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You are here: Home / Archives for attitude change

How’s Your Attitude?

August 26, 2020 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

The social media meme displays the number “13” who is saying to all the other numbers, “I’m the worst number ever!”

Six-six-six replied, “I’ve got you beat.” Twenty-twenty chimes in, “Contest over.”

One cannot live in times like these without paying the toll.

We internalize our environment, affecting how we feel and even infecting our beliefs; the result is that we view our lives differently than if circumstances were otherwise. As evidence, utilizing an example from the late Zig Zigler, picture your typical morning. Imagine your attitude. Rate it on a one-to-ten scale; most of us land somewhere between six and eight most times. Now, imagine that same “typical” morning, with one aberration: you awake to voice mail from a loved one, “It’s been too long. I’m thinking about you. I can’t wait until we get together. I love you and hope your day is filled with joy.”

It is without a doubt that in scenario two, we’d face the day energized, enthusiastic, and determined. Problems that would have normally knocked us off-trail become insufficient bumps in the asphalt.

Nothing changed — except our attitude. Because it improved, we took on more; facing more upbeat the day ahead, and closing our eyes at night more fulfilled.

Attitude — the complex interaction between feelings and beliefs that affect how we view the world, and therefore how we react to it — matters.

Yet, a question remains: “Is our attitude determined by us or by outside circumstances?”

The honest answer is it’s some of both, but with enough understanding of what determines this mindset, we can wrestle back the reins and become masters of attitude, therefore leading happier, more fulfilling lives — even amid the madness churning around us like a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.

Attitude has nothing to do with logic; it’s more primal; it’s “right-brain” driven.

Therefore, telling yourself (or anyone else) to “get over it” is like trying to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

To up-level attitude, we must dig deep into what we believe as well as how we process emotions.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Beliefs, Change, Happiness, Hope, Newspaper Column, Power of Attitude, Self Talk Tagged With: attitude, attitude change, bad attitude, emotions, happiness, lifestyle change, negative feelings, positive attitude, positive mental attitude, stress, stuck thoughts, thankfulness, thoughts and feelings

Three Ways to Improve Your Attitude When it Goes Off the Tracks

May 16, 2016 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

train wreck

I don’t care how hard one tries to “look on the bright side.” There are times when “stuff” happens and it’s just plain difficult to get back to an upbeat view.

These three tips will help you feel better quickly.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Happiness, Motivational Monday, Overcoming Obstacles, Power of Attitude Tagged With: attitude, attitude change, bad attitude, frustration, how to improve your attitude, poor attitude, positive attitude, quality of life, stress

Looking Forward to Getting Old

April 22, 2015 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

old coupleAs children, we couldn’t wait to get older.

The first coolest thing was when our ages hit double digits. Then, something else new and exciting was always around the bend. At 13, it was my Bar Mitzvah. Sixteen brought a driver’s license; 18 ushered in the newly earned right to vote; 21 celebrated with (too much) champagne. There was always another reason to move on to the next year. Bring ‘em on. Line ‘em up! Don’t stop!

However as John Mellencamp lamented in, “The Real Life,”

It’s a lonely proposition when you realize/That there’s less days in front of the horse/Than riding in the back of this cart.

Aside from the fact that it should be “fewer days,” (sorry, I couldn’t resist) the concept is spot on. It’s macabrely humorous that as soon as one begins to realize he’s on the downward slope of the hill, vainly pumping the brakes, the calendar’s pages flip ever faster. When we were young and immortal, time crawled at a fossil’s pace. As the clock ticks louder, it also accelerates.

The result is many of us begin to poorly affirm what aging is about, viewing it negatively.

I mean, yeah, sure, there’s that “death thing” looming out there, which does cast a pallid gloom on post-middle-age. Yet, spending my remaining (hopefully) many years bemoaning a natural and unavoidable process seems a pretty rotten way to appreciate those very years, wouldn’t you say? Therefore, I thought it would be good to wrap my brain around the cool things about getting older so whenever yanked to the getting-older-sucks magnet, I can repel easier.

First, the hastening stride of time allows a much richer appreciation of “smaller moments.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baby Boomers, Change, Happiness, Newspaper Column, Power of Attitude, Relationships, Self Talk Tagged With: aging, aging process, attitude, attitude change, better relationships, how to improve your attitude, old friend

Four Ways to Improve Your Attitude to Be Happier, Healthier, and More Productive

April 15, 2015 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

As the story goes, a couple is concerned about the huge gap in attitudes between their two sons.

happy-&-angry-boys

One lad is a confirmed pessimist, his sibling the decisive optimist. Wanting to advance the cynical child’s outlook and guard the other from disappointment by teaching him that things don’t always go as expected, the parents come up with a scheme.

On Christmas morning, each youngster awakens to find his own sizeable, wrapped present. The dour child opens his and discovers in it the ultimate building set. As if on que, his demeanor sours and he whines, “There are too many pieces, I’m know I’ll lose a whole bunch of them and then I’ll be sad. Why would you do that to me?”

The upbeat sibling, on the other hand, unwraps his only to find a dirty, rusty horseshoe atop wads of paper. Undeterred by what appears to be a mean, lousy gift, he eagerly starts digging through the papers excitedly proclaiming, “Wow! There’s got to a pony in here somewhere!”

Attitude, our outlook on the events that make up our lives, will either elevate or ruin us because it determines our actions and therefore the manner in which others react to us.

I normally don’t write “how-to” columns but a coaching client recently asked how she could become more upbeat, so I thought, “What the heck, might as well share it more widely.” Making our planet a bit more cheery, one reader at a time, here are four of the more common reasons one’s attitude can take a trip to the dumpster.

Reason #1: All-or-nothing thinking

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baby Boomers, Change, Failure, Newspaper Column, Overcoming Obstacles, Overcoming Perfectionsim, Power of Attitude, Self Talk, Weight Loss Tagged With: attitude, attitude change, bad attitude, better relationships, how to improve your attitude, personal attitude

Is it Really a Sacrifice – or it is Actually a Gift?

February 2, 2015 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

Giving up a habit can feel like a major sacrifice.

Therefore, our inner cranky child emerges and we grumble and complain, dragging our feet, resisting what we know has to be done. Like a small child, we wail and moan, crossing our arms in a huff, stamping our feet, and resisting vehemently.

girl-having-tantrum

“I don’t wanna eat less!”
“I hate exercise! Do I hafta?”

“Do I really have to organize my house?”

What would it be like if – instead of focusing on what we have give up – we looked at it as how excited we’re going to feel once we do it?

Instead of looking at it as a sacrifice, we focus on how good we’re going to feel when we drop those few pounds, or when the house is organized, or when we can enjoy a walk on a sunny day.

The amount of work won’t change, but our attitude sure will.

And that’s definitely worth a lot.

Filed Under: Beliefs, Change, Habits, Happiness, Health, mental health, Motivational Monday, Overcoming Obstacles, Procrastination, Self Talk, Weight Loss Tagged With: attitude change, habit change, handling change, making change, moods, resistance, stagnation

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