Bayer Healthcare brought me in this past Friday to share peak performance and positive attitude tools to set the tone for their quarterly meeting. Mary Benchik (photo below) and her Bayer teammates are taking dead aim on making 2014 another great year.
This week I am continuing to share ways to stay positive and on fire amidst the challenges out there. One of the things I read early in the morning comes from gifted writer Max Lucado.
I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is thee product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my masters. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark. Today I will make a difference.
I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant. I will drink each minute as though it is my last.
Today I will make a difference.I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It’s OK to stumble… . I will get up. It’s OK to fail… . I will rise again. – Max Lucado
Another tool I often reference is of a card a businessman carries:
The way to happiness is to keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love. Scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done to.
As you go through a day, a mean or negative comment can often deflate your positive attitude. You try your best and no matter what you can’t seem to please that certain boss.
Here is something to take with you that Bill Cosby told me years ago. I was in Chicago to interview him on the set of the show “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” I found him to be very nice and filled with wisdom. He said, “Charlie, I don’t know the secret of success, but I know the way to failure is trying to please everybody.”
Cosby has said that several times over the years and I firmly believe that is a way to lose your positive attitude. Yes, you want to care about everything you do through the day but if you think you are going to please everyone, good luck!
You will encounter people that follow the law of the garbage truck. They go around looking to dump negativity on you. In return, keep your lid on and infect them with a smile. Be like the eagle. At certain heights crows can annoy it because they can change directions quicker. When they do, the eagle simply goes up another few thousand feet, where the crow cannot reach.
Soar above.
As you get to the end of your day and ready for sleep, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale shares the story of a man who reads the 23rd Psalm at bedtime. He does so that he doesn’t fall asleep with an earful of trouble but with a mind full of peace.
And finally, as you lay there, you might do what John Maxwell does at bedtime. He asks himself three things:
1) What did he learn that day? 2) How did he grow? 3) What will he do differently?
—Charlie Adams is a 1985 graduate of Ole Miss and is a native of Oxford. He is also the author of 4 books on positive attitude and peak performance, including 2013′s “How to Build a Positive Attitude and KEEP the Darn Thing!!” and “Stoke the Fire Within.” His books and motivational keynotes and seminars are designed to make sure events reach their objectives and to help create winning cultures. Email him at:Charlie@stokethefirewithin.com.
