Why Attitude is Everything

“Attitude Is The Corner Stone Upon Which We Build Our Lives.” – Keith Harell

As beautiful as it can be, life throws shits at us sometimes. We lose our jobs, loved ones, we go through heartbreaks from different parts of our lives. It feels like we hardly get what we want when we want it, and/or how we want it.

The question is, what do we do?

If you’re connected to me on Whatsapp, you’d remember I shared a post having to do with reading the book titled, Attitude Is Everything by Keith Harell.

Basically, my reading plan is to consume one book per month, but I got so entangled in this particular one that I finished it in less than two weeks. Yes, it’s that great of a book… undoubtedly, life-changing.

I’ve had a couple of messages asking me to share what the book is all about.

Of course, I understand some people have the desire to read a good book when they see one but find it hard to balance work and leisure. So I’m here to help those who showed interest, and those who don’t know such valuable content exist.

Plus, what’s the essence of receiving values if not shared? And my favorite platform to do that is, you guessed it right, my blog.

Your attitude dictates whether you’re living life or life’s living you.

By the time you finish reading this short article extracted from the book, Attitude Is Everything, I hope that you’ll develop a new mindset regarding the impacts your attitudes have on you and the people around you, as well as how it’s shaping and will continue to shape your life.

Keith Harell highlighted ten life-changing steps you can take to turn your attitude into actions that will change your life for the greater good.

However, as much as I want to share every piece of content from this incredible book, it would only make sense to give the key points (Four Lessons) that I was able to grab from it and I hope they change your life as they’re doing mine.

As you read along you’ll discover that ‘attitude is one hundred percent of everything you do.’

 There are those who know they can control their attitudes and those who allow their attitudes to control them

Are you ready for an attitudinal change? I bet you are or you wouldn’t be reading this… so, lets’ get down to it, shall we?

Attitude is Everything

‘Your attitude dictates whether you’re living life or life’s living you.’

Your attitude is your most precious possession. The good news is it costs absolutely nothing to buy. It’s free. And you can attract fortunes with it depending on how you use it.

First, we must understand that we cannot control what happens to us in life, what we can control, however, is our attitude to what happens to us.

Thanks to Keith Harell…we have some attitudinal principles and guides to approaching situations as we go through this thing called life.

My Lesson One

The 3PS To Remember When Faced With Life Challenges

i. It’s not PERMANENT

When something good happens to us we’re quick to think it won’t last but when it’s a bad thing we assume it’s going to be a lifetime wretch.

No. What happens to you or anyone is not something that will last a lifetime. You have to accept the fact that nothing in life is permanent. Everything comes in seasons…

Trust that what you’re going through now is a phase, and like every phase, it will definitely pass, depending on how you approach it. It’s not going to last forever.

ii. It’s not PERVASIVE

An event gone wrong is not powerful enough to destroy your entire life, but again, depending on how you handle it.

Just because something bad has gone wrong in an area of your life doesn’t mean the other areas have to go wrong as well.

Are you still breathing? Then you’re still living, and still sure have what it takes to change your life for good.

iii. It’s not PERSONAL

What happened yesterday or what’s about to happen tomorrow has once happened before. No challenge is peculiar to you.

When faced with challenges, humans will say, ‘Why me? Why does it have to happen to only me? What did I do to deserve this?’

Hey, have you listened to every damn being’s story? A lot of things happen to people that you don’t know about.

Nothing’s personal about circumstances in life. Stop personalizing your challenges.

Life is random with random occurrences, so it’s not just you, it’s life at work. It’s important to note that as life’s happening to you, it’s happening to others.

Read more ; 6 Effective Ways To Deal With Stress

My Lesson Two

The Antidote To Negative Attitude – Gratitude and Forgiveness.

Forgive others not because they deserve it but because you deserve peace.

It’s not the things that people do to you that cause your bad attitude, it’s your own emotions and thoughts that are the problem.

choose to forgive people, but start by forgiving yourself.

Be willing to forgive and be grateful if you want to live a peaceful life. This is the only and true way to get rid of your hatred, resentment, and anger towards others.

The good thing about forgiveness is that you don’t necessarily have to maintain the same relationship with the people who hurt you. But you become free and regain peace in your heart. So, choose to forgive people, but start by forgiving yourself first.

My Lesson Three

RESPOND, don’t REACT to situations

Okay, so what does this mean? What’s the difference between responding and reacting?

I’ll explain with instances,

Say, you’re walking down the street returning from work, all smiley. Oh, the day is finally over you can see some movies after all and have a good sleep. Then a guy walks up to you from nowhere and lands you a hot slap. Your next reaction will be to immediately return the favor- slap him back, isn’t it? So, what happens after? You both end up at the hospital…

What would it be to respond in this situation?

‘Guy, what did I do? Why did you slap me?’

And the guy goes like, ‘Oh I’m sorry, you look a lot like the dude my girlfriend cheated on me with. And I have a medical condition that makes me slap people I’m pissed at. I’m really sorry.’

Case settled.

Okay, I made up the medical condition, I don’t know if it exists… anyway, the point is, not all situations require immediate actions. And I know it’s easier said than done, but it can be done. Choose to respond not react.

Have you heard of an allergic reaction? I bet you have. And I bet you know that it’s never a good thing.

Would you rather hear your doctor say you’re reacting or responding to treatment? You’d want to know you’re responding. Why? Because ‘reacting’ means something’s not right.

Often, I read in news individuals who commit suicide or try to hurt themselves because a partner has jilted or cheated on, or broken up with them.

They say, ‘My life is over, I’ll never find someone to love me again, I’ll kill him/her and kill myself, and so on.’ They’re reacting not responding.

In other words, these people are about to act based on their emotions without considering the long-term effects it will have on them.

Responding, in this case, would be like, ‘why did he/she break up with me? Did I do something wrong? Can we still sort it out, and If no, how can I be better to avoid the future occurrence and so on?’ At this point, you are not acting on instincts alone. You’re being logical and reasonable.

Another scenario is two individuals who lose their job on the same day. The first one reacts by panicking, ‘my family and I will probably live on the street now and eventually die of hunger. Oh, we’re doomed.‘

On the other hand, the second individual responds by acting. He begins drafting a new CV, acquiring new skills, making research on new job opportunities. He’s not panicking but looking for solutions.

When you respond, you pause, reflect, you weigh the pros and cons, you seek solutions, you don’t panic or act out of fear.

In life, there will be chaos, bad things will happen, but you have two choices, respond or react. Always go for the former.

Finally,

My Lesson Four

Make A Mark That Cannot Be Erased

If you think we’re living on earth for free, think again.

Marian Wright says otherwise. She makes us realize that “Doing good for others is the rent you pay for living on this earth.”

No one should come to this world without making a difference. You may die, but your legacy should live on.

To do this, develop the habit of serving others regardless of who you are or what you’ve become. How? By simply doing good. You may not be able to change a thousand lives at once, but you can change a life today through which a thousand lives can be changed.

“Instead of approaching the world from an attitude of what’s in this for me? I embraced an attitude of what can I do for God, and what can I do for others? But to be a world-changer you first have to change what’s inside you.” –Keith Harell

Among every choice we make, the choice of embracing a good attitude seems to be the most crucial of all. As you go about in your life journey, remember the saying, there are those who know they can control their attitudes and those who allow their attitudes to control them. Carefully choose which category you want to fall into.

Note– It’s not enough to read if you don’t make a conscious effort to apply what you’ve learned. So decide as you read to implement every message passed across in this article.

It’s important to share as well. After all, what’s a value gotten If not shared?

So, there you have it. The four lessons I learned from the epic book. As you continue on your life journey, I hope you stay conscious of how you act because now I believe you’ve got a full understanding of why Attitude is indeed… Everything!

You may not be able to change a thousand lives at once, but you can change a life today through which a thousand lives can be changed.

Did you enjoy reading this article? If yes, give it a like and share it with a friend.

Have you read the book? What other life-changing lessons did you learn that weren’t mentioned above?

Be sure to share with us in the comment section below   It’s always a pleasure reading from you.

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