I was recently facilitating a FISH! for Schools session for 100 staff and educators and one person said, “this is great, but it just won’t work because we don’t have the support.” Legitimate concern from someone experiencing a change. An obstacle. A roadblock. You might even say resistance.
My response was, “You know what, you get to be right.”
That’s the funny thing with attitude. We DO get to be right – each and every time. If you believe it “won’t work” and “we don’t have support” you will undoubtedly find 59 ways between now and tomorrow to reinforce your point of view. And then, yep, you get to be right.
The same thing works if you said, “This is really easy, I can see how this fits.” And yep, you too get to be right. You will also find 59 ways to reinforce your belief. That’s the crazy thing about our beliefs we will work really hard to prove ourselves right.
I’m not asking you to be pollyanna. Just be USEFUL. Is what you have chosen useful? If yes – keep it. If no, choose again.
Whichever attitude we choose to wear, there is going to be great comfort in that. It’s like your favorite sweatshirt, it feels so good. The best thing about attitudes, is we can change it – just like that sweatshirt.
Try it out. Today, choose to believe your day is going to really hard, rough and tough. Just for the next couple hours, see how many times that can be reinforced. Then just before your breaking point, CHOOSE to believe that the rest of your day is going to an absolute piece of cake, everything is going your way, and it’s really effortless. And then, just be aware. (a good clue is going to be watching all the traffic lights greet you with the bright glow of green!).
What will you choose?
ps…you’ll get to be right!
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The sentiment of your post is exactly what my husband and I say to our 4 kids (3 of which are teenagers) on a daily basis. Attitude DOES have so much to do with the outcome. One's ability to problem solve, one's emotional state, and consequently one's happiness is rooted in attitude. Here's a question. How does a leader help others to see this principle and ultimately take the steps needed to change their outlook? Particularly when they are resistent to the message (like the example of the trainee in your post)? As a parent, this can be a common challenge.