Two new year habits that do not bring success are new year resolution and prayer list. If you want to see changes this year, I encourage you to Cultivate Success Attitudes.
Attitude, Aptitude, Altitude
What is attitude? In simple terms, it is your state of mind or emotion about someone or something. A poet explains it thus:
“If you think you are beaten, you are; If you think you dare not, you don’t!
If you like to win, but think you can’t, It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost; For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will; It’s all in the state of mind.”
This means attitude, which is the way you feel or think, affects your behaviour. And your behaviour over time determines the outcome of your life. This can be represented as a formula:
A >> B = O
Where A -attitude leads to B -behaviour, and Behaviour leads to O-outcome. Thus, a positive attitude leads to positive behaviour, which results in positive outcome.
Therefore,
A >> A = A
Where A -attitude leads to A -aptitude, and Aptitude leads to A-altitude.
This formula shows that it’s the attitude of your mind, not your aptitude that determines your altitude in life. In other words, your aptitude, which is how smart you are, does not determine how high you go in life. But your attitude -how you think or feel about yourself – does.
Why Attitude?
If positive attitude contributes greatly to success in life, why is it not taught in school? First, the school curriculum was designed to give you a handwork. That is, to make you a doctor, entertainer, fashion designer, lawyer, teacher, etc. But attitude works in the invisible part of your being – the heart. So, it requires a teaching that will give you internal strength to face the contrary winds of life.
Second, the school uses exams to test the extent of a student knowledge. But attitude is best examined under pressure. And the way people respond when circumstances are good is different from when it is negative. Therefore, an exam hall does not qualify as the right place for testing the success attitude of students.
Thirdly, in school, students can pass an exam without understanding a subject. This could be because they crammed the subject, read through past questions or had questions set in the areas they studied. It’s not so with attitude! If you fake it, it’s only for a short while. But the real you will surely show up under pressure! The popular David and Goliath story is an example.
“The Philistine armies were stationed on a mountain on one side and Israel armies on another mountain on the opposite side: and a valley was between them.Then a fighter came out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath and was close to seven feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and wore bronze scale body armor that weighed about 5,000 shekels. He had bronze armor on his legs and hanging on his back was a bronze javelin. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed 600 shekels; and his shield bearer walked in front of him. Goliath stood and called out to the armies of Israel, “Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you Saul’s servants? Choose a man for yourselves to come down against me. If he’s able to fight and kill me, we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” Goliath added, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me one man so that we can fight each other.” When Saul and his armies heard these words, they were troubled and full of fear. So for 40 days Goliath came forward, morning and evening, to challenge the armies of Israel with these same words.”
This was the military crisis that Saul and the armies of Israel were facing. For 40 days they were all defeated by fear due to the physical appearance, achievements and words of the giant.
But on the 41st day of Goliath’s threat to Israel, David showed up. So that morning as David heard the same words from Goliath, his response was different. He asked the men who were standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And when David was brought before the king, he said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him (that is the giant). Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” At the end of that day, a 17year old boy killed a trained warrior who had being fighting from his youth, and made the entire people of Phillistines servants to Israel. (1Samuel 17)
This story shows that feelings of fear and self doubt gives birth to an “I can’t” attitude that turns one into a weakling – hopeless and helpless in the face of opposition. As a poet puts it:
‘If you think you are outclassed, you are; You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before you can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.”
But, self belief or confidence triggers the mind to figure out ways, means and how to solve a problem, and so gives you an “I can do” attitude. That’s the reason those who believe they can move mountains do, and those who believe they cannot don’t!
Finally, why is success attitude not taught in school? The way school grades people is different from the real world. In school, students come under two labels – those who passed and those who failed. For example, these successful people were once labelled failures by their teachers:
#1. Thomas Edison: His teacher said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” But he became one of America’s most famous inventor with 1, 093 patents credited to him.
#2. Albert Einstein: He did not speak until he was 3-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His teachers described him as “mentally slow.” And many of them from elementary school through college, and even professors thought he would never amount to anything. But Albert Einstein revolutionised the world of science through his Theory of Relativity, and became the most famous scientist of the 20th century.
#3. Peter J. Daniels, an Australian billionaire, was told by his teachers that he was a stupid boy and would never amount to anything because he failed at every grade in elementary school. Today he serves as a director and chairman on a range of international boards; and his family owns the only privately-owned gold and silver bullion bank in the world.
In the real world, those who failed in school today can become tomorrow’s success because they learnt to cultivate attitudes of success. This is the reason for the popular quote:
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. ”
Closing
A study of successful people reveals that they are simply successful failures. These people passed the fiery test of contrary winds that everyone goes through. When they failed, they rose up and continued without giving up on their dreams, and in the end were crowned with success.
Some people give up at the first sign of opposition to their dream or vision. As for you, choose to be single minded, persistent and determined to achieve your dream this year. Be willingly to pick up yourself again and again after every defeat, and carry on with your task until you reach your goal. Then the world will label you “successful.” Rise up, shine! For this is your time to stand out!
BLISSCREATORS 