Every Day!

Each and every day we have the ability to consciously choose our attitude and the mindset with which we approach that day

How do you approach your life?

Are you one who acknowledges your accomplishments and celebrates along the way? Or do you only see a long “To Do” list that grows daily?

Do you leverage and grow your strengths, or lament your weaknesses? Do you recognize challenges, evaluate their impact and determine a strategy or solution or do you spend your emotional and energy bank account compulsively in worry and anxiousness over issues you cannot control.

Take a moment and think about yourself in these circumstances. If you resonated with the first half of each question, you see the glass as half full. Congratulations! You are on your way to success and proactive positivism, not only your own, but probably that of your team and or family as well. If like many of us, you find yourself connecting to the second half of some of the questions, you see the glass as half empty, at least part of the time and are possibly struggling with expectations and attitude adjustment.

The Challenge:

You have created or been given a plan to accomplish a complex goal or project. There are numerous steps in the plan with timelines and deadlines to meet. There is information you have to discover or processes you have to learn in order to move forward. In order to carry out the plan: a combination of organization, management and team building skills are required. The final result depends upon written as well as oral skills. There are several people or teams of people upon whom you have to rely in order to complete the project or meet the goal. You will bump into stumbling blocks along the path to fruition. You will have to re-think some parts of the strategy; brain-storm and make changes to insure the project is accomplished with the most efficient methods and in a timely manner.

This scenario applies to the most complicated business start-up project or growing a family and running a household on a budget.

Now: Choose Your Attitude!Accomplishments vs. Overwhelming “To Dos”

Half Full: Within your plan, you set smaller goals and celebrate each one with your self or your team as you accomplish them. This choice renews your energy and enthusiasm to continue the project and highlights your momentum, dwells on completions and builds your team.

Half Empty: Get caught up in the bigger goal, the deadlines and the unknown information. Dwell on what is not done and the growing list of tasks at hand. This attitude saps your energy, paralyzes a team and causes procrastination to flourish.

Leverage Strengths vs. Lament Weaknesses:

Half Full: Discuss or review the tasks at hand. Determine what tools, skills and talents are required to accomplish them. Distribute the tasks according to the strengths of your team. If you are your own entity, attack the tasks that your strengths speak to and look for ways to delegate or barter to accomplish the rest. If those methods do not work, brainstorm an alternative method to accomplish the task that honors your strengths. This choice creates synergy, builds self-esteem and maintains the project’s momentum towards its goal.

Half Empty: Discover all of the tasks that cannot be accomplished by the team at hand and allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the impossibility of it all. Dwell on your personal weaknesses or those of your team. Continually second-guess decisions and work quality. If being stuck is your goal, these attitude choices will insure the hardening of the cement!

Recognize A Challenge vs. Compulsive Emotion/Energy Expense:

Half Full: A stumbling block/problem arises that is out of your control; you take a deep breath and see it as a challenge. You review the issues and determine the severity of the block, and its impact on the project. Along with your team, you discover the best strategy to minimize any negative impact and overcome the challenge. You create a method or procedure to insure the challenge does not arise again. This choice costs a few steps back and a re-evaluation of the time line but you move on and past it with a sigh and possibly a stronger team!

Half Empty: The same block arises; you allow yourself to view it emotionally as an insurmountable catastrophe. You expend an immense amount of energy worrying about the possible impacts, the potential losses and how people will respond to it. You assume the worst and are sure the project is doomed to failure and you will lose your job. You lose sleep over the problem and become anxious and unable to think clearly. Your lack of clarity causes you to compound the problem, creating a worse dilemma. With this attitude, you lose your job!

The Coaching Challenge:

What attitude do you choose? Do you react or do you respond to the world around you? My challenge to you is to become aware of your attitude choices. Ask a trusted friend or partner or coach to gently help you see the times your choice is leaning towards the half empty.

Ask yourself questions about your negative reaction. What is the payback? Once you have developed awareness and determined the payoff, look at possibilities and the paybacks for responding with a positive attitude.

The message to take away?

Remember, whatever you decide,

your attitude is always your choice!