Kay:
Welcome Questers to Episode 92! You know, 92 is a special number because it’s my birth year, (Kay here) AND today’s quest! A quote is coming to you from the guide, Oprah Winfrey. And, she says, “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”
Shi:
WOW. Just think about how powerful the beginning of this quote is. “The greatest discovery of all time.”…Like that is a definitive statement from a definitive woman. Now, I’m sure there are people that exist that don’t like Oprah or think that she’s legitimate, but, for the MOST part, people respect Oprah and really trust her wisdom. And so for her to say something so powerful like this means our ears better perk up for the second half of the quote!
Kay:
That second half of the quote says that a person can change their future, by merely changing their attitude.
Shi:
Well, and this is the beautiful gift of humanity, right? I mean, we all love our dogs, and we see certain personality traits come out in our dogs and other animals, but we don’t see animals having attitude, right? This is just not something that they are equipped with. They behave the way they behave…They’ve got a stimulus and they have a response. And that is how animals behave! It’s conditioning, and it’s the beauty of mother nature. It’s god playing out in all it’s various beautiful forms! But, the amazing deciding factor about humanity is in our will, and the power to decide, and to choose, and to change direction, and to get to be in charge of how you focus and point your spotlight…and that’s a power that truly changes the direction that you’re headed. So this is a HUGE discovery. And, the fact that it’s based on our mere attitude, really forces us to examine, “what IS attitude?”
Kay:
Well your attitude is really that juice that is inside you! And, (if you’ve ever heard us teach on what happens when you get squeezed, you’ll know this one)…but, if you were to squeeze an orange, what would come out? The answer is: orange juice! Pretty much, every – single – time! So, if you squeeze a human, (like an orange) what comes out is what’s on the inside. And so your attitude is kind of like this resting place for how you feel emotionally in your day to day. Meaning: if you have a bitter attitude and something happens to you, you’re most likely going to respond bitterly. And, if you have a good attitude or a positive attitude and something bad happens to you, you’re going to find the lesson, and understand the message behind it, and find the ways that you can GROW from it! And so your attitude really becomes that consistency of the juice, and the overall juice itself.
Shi:
Exactly. It’s that state of being on the inside, and the fact that the state of being on the inside can change your entire future...means it carries a lot of weight! If we look at the official definition of attitude here…it’s a noun, and it’s defined as: a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something. Typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior. So…THIS is where we see how your future changes. Because your attitude determines your behavior, which determines what actions you’re going to take. And, what’s even more interesting, is that the origin of the word comes from the Latin “aptitudo” or “aptis”, which means fit! In other words, it’s pretty interesting to know that the very root and base word of attitude is fit, and things FIT together all kinds of different ways! But, in order to fit with the future that you want and imagine, you have to have the right attitude to get there!
Kay:
And it’s such a big component to lose, because we can often feel like our emotions dictate our attitude – with the idea that the situations we’re in determine our feelings – (thus letting our attitude be conditional) – instead of choosing that attitude and therefore changing our future.
Kay:
But, recently, we were in a private mentoring call with John Maxwell, and it was a fantastic opportunity where he talked a little bit about this difference between ability versus attitude. As well as the difference between can and will.
Shi:
I mean, what an honor to get to have a private mentoring session with someone as esteemed as John Maxwell, and, of course, he’s just laying out gold. But one of the things that really stuck with us (when we were asking some advice on the composition of our team), was when he told us there are really two things you have to consider. (1) CAN they do what you’re asking? And, (2) WILL they do what you’re asking? Because the “can they” is an ability question, right? It’s really asking: Are they equipped to, and do they have the tools, and the training? But, the other one is, WILL they do this? And that’s where attitude comes in and will is a very intentional word there because it really is about the will!
Kay:
And the will to act is the behaviors that you will then exhibit in your life, which are reflections of your attitudes. So the can then leads to the will. SO – today’s quest is a consideration quest for you. We want you to go ahead and answer this question: How do you orient your attitude? Now, imagine you are looking at a scale of a hundred people and all of the one hundred people are looking at the same exact issue, and (depending on their attitude), then the 1 will be a bad attitude, and 100 is a fantastic attitude. (Remember – everyone’s looking at the same problem.) Where do YOU fall on that scale? And could you move just a couple degrees toward a better attitude and would that be helpful to you in your life?
Shi:
Remember that an 87% is a B, but a 90% is an A. AKA: just three more points could get you up into that category! So, give yourself a measure here. Consider this quest and answer that question. How’s your attitude?
Kay:
Happy questing!
