Right Attitude, Is It About Your Mood?
Do you have the right attitude? How would you measure that? Is attitude a mood, or is it a personality?
Describe the right attitude.
Would you suggest that means you should be friendly, kind, and have a propensity to serve?
You might.
What actions would illustrate those observable behaviors?
When you tell someone to have a nice day, in a pleasant tone of voice and while smiling does that send the right message?
It might, unless the conditions suggest that it may be sarcasm or ridicule.
When someone suggests a person has the wrong attitude it might be an observable opinion, which is much different from observable behavior.
Your mood may be a cause for your actions. Feeling angry, you may let other people know you are angry. Feeling happy, you may want to spread it around, get others involved, and share that experience.
How do you establish the right attitude or mood?
It may be what you focus on that creates the end result.
Right Attitude
Let’s assume you want to have a great day. Do you establish a pattern of actions, behaviors, and thought that conditions your day to be great?
The daily grind of your work can slowly erode the number of good vibes and replace them with thoughts of circumstances or situations that will ruin your day.
The boss is going to come look over my shoulder and tell me I’m doing this wrong.
I’m going to have to pick up the pieces and stay late because another team member is going to be goofing off all day.
The place across the street pays more, why should I stay here and have to work so hard?
How can you change this plight? How can you ensure a more positive attitude?
The simplest way may be stop counting the bad vibes and only focus on the good vibes.
You can do that by creating a win list. Write down the good stuff, regardless of how small. The act of writing it down will help replace any bad thoughts with more focus on the good. Better yet, put it on a whiteboard so the entire team can establish a similar focus.
Consistently being in a bad mood will create the perception of a bad attitude.
You can’t afford either.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
