I used to be a member of the Academy of Chief Executives under the leadership of Joe Adams. Joe had a long history in direct selling as past UK CEO of Encyclopedia Brittanica (some of you may be old enough to remember it).  Apart from the fact that Joe bore more than a passing resemblance to Father Christmas another memorable characteristic was that Joe always wore a lapel pin. It read ‘Attitude’.

Some people make an impression on you which can last a life time without your even understanding why or how.  It often has little correlation to how much time you spent with them or their relationship.  Joe is one of those.  Old school, definitely not PC but perhaps more than anyone he understood the principles of success; attitude, and his lapel pin was his daily reminder to himself and everyone he interacted with.

A positive attitude ripples through every area of your life.  It impacts your performance at work, your ability to solve problems, your relationships and your level of happiness.  It’s something that you can cultivate and build on until it becomes so ingrained it is your default position.  

People with a positive attitude understand that this is the foundation of being successful, they are more than simply happy people to be around.  They suffer setbacks like the rest of us but their attitude doesn’t allow for them to be taken out permanently, they regroup mentally, assess, take the learning, re-strategise and get back in the game.  This is a key differentiator between successful people and people who give up. The ability to bounce back.

So if you’re not as positive as you would like to be here are some simple practices that will help you develop into a more positive you.

• Be grateful.  We can choose to count our blessings or focus on what’s missing.  It really is that simple.  By taking stock of what is working in your life, the blessings that you have shifts your mindset into one of positivity.  Don’t underestimate the power of being grateful. 

• Reframe your thinking around problems.  Life is always going to hold challenges.  The earlier we both understand this and accept it the better.  Instead see life’s problems as challenges and opportunities to grow. That simple reframing will lift your mood from one of negativity to a more hopeful and optimistic one.  It will open you up creatively in terms of thinking of solutions.

• Model on excellence.  We all know someone don’t we who just always finds the good in life; they are like a cork always bobbing to the surface, nothing can hold them down.  Spend time with people like this – a positive attitude is contagious.  Listen to how they talk, watch how they move (energy and positivity are linked), and if you know them well enough ask them how they approach their own challenges.

• Broaden your horizons.  So ok we are not jetting round the globe at the minute but taking ourselves out of our everyday situations and doing something new and different gives us a fresh perspective.  Volunteering can be powerful not only in terms of our contribution but in giving us a different perspective on our own lives by seeing the lives of others and the challenges they are facing.  Interacting with people outside our normal day to day rounds us out as people we become more open minded, wiser, kinder and more accepting.  Traits I’m sure you’ll agree that we would all like to have.

And as Joe would say ‘Attitude defines your altitude’