How to Make Life Work For You

Home	02 The Second Greatest Secret	03 Principles of Success	04 Dreams and Goals	05 Decisions	06 Count the Cost
07 The Plan	08 Right Thinking	09 Subconscious	10 Training	11 Affirmations	12 Attitude
13 Mentor	14 Associations	15 Vehicle	16 Persistence	17 The Sage and the Fool	18 Secrets of Having a Job

Attitude

As one of my personal heros, Zig Ziggler, puts it, "A positive mental attitude will not let you do anything in life, but it will let you do everything better than a negative attitude will." If you have a rotten attitude, you might as well put a gun to the head of your dreams and goals. You might as well pull the trigger and kill them right now. If you have an average attitude, then congratulations, you are right now at the peak of your success. If you want more out of life, then you must develop an extraordinary attitude.

Let's suppose you can't swim and you must get across a river. The river is deep and the current is swift, but not too swift for a good swimmer. Now remember, you must get across that river. Two swimmers happen to be there, and either one of them will swim the river for you, pulling you behind in a raft. These swimmers happen to have equal swimming ability. Swimmer One says, "I dunno. I can't make it. I know I can't make it. There's no way I can get across that river. We're both gonna drown. We might as well die right now. We're just not going to make it." But Swimmer Two says, "This is a piece of cake! We can do it. I've swam worse rivers than this before. I know exactly what to do. Come on! We're gonna do it!" Which of those swimmers would you want towing you across that river? Although they both have identical abilities, one probably will not make it, and the other probably will. It's the attitude.

If you're a boss with two employees who have equal abilities. One is always complaining, finding fault, being bitter, and just generally ugly. The other is cheerful, happy, excited, friendly, and soothes over other people's faults. Which of the two is more likely to be released if you only need one of them?

Some people may say, "But Jerry, you don't know my situation. How can I be cheerful? How can I always be 'up'"? An attitude is something you choose, not something you're born with. If you have a stinky attitude at work or at home, regardless of your boss, your company, or your spouse, if you have a stinky attitude, it's because you chose to have one. An attitude is something you develop. You have always decided what attitude you're going to have. If you have a bad attitude now, turn around and thank yourself. You did it all to yourself. But on the other hand, congratulations, you can change it.

If you don't do anything about your attitude, it will grow wild like a weed in a garden. It'll be good for nothing. It'll get in your way and hinder all those around you. An unkept unnurtured attitude belongs to the average person.

It's your attitude that will put you over the top, and your attitude is completely in your hands, to mold any way you choose.

Go now to Mentor.