Attitude: Protect Yours

An important key to high productivity and effective leadership, not to mention sales and marketing success, is to have and maintain a positive attitude. Nothing else will have a greater effect on you than your attitude. Remember the saying, "Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude"? It’s true.

Having a negative attitude or even a neutral, apathetic one will undermine and sabotage your efforts. There is nothing more frustrating than putting in lots of effort and getting no results. When you have a less then positive attitude it becomes difficult (if not impossible) to be the kind of person others want to do business with. You know how, when you REALLY need to make a sale, it’s almost impossible? Or when you REALLY need to be persuasive, the other person just won’t listen? People seem to sense desperation and it drives them off. The same thing happens when you have a negative attitude. You exude negativity. It causes people to avoid you. When a person is negative, they tend to focus on the obstacles rather than the opportunities and solutions. A negative mind is mired in problems, while a positive mind looks for solutions. A positive person is creative and makes the best of every situation. When a person is negative, they tend only to see the obstacles. And when someone only sees obstacles or problems, they tend to feel stress – sometimes a lot of it. In fact, when a person is feeling lots of stress, they can’t be creative (it’s one of those biochemical things). Therefore, a negative attitude thwarts creativity, progress, productivity, and leadership.

In contrast, a positive attitude allows you to deal with the inevitable challenges with creativity and resourcefulness. A positive attitude helps you experience less stress. Your attitude determines how you experience life. It either pulls you down or lifts you up. Your choice…

How does one turn a negative attitude into a positive one? The same way someone with a positive attitude maintains it. You need to eliminate the negative inputs, influences, and factors in your life and introduce positive ones. We’re bombarded with messages throughout the day and night. Some of them are good and some of them are just plain bad for you. We get messages" from family, friends, coworkers, radio, newspaper, TV, music, the internet, billboards, books, magazines, and any number of other sources. If you don’t decide what goes into your head, then someone else will. You need to take control of what you feed your mind.

Read my next article on how to eliminate the negatives and introduce positives. By acquiring, maintaining, and protecting a positive attitude, you will see your success grow and your enjoyment of life improve. You’ll become more attractive (in every way) and will increasingly find other like-minded people to be around.

Written by Michael Beck, an executive coach, speaker & trainer. He is the nation’s leading expert on recruiting independent sales representatives, and helps executives and managers build and lead productive sales teams. For more information, and to receive his program: "Smart Recruiting Strategies in a Tough Market!" for FREE, please visit: www.XLeaders.com