communication that we do, is with ourselves. Biblically it is called meditation (Psalms 1:2, Joshua 1:8). Learn to talk well about and to yourself. Tame your tongue. It might not be easy, but start now. Psychologists say within 21 days, a person can break a bad habit. So in the next 21 days use positive words and never complain. Control your speech about others and about yourself.
Choose to see the best in yourself: Look yourself in the mirror and begin to love the guy you see. Never allow people to control you with their words. Just because you are a girl, and some naughty boy told you that you are not beautiful and you spend the rest of your life cursing or wishing to be someone else. Probably your school teacher told you that you are dull; never allow those words to control your life. Your grades might not be as good at school, but never let your life and your worth be graded your grades.
See yourself the way the Creator sees you: God says I have loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). He says in Jeremiah 29:11 (Amplified version): “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome”
The Psalmist says: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him? Yet You have made him, but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honour. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the seas.”
Maintain the right attitude in the face of challenges: It has been said that tough times do not last, but tough people do, because they have the right attitude. Your attitude will determine your staying power, stamina and ultimately your success. All successful people you see around you have gone through challenges. Successful people learn to create a fortune out of past failures.
There are things you can’t control. These include the weather, seasons, other people, and the country’s economic huddles or hardships. However, we are able to control our attitude. “We cannot control the wind to blow the way we want, but we can adjust our sails so that they will take us where we want to go,” John Maxwell says.
Parting Point: Now, it’s time to readjust your mental attitude. South African author and motivational speaker, Linda Ntuli poetically said that you have to turn your breakdowns to breakthroughs. Your struggles into strengths. Your stumbling blocks into stepping stones. Your defeats into delights. Your hurts into harvests. Your odds into adds. Your tragedies into strategies and your rejections into directions. It’s all about a positive attitude.
Thank you for the feedback and I love to hear from you. Jonah Nyoni is an author, success coach and leadership trainer. He is the author of Inspiration for Success and Success Within Reach.
Email: [email protected]. Twitter @jonahnyoni
