Funny that I should pull this card today. I love the synchronicity and timing that is showing up in my life and work around “choice.” I have seen this as a key theme in my own life and in the lives of my clients, especially during the past few weeks.
There are so many directions I could go with the word choice as it is a central theme in the work that I do. However, one theme around choice is strongly calling to me. It is about our ability to make a conscious choice around our own attitude.
“The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day of the attitude we will embrace for that day.” — Charles Swindoll
This is so true. No matter what is going on in our lives or in the world or in our work, we always have a choice and that is our attitude and how we will choose to respond to the scenarios and experiences around us and in our own lives.
Although we might be faced with an incredibly difficult situation, we can ALWAYS choose the attitude (including beliefs, perceptions and judgments) that we will adopt. It is our attitude that will powerfully shape our future options, opportunities, experiences and actions. These choices have significant power, authority and influence over how we live our lives and how we walk the path of entrepreneurship.
The deal is this, every single day we get to make a choice in terms of how we look at the world and how we view our own experiences in the world. We get to decide. We get to make the choice. The key is to make that a conscious choice!
“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
So when life’s daily stressful situations occur or when calamity strikes…what attitude do we tend to choose to adopt?
Do we tend to choose the attitude of a Victim? Do we think about how others have wronged us? Do we blame others for our plight? Are we busy telling the story of “how we were wronged” to anyone who will listen? Do we feel comforted when others give us feedback on our story in the form of sympathy or pity?
Or do we instead choose the attitude of the Learner who is able to look at life’s and work’s experiences and events as an opportunity for personal and professional learning and growth? Do we choose to mine our life and career experiences for knowledge and insight? Are we able to choose to reframe our thinking and adjust our attitude in a way that is empowering and that encourages our own resiliency?
Are we the pessimist who sees the glass as half empty? Or are we choosing to have the optimist’s attitude and thus see the glass as half full? Do we see the days as partly sunny or partly cloudy?
“It is always a choice about whether or not to commit to being fully in the human life that is yours!” — Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Insight-Seeking Questions
- What attitude have you been choosing to adopt and carry over the last several months?
- What attitude have you more consistently chosen throughout your life?
- What attitude do you carry with regards to your professional life, career and work?
- What are the consequences of choosing to see things through the lens of the victim?
- How has choosing the victim attitude kept your world small and limited your growth?
- What are the opportunities that come from choosing to see things through the lens of the learner?
- How has choosing the learner attitude expanded your life’s experience?
- What would it be like if you were to choose to shift your attitude regarding your life, work and your circumstances?
- In what ways, would that conscious choice free you up for living your life?
- In what ways, would that conscious choice free you up to become a more conscious entrepreneur?
- Have you chosen to be fully in the human life that is yours?
Successwork
Reflect and journal on the questions above. And/or you can bring some conscious awareness to your life, attitude and work over the next few weeks. Consider observing the choices you are making with regards to your attitude. Be gentle and compassionate with yourself as you do this exercises. Try to tune into the choices you are making regarding the attitude you are adopting. After a few weeks, reflect on what you have observed. You might want to use the questions above as a way to guide your reflection.
Inspired Reads and Movies
You may also want to look to others for inspiration. We can often find inspiration when we see how other people have chosen to adopt a positive attitude no matter what their hardship. Perhaps you know some people who have a journey story like this. Take the opportunity to learn from these role models. We can also look at books and movies for inspiration.
One such book was written by Immaculee Ilibagiza and is titled “Left to Tell.” This inspiring book is Immaculee’s powerful story of having survived the Rwandan genocide. Here is someone who could have easily chosen to see herself as a victim, but she instead chose the healing and grace-filled attitude of compassion and forgiveness.
Robert Benigni’s “Life is Beautiful” is wonderfully inspiring movie in the form of a fable about a man who chooses the attitude of humor in order to protect his young son from the realities and hardship that exist in a Nazi death camp.
May you always choose to BE fully in the life that is yours!
04.13.2012 
