Attitude

While rummaging through some old papers early this morning I stumbled on a quote I kept on the cork board above my desk in college.

I thought it practicable when I was 19, but in rereading I find so much more truth to it today, ten years worth of life experiences later.

Attitude

“The longer I live, the more important I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me , is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than successes, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

– Charles Swindoll

The truth to the message is this: wherever you start from, your attitude will dictate where you end up. Everything else is unchangable, your circumstances are your circumstances, but be it in in your career, sport or life how you play your cards is far more important to the outcome than what hand you were dealt.

If you’d like to print out a copy of the quote for your own office, I’ve attached the well-worn, oft-copied .pdf scan of “Attitude” here.