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

Chapter 9. A Kick in the Attitude Principle #7: When You Doubt Yourself, You Defeat Yourself

A positive attitude is a self imposed blessing.

—Jeffrey Gitomer, "Celebrate Yourself and Create a New Attitude" Dallas Business Journal, March 30, 2001

In 1990, when I was a senior in high school, I had a real passion for basketball. One night as I sat there humped over my dinner, I could not stop the tears from rolling down my face. I had my heart set on a basketball scholarship. But it seemed like a faint wish at this point that would not come true. I had injured my knee a few months before and the recovery was going slowly. I had just returned home from a basketball practice wherein my coach told me how disappointed he was in me and my performance. I had very little confidence in myself and I could understand my coach's frustration. I was a team leader and my injury was hurting the team. I was not performing up to my previous ability. I sat there at a crossroads and contemplated quitting. I knew giving up would not show leadership, but I just didn't want to sit on the bench.

As I sat there trying to eat what my mom had kept warm for hours, I opened the newspaper. Every other Thursday the area paper would show the statistics of all the top area players— points averaged per game, rebounds, and all that good stuff. After the start of the season, I was at the bottom in almost every category and nonexistent on the rebound list. It was embarrassing. I was a big man averaging less than six rebounds ...