Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude- By J. Shoop

What does this really mean?

When I think of altitude, I think of "cruising altitude." You know, after an airplane takes off, it steadily climbs on a predictable trajectory until it finally reaches its cruising altitude.

This is the place where gravity is no longer a factor. The air is clearer. Things flow easier. The views are spectacular, and forward movement requires much less effort. (Some might even say that you're that much closer to heaven!)

To get to YOUR cruising altitude, there is a process, and it all begins with YOUR attitude.

Your attitude is the one solitary thing over which you have total control. You can decide how you are going to see the world. You can decide whether or not your attitude is going to support you, or hold you back. And ultimately, YOU can decide what meaning you are going to give the events that occur in your life.

The highly-respected motivational speaker Jack Canfield teaches a concept called E + R = O.

The "E" stands for Events.

The "R" stands for Responses.

The "O" stands for Outcomes.

Jack says that if you want to improve the quality of your Outcomes, you must improve and control your Responses to the Events that happen in your life. (And believe me, in life, "events" will happen!)

I'd like to offer you 7 tips that you can start implementing today to help improve your attitude, and elevate your altitude.

1) Pause - Remember the old saying "stop and smell the roses"? Well...stop means pause.

2) Breathe - Nothing helps to foster mental clarity more effectively than a few deep, meaningful breaths. (Why not take a few deep breaths now?)

3) Question better - You should ask yourself these two very important questions, and ask them often, "What's good in my life right now?" and when events happen, "What's good about this situation?" And then with an open mind, let your brain search for answers. Your brain will come up with great answers, because these are great questions.

Do the math... Great questions + great answers = great attitude. Bad questions + bad answers = bad attitude. What other great questions could you and should you be asking yourself?

4) Remember more things that really matter - Close your eyes for a moment, and think about a time when everything seemed to be going your way... Really focus on that feeling. Did you know that it's possible to experience that feeling again? (Hint...you're doing it now!)

5) Forget things that don't really matter - Spend your valuable time focusing on what you want, and simply forget about what you don't want. Anything that you put energy into expands. And if you forget about it, it magically dissolves from your experience. What do you need to forget about and let go?

6) Smile more - "A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it, and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give." ~Author Unknown

Smiles are free, yet pay big dividends. Your attitude ALWAYS improves when you share a smile. And if you can let it become a laugh, you'll take your attitude to a whole new level. Laugh often. What does it take to make you laugh?

7) Dream big - When you were young, your dreams were BIG. But somewhere along the line, you may have had your dreams mocked, ridiculed, doubted, or even crushed. I'm here to tell you that your dreams and your imagination are the keys to a lifetime of joy, fun, and freedom. Keep your dreams alive, and spend time daily thinking about them and what actions your can start taking today in pursuit of those dreams.