A Kick in the Attitude: An Energizing Approach to Recharge your Team, Work, and Life

Chapter 8. A Kick in the Attitude Principle #6: If You Don't Like the Picture of Your Life, Start Painting Something Different

Imagination is everything, it's the preview to life's coming attractions.

—Albert Einstein

Have you ever had a day start when something not so great happened and seemed to mess up your positive vibe? Many people allow whatever bad happens to them during the day to define the rest of the day. Perhaps you've said, "Well, that's how my day will go!"

Joan Lunden was interviewed about her attitude and said the best advice she ever got was that if her day started off bad, she should start it over. I like to say, "The rest of my day will be the best of my day." That simple statement puts a positive expectation in front of me, versus, "Well, it's gonna be a bad day, all day!"

Note

Change your attitude and you will change what you see in front of you.

I once had the opportunity to start my day over.

Many years ago, I was invited to speak to 13,000 people about attitude. I had to catch a flight at 6:00 A.M. I had to run to my gate and knocked over a family of 10 (okay, not really, it was just one guy, but everything felt amplified that day).

All they had for me was a middle seat, which, at 6′7″, didn't exactly thrill me. When I sat down, it was obvious I didn't fit, and the woman next to me just laughed. As soon as we were in the air, the guy in front of me leaned his chair back. I thought to myself, "You've gotta be kidding." Then the guy next to me kept wanting to have ...