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IF I said to you “I don’t like your attitude” how would it make you feel?
The normal reaction would be to feel a little offended or to wonder ‘who does this guy think he is’!
Of course everyone’s reaction will be different and it also depends on the context and tone in which it is said.
The key to this is the word ‘reaction’ because it’s not always what happens to us in life that is important, but it is far more important as to how we react to what happens.
This makes me pose the question, if I said ‘I don’t like your attitude’, could I possibly be doing you a favour?
To examine this fully I think it would be very helpful to look at the origin of the word attitude and to examine where it came from.
Normal use would suggest disposition or inclination but there is an aeronautical aspect which I find most interesting. The use of the word attitude from an aeronautical point of view means the ‘approach’ or incline of a plane as it is about to land on the runway.
Continued below…
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Take a hypothetical scenario of a squadron leader (pilot 1) and the rest of his squadron of 6 pilots (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) going out on a training mission.
As the planes near their journey’s end, the leader makes a series of checks with his squadron over the intercom e.g.
“This is Pilot 1 to Pilot 3 please tell me your attitude”
Answer: “My attitude is 30 degrees”
Pilot 1 to Pilot 5: “What is your attitude?”
Answer: “ My attitude is 50 degrees”
Pilot 1 to Pilot 7: “ What is your attitude”
Answer: “My attitude is 70 degrees”
Squadron leader: “Pilot 7 you had better change your attitude immediately or you’re going to die”
In other words the squadron leader was saving the life of Pilot 7 by telling him to change his attitude (approach) to the runway.
Quote from Zig Ziglar: “Remember it’s your Attitude not your Aptitude that determines your Altitude.”
So when I refer to our attitude to life I mean our approach to life. Most human beings have an innate desire to go through life with as much happiness and as little stress as possible.
This is only made possible with the right attitude (approach) to life. The ultimate question is; “Is there a one shoe fits all possibility here?”
From my own point of view I began to look at life with the attitude (approach) of energy and as a result everything began to make a lot more sense.
I changed my attitude and began to look at everything through the ‘eyes’ of energy i.e. What gives me energy and also What takes energy from me.
When I began to look at life this way I could see how I was burning off energy (which we all so badly need!!) and I began to take some remedial action. This was the awareness that I spoke about in a previous article.
I am going to leave you with two great quotes:
1. ‘Action without Awareness is fatal, Awareness without Action is futile.’
2 .‘ Stand by the radiators and keep away from the fridges’ (in other words keep with the people/things that give you energy and stay away from the people/things that suck your energy).
Next week I am going to write about ‘Ownership’
• Roger Harty is a life coach and can be contacted on 087-6128336, on twitter at @Innerjoyz1 or by email rogharty@gmail.com
