MAKING GOOD THINGS HAPPEN (PART 2)

A Proactive Focus
Two kinds of issues occupy our minds, those we can control and those we cannot.  Reactive people waste energy worrying about the things they cannot change.  Reactive people also waste energy in their circle of concern, other people’s weaknesses or other problems in their environment.

Proactive people focus thoughts and actions on the things they can do something about, things falling within their circle of influence.  By continually focusing their efforts on results, proactive people expand their circle of influence.

Try this exercise for thirty days:

1. Work only in your circle of influence;
2. Make small commitments to yourself and others;
3. Be a light, not a judge; be a model, not a critic; be the solution, not the problem.

When we focus more on that which is within our circle of influence and begin taking action, making a difference, being proactive, we become less overwhelmed and preoccupied by our circle of concern.

Being proactive in our lives and at work is a matter of staying focused on the right things.

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Attitude
Before we can attempt positive and lasting change in ourselves and others we must understand what attitude is and what effect it has.  Attitude is the way we see the world, our posture or inclination toward something or someone.

Abundance Mentality vs. Scarcity Mentality
A person having scarcity mentality believes or says things like:

• There is only so much of me to go around, so much love, recognition, achievement, respect, etc.
• It is dog-eat-dog world out there and only the fittest will survive.
• I succeed only to the extent that other people do not.
• I am the only one I can truly trust and count on.
• Good things do not happen often and certainly not to me.

A person having abundance mentality believes and says things like:

• There is an ample and limitless supply of love, recognition, achievement and respect, etc. for everybody.
• My value, fulfillment, respectability and my potential, grows in proportion to my helping others reach their full potential.
• I work with people rather than against them.
• I can make a difference for myself and others.

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We Are What We Believe
We will be better able to be abundant if we can recognize and amend the flawed or arbitrarily negative beliefs that underlie our tendency sometimes to be scarce.

We cannot understand or change our attitude without understanding or changing our beliefs.  There is a strong connection between our actions and there consequences and the beliefs those consequences reinforce.

Sometimes when we review the beliefs we take for granted as true, we discover there only partially true, arbitrary or downright flawed.  If we replace these flawed or arbitrary beliefs with other, more balanced and positive beliefs, we allow ourselves to have healthily, more constructive abundance mentality.  We can then enjoy the more positive and constructive actions that an abundance mentality creates.

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Stress
Our least productive attitudes occur during periods of stress.  Therefore, we must learn to recognize and manage stress effectively.

The inner resources we routinely mobilize to respond to external demands, our ingenuity, our sense of humor, our stamina and our fitness, is less available to us under stress.

Therefore, to manage our stress we must be aware of what is causing it.  Determine if it is within our circle of control.  After we have decided what has caused our stress, we must take the appropriate steps to reduce it.

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