What's it all about? "ATTITUDE"

Today I woke up, jumped out of bed, walked the dog and tried to wake my son up to go to school.  He got up but was dragging as I suppose most seniors in high school do.  It struck me that he needs to get an attitude adjustment. Not the kinds I can provide, or in his eyes (YELL at him), but rather one that only he can do for himself.

This entry is not about my son nor is it about the overwhelming hardships of being an 18 year old (I say in jest). This entry is about attitude. If there is one thing in life that a sales person should own it's his or her own attitude. Actually we all do own our attitudes but not many of us understand that we control it as well. I try every day to have a good attitude about things.  I wake up and am in a good mood, I am optimistic, some even say over optimistic, I am smiling and ready to go.  I see each day as a new challenge and one which I want to be in control of the situations which are ahead of me.

My mother told me once that I was her only child who always woke up in a good mood. While I don't really remember that it was a nice thing to hear.  After reading the book "FISH" by Stephen C. Lundin about 10-12 years ago I have made a conscious effort to own my attitude and  face the challenges of the day with a smile on my face.  It is so much easier to work through issues when you are in a good mood.  When you realize that you can only control certain things, and as such only try to control those things, the rest of the marbles will fall as they may.

In sales it is so important to try to stay even keeled.  Look at each step as an opportunity to excel rather than a problem to fix. Attitude is a state of mind and once you start to think with a "smile on your face" you will find that you are indeed in control of your own attitude.  I had a talk with an agent in my office this morning and she wanted some advice on setting goals and how to reach her objectives.  What struck me was that she really had good intentions and good ideas however, I thought that she needed to change her entire attitude about it.

When telling me her goals and objectives she kept using words like "I want to", I think", "I might be able to" and so on.  She did have some goals in mind but what she needed to do was change the entire way she talked about them.  Instead of "I want to" how about "I Will" or "I am going to," change one word and change the entire meaning. Her initial thoughts were by no means negative, in fact she was quite positive about her ideas, but instead of committing to them she was hedging on them by saying and THINKING she only just wanted them or might be able to attain them.

Thinking like that is not owning your attitude, it is setting yourself up for a nice easy landing should you fail to reach your objective. It is ok in my opinion to fall short on a goal as long as you did everything you could do in order to succeed, and as long as you own it and can accept  it was your own fault that you failed. Once you accept its your own fault you can actually do something about it to achieve the next time around. Goals need to be set high, in fact setting a goal at a bar low enough that you know you will succeed is not setting a goal at all. It is simply stating the obvious and takes no initiative what so ever.  Set those goals high and strive to reach them.  Own the issues, and own the successes, and you will own your ATTITUDE.  Use words like "I WILL" and "I AM" rather than "I want to", you will be very proud of yourself in the end when you have accomplished what you have set out to do.

So let's bring it all back to the beginning. MY SON NEEDS TO OWN HIS ATTITUDE! Hey I am working on it.  He is 18 and knows much more than I. Might take some time but it will sink in one day. Probably when he is as old as I am.