“Attitude does not come from outside ourselves. It comes from within.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell, from his book, The Difference Maker (p. 47). HarperCollins Leadership. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Not outside but inside!

John says, “Singer Roberta Flack recalls, ‘My mother had only gone as far as the tenth grade, and my father had a third-grade education, but they both were very literate. They spoke well, and their values were high. They drummed into our heads that the situation you live in doesn’t have to live in you.’ Our attitudes don’t come from our circumstances or personal history. Attitude does not come from outside ourselves. It comes from within.”

John goes on, “The first rule of winning is don’t beat yourself. If your attitude isn’t as good as it could be, and you fail to take personal responsibility for it, then you are beating yourself. However, if you look in the mirror and can with honesty say, ‘The attitude I possess is my responsibility and no one else’s,’ then you’re on your way.”

He continues, “To improve your attitude, you need to assess where you’re starting from. This may take some time. And depending on how self-aware you are, it may even be difficult. The key is to try to look at yourself objectively, to separate yourself from your attitude.  Your goal isn’t to condemn yourself.  It’s to see yourself clearly so that you can make positive changes to the way you think.”

And we each one need to do that. We need to see ourselves clearly so that we can make positive changes in the wat we think.  And that is important, isn't it? 

Yes, yes!