What is reassuring is that the overall trend of our own attitude, as well as our perception of others’ attitudes has been positive. We are more optimistic about things will be in one year, than we are about they will be in six months, which is predicted to be better than next month. In effect, we’re more confident that, long term, things will work out; than we are about the short term. That said, we’ve been becoming less and less optimistic about the long term.

The hitch in the get along is that attitude is transparent and contagious. We can spot a “negative person” instantly. His supposed attitude is loudly broadcast via body language, facial expressions, even tone of voice. We return those perceptions without thought, making countless assumptions, which we communicate. The drawback is, as evidenced here, we might not be responding to what’s really going on inside of them, as much as to what’s occurring within us.

Overall, our top three concerns — those things most influencing our attitude — continue to be “the Three Es:” Economy, Environment, Education. In addition, the further out we go, the better our attitude. However, we can notice that our predictions for the future, although still more optimistic for the long-term, are all falling over the last few months.

What is surprising is that the overall trend of our own attitude, as well as our perception of others’ attitudes, has been positive, despite everything we’ve been going through. The computer is set up to predict 45 days into the future and that trend remains. However, there definite pot holes on the road.

The highest month for personal attitude remains July of 2009 with a 4.1o. Currently, we rate our attitude at 3.8 and the attitude of those around us at 3.4 (the weather seemed to play a big deal as you’ll see from the comments).

One thing that was consistent through out the year was that we tend to think our attitude is better than the attitude of those around us. (The thing to keep in mind is they are thinking the same thing.) That doesn’t seem like it’s a big deal unless the difference between those two numbers grows to be very large. The reason that’s a problem is that we have to remember “Attitude Communicates.” So, if I think your attitude is lousy, I will react to you as if you are treating me poorly. You will pick that up of course and transmit it back immediately.

One trend that has been consistent since the inception of the I3 is that the further into the future we look, the more optimistic we tend to be.

The purpose of the I3 (The International Inspiration Index) is to get a feel for how people are feeling, what’s bothering them, and their outlook for the future. It started in late April, 2009 and is published every one to two months. This month, we continue with short term as well as longer-term predictions! If [...]

Finally, the big question, basically, “Where do you think we’re going?”

OK, I’ll admit it, this is really a shot in the dark as none of us has a crystal ball. That said, people continue to be more optimistic about the long term than they are about the short term.

The purpose of the I3 (The International Inspiration Index) is to get a feel for how people are feeling, what’s bothering them, and their outlook for the future. It started in late April, 2009. Due to a great deal of traveling during September and October, I was not able to update it for almost two [...]

Despite the dip in attitude last month, we’ve seen an upsurge this month. As a matter of fact, both are at the highest we’ve seen so far.

Overall, the top five things that concern us overall for the entire three month run (i.e. highest averages) are:
1. Economy; 2. Environment; 3. My personal job; 4. Education; 5. Public Health

In a nutshell, we are more optimistic about the long-term future (10 years) than about the short-term.

We’ve all received those auto replies: “I am out of my office until hell freezes over. I will check my email when I return. In the meantime…” So, I thought, “Why not use the auto responder as a marketing tool even when I’m in town?”