IT’S EVERYTHING!

The 4^th Key to Beating Big Shots is Attitude

We hear it all the time…"attitude is everything." It’s certainly true that without the right attitude you have no chance.

Attitude keys your energy
When you have a great energy you don’t hold back. You expect good things to happen. You focus on doing your job.

If things go wrong, you stay focused and just assume your luck will change and you’ll get a chance to get back on top. Whatever play the coach calls—you jump in.

If you don’t have a great attitude you will question everything. You'll resent all the work you have to do, because you think it’s a waste of time.

Your attitude is tested everyday, every minute.
At every step, you have challenges that test you and give you the opportunity to turn sour. It’s only those who maintain a positive attitude that are able to stay positive going through the painful stages of conditioning, practice and preparation. 

No matter how great the game plan is that the coaches prepare, it’s worthless unless executed with energy and precision. If you have athletes with great attitudes on the field, you know that gives you the absolute best chance for that plan to work.

Great team attitude creates consistency, bad attitude destroys it
It keeps them focused on the team goal…winning! Maybe a player is having a bad day, but if he can overcome it by focusing on the team, it won’t matter. He will stay focused and intense. 

Self-centered glory hogs lose focus if they start to play bad. They are thinking about themselves—their statistics—and their real motivation is exposed. They become the drop of poison that destroys the team’s focus at the critical moment.

These are the ones quick to blame others and complain. You can’t win with them.

Great attitude gives you all the extras:

• It helps you keep things in perspective.
• Prevents you from making excuses.
• It gives you toughness and determination to win because you are always looking for positives.
• It creates the desire to improve and the drive to make the extra effort so you can improve
• It makes the process fun for the player and everyone else on the team

Protect the team’s attitude! With it, you have chance to do great things!

---

Part 6 of 5 KEYS TO BEAT THE BIG SHOTS. Related posts:

• You Can Beat The Big Shots
• John Wooden and Shoelaces 
• Get READY, Get SET
• Face the Pain
• OUT THINK THEM

IS IT WRONG TO WANT DONUTS, SOFT PILLOWS AND HAPPY TALK?

We all look forward to an easier future.

While working it’s encouraging to think that one day it’ll be different. One day life will be easy. One day the stress will be all gone. We’ll be able do what we want, eat what we want and the pressure will be off. We won’t have to grind away anymore. The rat race will be behind us! It’s exhilarating to think about.

Can’t we just relax? 
We would prefer the “Grow or Die Principle” just go away because growth always involves doing things that you would really rather not do. Growth always involves a price and we’d like to think we would reach a point where life wouldn’t put anymore demands on us.

• We’d all rather goof off than work…rather sleep in than get up and get after it.
• We’d all rather joke and have happy talk with our friends and family than deal with serious issues.  
• We’d all rather eat all we want every time we sat down to eat, and load up on dessert.

Let’s assume you do the right things

• Hopefully you’ll plan ahead, put money away and you don’t have to scramble in an emergency
• Hopefully you will take care of yourself and your health will be good.
• Hopefull you'll address difficult problems and face the truth even when it's hard

But even if you do all those things, don’t think life will ever get to the point where all you have to do is sit back and eat cotton candy all day. Life simply doesn’t work like that. You could fairly ask, 'exactly why does it have to be like that?'

Reality: The demands of life never go completely away
Even if retired, you’ll want to keep an eye on your finances. You’ll be spending money but now that you’re not working, you want to make sure your money in investments is working and even growing 

Even with your health, you’ll want to keep a close eye on your eating and activity habits to stay in top shape. How can you enjoy your later years without health?

Even keeping up with your family and friends you’ll want the joy and satisfaction of being involved in their lives. They’ll be times things come up with them that will cause inconveniences in your schedule and even create stress…it’s all a part of being involved in their lives. When they hurt, you hurt.

There’s always a price. Unless you want to see your life disintegrate rapidly you’re always going to have to be doing a certain amount of these “unpleasant things” because they are the key to things that you want.    

BUT THE SECRET IS,
THIS THE BEST THING FOR YOU!

If you stop monitoring your diet, eating as much of the gooey goodies that you like all day long, pretty soon you’ll turn into a gooey blimp yourself.  

If you avoid paying attention to your finances, pretty soon you’ll find yourself in trouble with the IRS, the bank, and all the other people with whom you have financial connections. 

If you stop watching your health and pushing yourself to stay active, your health will suffer and make daily living difficult—and could even do permanent damage without crucial exams and doctor visits.

If you ignore your family and friends you will find yourself becoming isolated, lonely and depressed—the opposite of what you have worked for all your life.

The pressures and demands of life aren’t bad…they are necessary to keep you from growing old and stale! 

• They keep you fresh, energized and motivated.
• They give you new reasons for living
• They create opportunities for new friendships and adventures
• They allow you to use the experience and lessons you have accumulated
• They give you new reasons to make a difference in people’s lives

You may never have a life full of nothing but “Donuts, Soft Pillows and Happy Talk,” but you may eventually agree that it’s a VERY good thing that you don’t!

Peace In Your Life - Have you Found It?

It’s a yes or no question.
Either you have or have not found peace.

Only you know and there is no way you can fool yourself forever. The sooner you get settled on what you are looking for in your life, the sooner you can begin to really live - at peace and energized.

It's been said there’s a God-shaped hole inside everyone.
You can try to fill it with many things to satisfy yourself and bring you happiness and peace. 

Some try MATERIAL THINGS
They race around collecting cars, houses, boats, clothes and that old faithful—good old cash. They keep a close eye on their stocks. They always know how the market is doing. They love showing their things off to others. You can tell from their conversation that they never stop thinking about what they just bought or are getting ready to buy.

Others go in the direction of RELATIONSHIPS
They put their focus on family and friends - the more the merrier! They have their entire lives built around doing things for and with their family and friends. They can even get self-righteous about it, telling others over and over that nothing is more important than family with the emphasis on how great their’s is.

Another approach is ACTIVITIES
They love going places, doing things - chasing their “bucket list.” The idea being that the more things they have done, the wider the variety, the more unique they are the greater the enjoyment and satisfaction they will have in life. It’s easy to feel like you have never been anywhere or done anything in your life when you talk to them. Anything you mention, they have been there or done that. Super Bowl, World Series, Hawaii, Europe, cruises, skydiving, bungee jumping…there’s no end.

Another widely popular approach is SELF-DEVELOPMENT.
People furiously chase physical fitness. They pursue education. They are always seeking new knowledge, new levels of personal achievement and new challenges. If you get one degree, then go get another. The idea behind this is that the more you develop yourself the more you will be at peace with yourself. Education is the answer to everything.

I’m not criticizing at all! All of these things are valid activities.
They all can add qualities to your life you would not have any other way. They all add value and enjoyment. They keep you active, stimulated and involved with other people in positive ways. In fact, if you have the interest and ability, these are all things you should do. They’ll expand your life and give you a lot enjoyment and satisfaction.

But many realize the satisfaction from these things is only temporary
If you have pursued  many of these and are still unsettled inside, still looking for real peace, maybe its time to look in another direction. Maybe it’s that God shaped vacuum that hasn’t been filled yet. 

There is another long standing choice.
It's one you should not ignore. Its one you need to evaluate for yourself because this is one area that’s too important to trust to other’s judgement. If you do you’ll understand why for over 2000 years millions of people from all over the world have found that their answer for peace has been found in the Prince of Peace. He’s the one who said…

I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught. (John 14:27)

If you haven’t found peace yet, find out about the Lord Jesus Christ.  When you do you’ll learn why only he offers the “peace that passes all understanding."

Is Attitude Always Everything?

And the chorus sings “Attitude is Everything!”

It is said so often that it has become a cliché…Attitude is everything!

But is it really? Yes and no. It’s not everything if you aren’t working.

Don’t kid yourself about your attitude. Just being a happy, positive person isn’t enough. Anyone can be pleasant when they don’t have anything to do or aren’t under any pressure.

A great attitude goes beyond that. 
It means you’re committed to a goal. It means you are willing to face challenges without hesitation. It means you can be counted on. People who have great attitudes are energized and focused. They work hard and they work long. They have a toughness and consistency about them that gives encouragement to those they work with. It shows up when things are going well and when they are going bad. It goes well beyond just being an easy-going, happy guy.

You can have a wonderful attitude but without wonderful activity it's not going to do you much good.

Are YOU Inspiring Anyone?

The 94 Year Old Skier

I was just talking to Charles McCartney of McCartney Property Managment in Aspen, Colorado and he mentioned that he had a story he wanted to tell me. It seems in one of the units his company manages there is a 94 year old man.  Charles wanted to tell me that he’d gone up skiing this past Saturday with this 94 year old man and said they stayed up for several hours and did many runs—much to Charles' amazement.

Today he had a real sparkle in his eyes

I’ve known Charles along time, but today he had a real sparkle in his eyes as he told the story. He told me several other things about the event and how energizing it was to hear about this guy’s life and he said the best history is when you hear it from somebody who was there.

After he finished as he was walking away turn with smile said,

“You know, I’m going to get back in the gym and start really working out. That guy has me fired up!"

The bottom line is, when you do extraordinary things in life there is a ripple effect. There’s nothing more than pages than the excitement and energy from people who do special things. It’s part of what makes the world go around and provokes people to greatness in their own lives.

It’s one thing to do great things in your life but it’s really rewarding to know that it’s likely to provoke others to do the same or greater things themselves.

Shuffle or Hustle

Recently, I got on an elevator, and then immediately in behind me rushed a UPS deliveryman. He was pushing his cart filled with boxes and you could feel the small space almost vibrate with his energy.

You could tell he was pumped up and a man on a mission. He had places to go, things to deliver and a short time to get it done. The result was that he was energized and focused. That’s certainly not the way most go about their business during the day.

Your energy shapes everything around you. How fast you walk. How fast you talk. It paints a picture for everyone else to see how you feel about what you do. It let’s people know instinctively whether or not what you are doing is important and beyond that whether or not YOU are important.

What kind of results do you want? Are you on a commission? Are you on a salary? Watch a delivery person, the energy that they go around with versus somebody who’s on a salary on a job with a guaranteed income. 

Companies generate the energy level of their employees. There’s a difference between the body language of somebody with a top company, somebody with a average or mediocre or floundering company.  What do their employees look like?  How can you tell? You can tell by their energy and body language.

Give them reasons. if you want people to hustle, you’ve got to give them reasons—personal reasons, team reasons, mission reasons. Give them a cause where they see the big picture. If anyone asks the question, "What’s so great about this company?" they should be able to rattle off two, three, four examples. There should be an energy about it. When they talk about their company it should create fire, energy, and excitement. They should get more excited the more they talk about it because it’s reminding them of good things and why they are fortunate to be there.

Find a place that motivates you to hustle. If you shuffle along through life you’ll never do anything great. One mark of high achievers is that they have tremendous energy and excitement about what they do. For you to have a chance at Greatness you must find a place to work that excites you. You must find something to do that excites you, something that you believe in and know can pay off in a big way. Finding an energizing environment to work in releases you to be your best and make the maximum contribution. 

Your hustle will identify you to everyone as someone who has great promise and is on your way up.  You will be enjoying your work and it will show. People will enjoy being around you.

It's the people who hustle who wind up at the top! 

Start with a bang!

One of the secrets of success in all walks of life is to …Start with a Bang! From a roller coaster ride at the amusement park to a Broadway show, they all start with a Bang!

Why is this so important?

It sends a definite signal that THEY MEAN BUSINESS! It sends a clear signal that this is going to be exciting and you’re going to be glad you came. They want to instantly engage all your senses and rock you out of your normal comfort zone to maximize your attention and enjoyment.

Business Leaders could learn a lot from this technique.

In business, you are always starting over. Every week, every month, every season, every year—you start over all over again.

If you can come up with ways to grab your team's attention and start each phase off with fresh excitement, you're on your way to maximizing team activity and having lots of great things happen as a result.

In fact keeping your team energized and active is the biggest key to keeping your business growing.

Activity produces energy, excitement, knowledge, experience and results!

Leaders, if you are looking for a head start on your competition, find ways to put extra activity into your weeks and months by…Starting with a Bang!

Start with a BLITZ of Activity!

  ...Because Activity produces! 

       Activity produces Energy!

          Activity produces Knowledge!

             Activity produces Experience!

Because...Focused, High-Energy Activity Produces WINNING!