Plot Your Own Course to Happiness
Every day you wake up, you must complete the morning ritual of getting dressed, making sure that you are presentable as to not violate the uniform standard, drive to work, and begin the daily grind. The reality is that there is no such thing as the daily grind. The term, “daily grind” is an excuse made up by people who refuse to see every single day as an opportunity for growth and an opportunity to influence people around them. Every person, from the entry-level employee to a CEO, wakes up in the morning the same way, gets dressed, and goes to work. Within that very broad range of people, there are two essential attitudes: The people with a generally positive attitude, and those with a generally negative attitude. Attitudes can change throughout the day, but people let external uncontrollable forces and influences dictate their attitude. They play a game of attitudinal roulette and deal with whatever attitude the bullet lands for every situation.
Phrases like, “keeping a positive attitude,” and, “resiliency,” are taught to be reserved for extremely challenges and situations in our life. The truth is, these phrases are not being used properly and are not executed nearly enough. All the tools and techniques available for us to better ourselves and those around us are absolutely useless if nobody knows how to use them properly. Attitude and resiliency are just words until you put meaning and action behind them. The concept is no different than love. Love is an incredibly powerful word when there is sustenance behind it; otherwise it is just an adjective.
Your attitude is the driving force that powers all your tools of resiliency. Your attitude enables you to see everything from a different perspective. You have the choice to have a positive or a negative attitude. Having that positive attitude enables you to stop playing roulette and start being resilient with every challenge you face during the day. Resiliency is not reserved just for suicides, deployments, and other traumatic situations and events. Resiliency is an action, a powerful verb, a process reserved for overcoming any setback, both big and small, not just life altering emergencies.
The caveat to this process is that resilience does not just happen. Like motivation, resilience is internally manufactured. No one can make you resilient. The manufacturing process is only possible with a positive attitude. Your attitude allows you to see through the smoke that negativity creates. You must decide every day, and many times during the day, to maintain your positive attitude because there will be setbacks and situations that will anger you, or not go your way you want them to go. It is in the wake of these situations that defines and molds your character. When you maintain a positive attitude, great things are not promised, and they will not magically appear for you. You will, however, see everything from a different perspective. Good came come out of nearly every situation if you know how to perceive situations and the environment around you.
It’s important to realize that our attitudes, good and bad, are contagious and magnetic. Your positive attitude will infect those around and draw positive people to you, thus helping create your environment. Every day is a perceived as a good day because we grew and developed; we learned and mentored. We only have bad days because we let bad days happen; perceived bad days are simply a byproduct of our inability or refusal to recognize when we have given up control of who or what dictates our reactions to situations.
Everyday should begin with and end with a question. How can I better myself today? How did I better myself today? I understand that we have goals and that is wonderful, but what are you going to do TODAY to get you closer to that goal?
I challenge you to every morning when you wake up, ask yourself, “How will I better myself and three other people today?” Every evening when the day ends, ask yourself, “How did I better myself today and three other people?” If you can’t answer those questions, you didn’t complete your day to your full potential and you sold yourself short. The best way to prepare for the future is to act in the present, by defining yourself in actions, not words.