Some days I can find myself nose diving into a pretty shitty attitude. Ever been there?
Usually this kind of attitude gets triggered or created when I am not happy about something going on in my life. Could be something happening at work, an issue in a relationship I have, the flow of money in my pocket, or lets be brutally honest, anything getting in my way of what I want when I want it.
Bad attitude
I do not considered myself spoiled, although the sum pluses of my positive life experiences, across the board, has to put me in the top 0.1% of the world population. In that context I am very spoiled. Very blessed indeed.
Perspective
I can trace every occasion where I’ve had a bad attitude to the perspective I’ve held or to the focus I’ve had at the time. It isn’t rocket science.
What you and I focus on creates a story about us in the world; a story of what we can and cannot do, who we can and cannot be, which generates real emotions that we feel in our bodies.
Focus on what’s wrong, and generate all the feelings that go with that focus…anxiety, anger, fear, sadness. Focus on what’s right, and your body produces endorphins generating feelings of happiness, contentment, satisfaction, joy.
Gratitude
When we choose to focus on gratitude…all those things we deem good in our life…we are focusing on what’s right. And guess what, I’m betting you already know this…nothing new here.
So what makes the difference? What determines if you will have a bad attitude or a good attitude?
Choice
In every moment, of every day, you and I get to choose. I can choose to be angry and pissed off; I can choose to be sad and defeated; I can choose these paths for each and everything that isn’t going my way, seen my way, or done my way. My choice.
Conversely, I can choose to find what I am grateful for, what is good, in my life.
Timing is everything here men.
The time when I need to make the choice to be grateful, to find the good, is at the exact moment things are a mess, hard, wrong, difficult, and painful. That shift may not immediately change what is happening around me, but it can immediately change what is happening inside me.
Attitude
From the place of gratitude, with a focus on what is good, I can change the experience I am having.
Don’t underestimate the power you have to affect your circumstances and your outcomes….both good and bad…by the story you overlay on the experience you are having in any moment.
The question always becomes…what experience are you going to choose to have today?
Or put another way, who are you going to be in the story you are putting onto the experience you are having today?
Your choice, men.
Author: Todd Gorishek
Todd is a certified Men’s Life Coach, an entrepreneur, a licensed healthcare professional, a husband, a father, and a world traveler. His mission is to co-create a strong and compassionate world by facilitating transformation through understanding, trust, and empowerment.
He received his professional Life Coaching education from Newfield Network, a certified Life Coach training school, and is a member of the International Coach Federation.