Day 25: ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

Tom Suddes | February 1, 2010

B2A FOR IMPACT TRAINING

Sorry, friends. I kind of ‘went dark’ (as they say in the theater business) for the last ten days. A lot going on in the states, been up at Notre Dame coaching the Boxing (my 40th year), family stuff, business stuff, two blizzards/snow storms in a row in Ohio, and a rare (at least for me) bout of the flu.

I hope you are all doing well. Here’s my thought for the day.

I heard from Stuart, Rowena and Andrew of the Arts Council’s funding announcement… and the not surprising cuts in many budgets.

You may know that the Chinese symbol for CRISIS means both DANGER and OPPORTUNITY.

A close friend and brilliant thinker in the States, Tim Kight, has another way of putting it: “E + R = O.”

“EVENT + RESPONSE = OUTCOME.”

You can view these cuts and your ongoing challenges from the Arts Council as ‘DANGER’. You can say that this ‘EVENT’ = (bad) OUTCOME.

OR… you can see this as an OPPORTUNITY. Only you can determine your RESPONSE.

ATTITUDE is EVERTHING!

This is a wonderful chance for you to say “THANK YOU” to the Arts Council… and get out and VISIT with Qualified Prospects and Potential Investors.

One of my absolute favorite authors/thinkers in the whole world is Napoleon Hill. In Think & Grow Rich and The Laws of Success, he says very clearly:

“Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”

You all knew what was coming. You know that the Arts Council (government) is a tremendous Partner and a magnificent Investor in what you do… BUT they cannot be the ONLY Investor/Partner!

Here are some additional thoughts on ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING.

There are a number of books written on this subject. One of the best is ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING: Change Your Attitude… and You Change Your Life by Jeff Keller, published by INTI Publishing & Resource Books.
Keller suggests four methods for changing your ATTITUDE (for the better):

Re-define the meaning of exterior events.
Start each day with at least 15 minutes of positive input.
Reduce your exposure to broadcast news media.
Avoid people who have a contagious negative attitude.

“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner ATTITUDES of their minds, can change the outer aspect of their lives.”

– William James
Harvard Psychologist

“When all the familiar goals in life are snatched away … what alone remains is the last of human freedoms: the ability to choose one’s ATTITUDE in a given set of circumstances.”
– Viktor Frankl

90% of success is attitude. (And as Yogi Berra would say, “The other half is perseverance.”)

Think about the weather. Many adults grumble when it’s snows. Most children are delighted and excited. One’s ATTITUDE towards the weather is entirely arbitrary. It’s not the weather but the interpretation of what the weather means that creates the attitude.

STRESS is actually caused by lack of CONTROL. The only thing we really CONTROL is our ATTITUDE. Therefore, we can CONTROL our STRESS. (Actually, we can eliminate it.) Think about the Serenity Prayer.

Create an ‘ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE’. I’m not the first one to ever write this, but everybody can completely change their ATTITUDE on ‘EVERYTHING’ if they stop just for a moment and wrote or thought about the many, many things which we should be GRATEFUL for… Family, Friends, Freedom. Food, Shelter, Clothing, etc., etc., etc.