9. Adjust your Attitude
As we previously discussed, if you want to accomplish your goals, tap into your creativity, and realize your dreams, then you’ll need to manage your mind. Part of the mind management process is developing and maintaining a positive, faith-filled attitude.
Actually, attitude is everything. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Or, to put the truth more colloquially: “A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t go anywhere till you change it.” (Unknown)
Your attitude shapes your thoughts, emotions, outlook, actions, and words. A negative, bleak, sour, fearful or defeatist attitude will get you nowhere in life. Even if you possess amazing gifts and talents, even if you have brilliant ideas, the people around you — your potential audience, readers, clients, customers, collaborators, teammates, backers, promoters, and facilitators — can quickly detect a bad attitude — if that’s what you have.
People like to associate with “winners”: fun, enthusiastic, lively, can-do men and women who are filled with faith. They are drawn to those who keep a good attitude. But your attitude affects more than just your “neighbors” — it affects your openness to sound opportunities and new ideas, your ability to persevere, and to function at peak efficiency. And it can make the journey — during the pursuit of your dreams — far more
enjoyable. The late music publisher Allen Klein put it this way: “Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.”
To overcome rejection, closed doors, setbacks, and other obstacles; to stay the course until goals are achieved, visions fulfilled, and the journey completed, creators and dreamers need to maintain a positive, faith-filled attitude — regardless of their past or present circumstances. However, having such an attitude is NOT secular mind-over-matter “think and grow rich” hocus-pocus; which excludes God, while trusting in and relying on the dubious “power” of the human will. No, having a faith-filled attitude is:
- Knowing you have God on your side, working with you, through you, and on your behalf; and fully trusting Him to work out the details, through each and every step of the way, no matter how many twist, turns, and detours your journey takes.
- It’s relying on God, His strength, His abilities, His goodness, His connections; rather than on yours. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “[God] said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. …For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 2:9-10 NLT)
TO BE CONTINUED…. Join us tomorrow for Part 2.