I agreed to speak with a business economics class at Centerville High School. (My oldest daughter twisted my arm.) How would you answer this focus question? Dr. O’Grady, as a psychologist who has 30-plus years of experience, what single factor would you say is the common sense path that leads to economic and personal success and happiness? Answer: A positive outlook on life. An imperfect person who daily works in and works on a positive attitude, will find that contentment is not difficult to achieve.
A BAD OUTLOOK IS BAD FOR YOU
A bad outlook on life is bad for you…
A good outlook on life is good for you.A bad attitude creates a bad mood…
A good attitude creates a good mood.A bad mood dooms motivation…
A good mood zooms motivation.Without motivation, change doesn’t happen…
With motivation, anybody can change.Mind your mind…
By mining the power of your mind!
I WONDER IF YOU CAN GET INTO A HABIT OF DEPRESSION?
I’ve found that skills can be learned and practiced in a new job but you can’t hire a positive attitude. In my experience, employers will always choose the person with a positive attitude and effective communication skills, even when the skill set is less impressive.
Let’s hear now from Frank, a client who changed his negative attitude into a positive one…
Feeling depressed and sorry for myself is just not good. You’ve got to get over the little things and quit dwelling on bad things or bad thoughts or bad memories. I wonder if I just got into a habit of having a bad outlook. That’s what it is. That’s what I used to have. A bad outlook on life. It made me confused and lazy, thinking that the world sucks.
A bad attitude is bringing you and others down with dreary, negative chatter that the sky is falling, so why bother taking an unforgettable and adventurous trip on the two-way communicator highway?
A GOOD ATTITUDE CREATES A GOOD MOOD
A good attitude creates a good mood. A good mood zooms motivation. Simple, but not necessarily easy! Frank continued…
I think I just created a bad outlook for myself. There’s a lot going on out there, and there’s a lot to enjoy. There are a lot of good people, not everyone, though. I used to hang out only with friends who had a bad outlook on life, too. There’s lots of positive and enjoyable things to do – you just have to go out and find them. It’s hard to stay in a good mood. But it’s worth it to stay in a good mood. A negative outlook creates a negative mood and laziness about change….
Don’t get mixed up with the wrong crowd of negative thinkers…talkers…doers. And that means you, too! You don’t have to believe the monkey chatter of fear-driven thinking. And I’ve got the talk tools to help you get ‘er done!
LOOK WHO’S TALKING: IT ALL BEGINS AND ENDS WITH GOOD COMMUNICATION
It’s an energy thing: Your life battery is replenished or drained by how you think and talk to yourself and others. Beware of tunnel vision, where everything is awful instead of awe-filled.
1. Positive communicators are optimistic drivers on a two-way communication highway – their way is only one way among many by which to travel.
2. A positive communicator chooses to deal with negative life events in positive ways that accentuate the positive and diminish the negative.
3. By knowing how Empathizer and Instigator communicators tick, you are going from the horse and buggy era to riding a rocket ship.
Want proof? Read all about it in Chapter 3, “Look Who’s Talking,” in my 2005 textbook, Talk to Me: Communication Moves to Get Along With Anyone. In addition, you can complete a short questionnaire to find out your talk type through a free report at http://www.drogrady.com/type.php.
ABOUT THE TALK2ME© SYSTEM
Dr. Dennis O’Grady is the founder of New Insights Communication, a coaching and relationship counseling practice located in Dayton, Ohio. Dr. O’Grady is the developer of the innovative communication program TALK2ME, based on his Talk to Me: Communication Moves to Get Along with Anyone textbook. His executive coaching and relationship communication tools are targeted at the areas of positive communication, leadership development, and change management. You can reach Dr. Dennis O’Grady at 937-428-0724.