Prove to yourself that your attitude is infectious
Over the years, I've seen all sorts of organisations use the Fish! Philosophy to varying degrees. Some have shown the video as a one off to groups of people, some have totally submersed themselves in discovering ways that they too can benefit from the principles of the Fish! Philosophy.
Some have grasped the concept straight away, whilst others have been left scratching their heads thinking about how they can get people in their organisation to choose the right attitudes.
And that’s what my blog entry is about today. How do you get people to choose the right attitude?
I believe that your attitude is infectious. You can prove that to yourself. Have you ever been having a great day, life’s excellent and you’re happy to be in existence then all of that has come to a grinding halt as you’ve met someone who’s not having a good day, perhaps had some bad news, a little upset and their attitude drags you down? Of course, they didn’t mean to. They have their own problems that they are tangled in and didn’t mean to drag you down, it just happens.
You ever been in a situation where someone else’s anger made you angry back?
Just in the same way, it could be you that is on a downer, not enjoying your day and you come across someone a little more enthusiastic, happy and upbeat they can help you to pick your attitude up right?
Prove it to yourself when you watch a movie. How much do your emotions change as the mood of the actors changes to suit the storyline?
Attitude is infectious.
So what does this mean to us?
Getting people choosing the right attitude is difficult. We can’t force people to feel one particular way or another. What we can do instead is lead the way. If we choose the right attitudes, be who we want to be while we’re doing what we’re doing, then we can have confidence in the fact that the natural human tendency is to follow suit.
Whoever you are, a leader, a CEO, a manager, a trainer or a co-worker, choose an attitude today that you like, display that attitude whilst you’re being who you are being whatever you’re doing and see if you’re attitude really does rub off on others.
You’ll be surprised how infectious you really are.
Comment
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Comment by Esther on July 16, 2008 at 4:08pm -
Hi Ady, liked the thoughts that you have explained abt attitude being infectious and abt how we can chose our attitude.. my question is when handling teams hwo do we help others chose the right attiude?
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Comment by Griff Wigley on September 6, 2007 at 11:48am
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A favorite acronym of mine: AFOG!
(Another Friggin' Opportunity for Growth)
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Comment by Ady on September 5, 2007 at 11:13am -
Absolutely Griff. That makes perfect sense to me. I'm a big fond fan of turning situations into learning opportunities.
We're quick to do it when we've had a great time - "That was fun, we most do that again sometime"
The same should apply when we've not had such a good time:
"That was really unpleasant. What can we do to avoid this situation in the future or at least make it feel better next time around"
And you're right, sometimes that takes a little time and we do have the choice to spend that time later on and in the meantime avoiding acting and feeling ugly about it!
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When I notice I'm in a bad mood (sometimes it takes me a while to realize it), I interpret that as a signal that I'm entertaining some mistaken ideas.
I don't immediately try to change my attitude. I figure that if I'm unhappy, life's trying to teach me something so I'd better take some time to discover what it is.
For me, with my 'monkey brain' attention span, this usually means I need to go for a walk alone and then write in my journal.
If I don't have time, I can usually change my attitude a little bit in the short term by saying to myself "Okay, I'm not exactly sure what's going on in my head and I don't have time now to figure it out. But in the meantime, I don't need to act/feel ugly about it."
So to answer your question, Ady, for me it's not jsut choosing the right attitude each day. It's about learning, understanding.
Does that make sense?
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Comment by Ady on September 3, 2007 at 1:32am
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HI Vicki,
What a great question and thanks for taking the time to respond.
I think there's a force behind choosing your attitude that's so powerful, yet simple.
I have to put my hands up (as would many others) that I DON'T make that conscious choice each day. Sometimes, my attitude is selected without even thinking about it. Sometimes for the good, sometimes not so!
I'm sure everyone can put there hands up to waking up grouchy, having a bad hair day (not sure if this one works for me!), letting lifes strains get on top of them and taking it out on anyone that crosses their path.
That's where the choose your attitude principle of Fish! makes sense.
For me, one of the powers behind choosing your attitude is realising that you can choose, at any given moment of any given day. You can't choose the situations you find yourself in life or the cards that life deals you, but you can choose how you play them!
Which means that when you spot yourself choosing what you consider to be the wrong attitudes, you can change them, instantly inside you.
But in any situation, regardless of whether you choose your attitude by making a conscious choice or not, your attitude still remains invectious.
The bad attitude you choose when you're grouchy or the one that your mind selected by default when you got up, the happy go lucky natural energy you posses in a particular day or the positive choices you make are ALL infectious.
What I'd love to hear from you Vicki, or anyone else who cares to join in, is:
How do you help yourself choose the right attitude each day?
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Comment by Vicki Miles on September 1, 2007 at 10:31am
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Ady,
Great to hear you points of view, I think that you are on to something there. Do you make this conscious decision each day? How do you go about ensuring that your attitude rubs off?
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