BUILDING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

• It is what's inside that counts. And what's

inside of us that makes us go up is our
attitude.
• Human beings can alter their lives by altering
their attitudes of mind.
 YOUR ATTITUDE CONTRIBUTES TO
SUCCESS:
• Harvard University Study: When a person
gets a job or a position, 85% of the time it is
because of his ATTITUDE, and only 15% of
the time because of intelligence and
knowledge.
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• Attitude applies to every sphere of life,
including one's personal and professional life.
• Can an executive be a good executive without
a good attitude?
• Can a student be a good student without a
good attitude?
• Can parents, teachers, salespersons,
employers, or employees be good in their
roles without a good attitude?
• The foundation of success, regardless of your
chosen field, is attitude.
• To a positive thinker, attitude can be a
stepping-stone to success. To a negative
thinker, it can be a stumbling block. (Biblical
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story of David and Goliath).
• Human resource is the most valuable asset of any
business.
• People are more valuable than capital or equipment.
• With better attitudes people would be better team
players, cut back on waste and become more loyal.
• People can be an organisation's biggest asset or
biggest liability.
• Total Quality People (TQP) are people with
character, integrity, good values and positive
attitude.
• Someone once approached Blaise Pascal, the
famous French philosopher, and said, "If I had your
brains, I would be a better person". Pascal replied,
"Be a better person and you will have my brains."
• Just like great building stands on a strong 4
foundation, so does success. And the foundation of
 FACTORS THAT DETERMINE OUR ATTITUDES

• Most of our attitudes were shaped during

our formative years.
• Three factors (triple Es) that largely
determine our attitude formation:

1. Environment

2. Experience

3. Education

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• ENVIRONMENT: consists of the following

o Home :positive or negative influences

o School :peer pressure
o Work :supportive or over-critical
supervisor
o Media :television, newspapers,
magazines, radio, movies
o Cultural background
o Religious background
o Traditions and beliefs
o Social environment
o Political environment
o All these environments create a culture

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o In countries where the government and
political environment is honest, generally you
will find that the people are honest, law-abiding
and helpful. In societies where lawlessness
becomes the law, honest citizens become
cheats, crooks and dacoits.
o In a positive environment, a marginal
performer's output goes up. In a negative
environment, a good performer's output goes
down.
o Culture in any place always goes from the top
down, never from bottom up.
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• EXPERIENCES:
o Our behaviour changes according to our experiences
with various people.
o Experiences and events become reference points in our
lives, we draw conclusions which serve as guidelines for
the future.

• EDUCATION:
o Education refers to both formal and informal
education.
o We are drowning in information' but starving for
knowledge and wisdom.
o Strategically applied, knowl,edge translates into
wisdom which in turn translates into success.
o The role of the educator is vital. A teacher affects
eternity. The ripple effect is immeasurable.
o Education ought to teach us not only how to make a
living but also how to live. 8
 HOW TO RECOGNIZE PEOPLE WITH A
POSITIVE ATTITUDE?

• People with positive attitudes are caring,

confident, patient, and humble.

• They have high expectations of themselves

and others.

• They anticipate positive outcomes.

• A person with a positive attitude is always

welcome.

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 BENEFITS OF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

• The advantages are easy to see. But what is

easy to see is also easy to miss!

• Your positive attitude benefits you:

- Makes for a pleasing personality

- Is energizing

- Increases your enjoyment of life

- Helps you become a contributing member

of society and as asset to your country.

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 Your positive attitude benefits your
organization:

o Increases productivity
o Fosters team work
o Solves problems
o Improves quality
o Makes for a congenial atmosphere
o Breeds loyalty
o Increase profits
o Fosters better relationships with
employers, employees and customers
o Reduces stress' 11
 THE CONSEQUENCES OF A NEGATIVE
ATTITUDE

People with negative attitudes have a hard

time keeping friendships, jobs, marriages,
and relationships. Negative attitudes lead to:

• Bitterness
• Resentment
• A purposeless life
• III health
• High stress levels for themselves for
others
Negative attitude create an unpleasant
environment at home, at work and become
a liability to society. They pass on their
negative behavior, to others around them. 12
 HOW TO BUILD A POSITIVE ATTITUDE ?

 8 STEPS TO ATTITUDE CHANGE

• Step 1 : Change Focus, Look for the Positive

o Look for the gold: Andrew Carnegie,
largest steel manufacturer in US, said,
"Dealing with people is a lot like digging
for gold: when you go digging for an
ounce of gold you have to move tons of
dirt. But when you go digging, you don't
go looking for the dirt, you go looking for
the gold."
o Some people always look for the
negative: Negative people will always
criticize.
o Be an optimist and not a pessimist. 13
• Step 2: Making a habit of doing it now
o Live in the present. Never Ieave till
tomorrow, which you can do it today.

• Step 3: Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

• Step 4: Get into a Continuous Education
Programme
o Education without values: Universities are
turning out highly skilled barbarians because
we don't provide framework of values to young
people, who more and more are searching for
it.

o Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is

potential power; wisdom is real power.
Education takes many forms; it is not just
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grades and a degree; it is
• Cultivating your strength

• Learning self-discipline

• Listening

• Eagerness to learn
o If you think education is expensive, try
ignorance.

o Being ignorant is not so muc,h a shame

as being unwilling to learn to do things
the right way.
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• Step 5: Build a positive Self-Esteem

• Step 6: Stay Away from Negative Influences

• Step 7: Learn to Like the Things That Need

to be Done

o Start by doing what is necessary, then

what is possible, and suddenly you are
doing the impossible.

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• Step 8: Start your Day with Something
Positive
• In order to bring about a change we
need to make a conscious effort and be
committed to make positive thoughts
and behaviour part of our lives. Practice
having positive thoughts and
behaviours daily until they become a
habit.

• "If you are going to change your life;

you need to start immediately."

• If you follow these 8 steps, you will be a

WINNER.
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 WINNERS VERSUS LOSERS

• The Winner is always part of answer;

The Loser is always part of the problem.
• The Winner always has a program;
The Loser always has an excuse.
• The Winner says, "Let me do it for you.";
The Loser says, "That is not my job."
• The Winner sees an answer for every
problem;
The Loser sees a problem for every answer
• The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it is
possible."
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is
too difficult."
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• When a Winner makes a mistake, he says, "I
was I wrong.";
When a Loser makes a mistake, he say, "It
was'nt my fault.”
• A Winner makes commitments;
A Loser makes promises.
• Winners have dreams;
Losers have schemes.
• Winners say, "I must do something.";
Losers say, "Something must be done."
• Winners are a part of the team;
Losers are a part from the team.
• Winners see the gain;
• Losers see the pain.
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• Winners see possibilities;
Losers see problems.
• Winners believe in win / win;
Losers believe for them to win someone has
to lose.
• Winners see the potential;
Losers see the past.
• Winners are like a thermostat;
Losers are like thermometers.
• Winners choose what they say;
Losers say what they choose.
• Winners use hard arguments but soft
words; Losers use soft arguments but hard
words. 20
• Winners stand firm on values but
compromise on petty things;
• Losers stand firm on petty things but
compromise on values.
• Winners follow the philosophy of empathy:
"Don't do to others what you would not
want them to do to you";
• Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to
others before they do it to you."
• Winners make it happen;
• Losers let it happen.
• Winners plan and prepare to win. The key
word is PREPARATION.
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Reference:

Khera, Shiv (2008 Revised ed)

You Can Win,
Macmillan

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