Attitude will Determine Your Altitude!

It was the famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar who remarked that ‘It is your attitude, not your aptitude that will determine your altitude!’  Is this statement motivational hyperbole or the truth?  What exactly can attitude do for us?  I propose looking at the comment by setting out some of the key things that an effective positive attitude will do for us.

• Our attitude is critical when we are setting goals and targets or defining boundaries that will stretch us.

As Henry Ford famously said ‘Whether you think that you can or think you can’t you will be right!’  Therefore, having the correct attitude is critical in overcoming difficulties, beating off doubters and persevering all the way to success.  It means developing a mind-set that has a clear focus on the end goal and how it is to be achieved.  A mind-set that sees a challenge not as a dead end to the journey, but an obstacle to be overcome and, most importantly, a learning experience.  It is the fact we often don’t put in the hard miles of effort on our mind-set that we so often drift along or just give up.

• Secondly, our attitude is fundamental to our relationships. Our attitude to ourselves, our priorities and our values forms the lens through which we view other people.

For example, if we carry the damage from previous hurtful relationships or experiences into the future, without rooting out and dealing with them, we will see repeat patterns of failed relationships and more damage.  As someone remarked ‘Relationships never die a natural death, they are murdered by ego, attitude and ignorance!”  Whether we are going to build a personal or business relationship the right attitude is critical.  Developing the right attitude in ourselves and reflecting it into our team is the key to success – both for the team as an effective unit and in the delivery of the business’ purpose.  Without the right attitude and shared values, the team will simply remain at best a collection of individuals with talent but lacking in cohesion.  We need to cultivate the attitudes that will promote this cohesiveness, and also identify in ourselves or in team members the attitudes that will work against this goal and deal with them.

• Finally, attitude will be defined by our self awareness and how willing we are to work on ourselves. Many bad attitudes are rooted in being or wanting to be who we are not.  As a result we are limited by feelings like envy, anger, resentment and malice.  These attitudes are definitely not the seed bed for effective self-development, good relationships or sustainable success.  It is no accident that the ancient wisdom of the Oracle at Delhi wrote in stone at the entrance to the temple ‘Know yourself’.  Knowing and understanding ourselves is the starting point for our journey of personal growth, self-fulfillment, sustainable success and significance.