A Kick in the Attitude by Sam Glenn, The Attitude Guy
Years ago when I was unemployed, negative, broke, depressed and sleeping on borrowed floor space, I faced a daily test – my ATTITUDE! I learned the hard way that your attitude is either in the way or making a way. Mine was in the way! My question to you is this: “Is your attitude in the way or making a way?” Sometimes we need a kick in the rear to get our life in gear. That is what happened to me. My kick in the attitude opened the door to a new attitude which led to a better life. Yes, A Kick in the Attitude is the title of my best-selling book, but what really is a kick in the attitude?
During the past few weeks, I have had the good opportunity to speak at several pre-services for teachers before school officially kicks off. I love speaking to teachers because I know they work hard for little pay in some cases, face budget cuts, and face burnout throughout the year. As of late, I have been starting my speeches off asking questions about how important attitude is. I normally do this as an attitude check to gauge where my audience’s attitude is. I have a tough job already being The Attitude Guy, because most people deem a speech on attitude as a bad thing. But a speech on attitude is a good thing! They think, “We are having a speaker on attitude because our attitudes are bad.” That’s not the case. Actually, about 99% of the people who hire me to speak to their group indicate, “Our group has a positive attitude and we want to reward them with your kick in the attitude speech.”
And it is a reward! A speaker on attitude with a large group is a good thing. A speech on attitude, one on one? Not such a good thing. There is the difference. Sometimes when people read the title of my best selling book, A Kick in the Attitude, I hear the same responses. I either hear, “ I don’t need this, I am already positive–or I know a few people at work and in my family who could use this.”
Guess what, I am known as The Attitude Guy, but I still have to work on my attitude. I still benefit from a kick in the attitude. I am positive, but sometimes I get burned out and feel negative. Our attitude is like a battery that gets drained day to day and we have to re-charge it. That is what a kick in the attitude is – a positive recharge. You know what I mean? You have a cell phone and use it every day and as you use it, it loses its positive charge. If you don’t charge it, it doesn’t matter how many apps you have on it, how much you paid for it, what kind it is – if it doesn’t have a positive charge, it won’t work. Same is true of us. If we don’t have a positive charge, we don’t work the way we should. That should be a clue to the value of a positive attitude. There are way too many people operating on empty and with negative attitudes. Would you agree? Years ago when things were less than ideal for me, I remember watching my life go no where. Now wait a second… I was smart, educated and had skills and talents and yet I was still living broke and getting nowhere. How is that possible? Could it be that our attitude really is a big deal after all? Is a positive attitude important? YES it is!
Now, we aren’t always going to have a positive attitude. Stuff happens and our positive attitude loses its positive charge. However, if you understand the real value of having a positive attitude and maintaining it, then you take action to ensure a positive attitude.
I remember hearing a story about two boys playing with shiny rocks. Some explorers came along and saw them playing with the rocks and asked the boys if they would trade the shiny rocks for some candy. The boys did. However, the boys had no idea that the shiny rocks were actually coarse and unpolished diamonds. They thought they were rocks, and so they treated them like rocks. The explorers knew the value of what they had, and traded them candy worth pennies.
The point of that story is, do you realize the value of your attitude? Or do you go about life day to day treating like how the boys treated the diamonds as rocks?
A kick in the attitude is simply a way to re-energize your attitude like taking a pair of jumper cables to jumpstart your car’s battery. Ever had to do that? It’s not fun when your car battery is dead. The human attitude faces tests throughout the day and like a battery, it gets drained quickly. When it does, you can lose your positive attitude and become negative. There are no benefits to being negative. NONE! Being negative has negative consequences. Let’s just say, since I used to be a very negative person, I know from experience that a negative attitude only adds more negatives into your world. A negative attitude doesn’t make you look good, it doesn’t help you make money, it doesn’t help solve problems, it’s not healthy, it won’t help your relationships. It sure doesn’t make life better.
A kick in the attitude is your way of getting a positive attitude. A kick in the attitude can be a list of five things that you know will re-charge your attitude when it feels drained. Have you ever noticed that when you are stressed, tired and hungry you can become a little negative? Well a kick in the attitude would be eating something, getting the right amount of rest, and doing something active to release the unmanaged stress. See how doing those things puts a positive charge back into your attitude? List your kick in the attitudes on a note card. Maybe it is five things that you know when you are feeling drained and leaning towards the negative, you can reference your kick in the attitude card. Here is what my personal kick in the attitude card looks like. I have more than five things to re-energize my attitude.
My Kick in the Attitudes!
- Go for a walk,
- Call a friend,
- Chug some water,
- Go for a run,
- Watch a funny move,
- Play with a puppy,
- Prank phone my relatives
When you create your kick in the attitude list, just know that a kick in the attitude is simply a recharge. It’s a kick in the rear to get your life in gear. It is a way to knock out the negative attitude and get to a positive attitude. When we get off track in life and we all do, we lose focus and momentum. We don’t try as hard. The vision or dreams that we carry in our hearts get fuzzy. So having a kick in the attitude is a good thing!
Will having a positive attitude take away life’s challenges and stop others from being negative? Nope. Sorry to say that, but it’s true. There are some things we cannot change and people are one of them. However, you are the master of your own attitude. Nobody can choose your attitude but you. Circumstances and negative people will try to drain you of a positive attitude, but no matter what, you still get to choose your own attitude. And by choosing the attitude you play towards others and unfavorable circumstances, you can determine the outcome, results, feelings and experiences.
So let me summarize, A kick in the attitude is a way to recharge your attitude. A kick in the attitude is the bridge to a brighter and more positive attitude. Identify your kick in the attitudes – ways to recharge your attitude and when life is coming at you with negativity. You can implement your kick in the attitudes to keep your positive attitude! A kick in the attitude is positive energy to your actions. A kick in the attitude helps you get over pity parties. It feeds your ambitions and unleashes your creativity. It kicks out laziness and gets you to get over your self imposed limitations. It motivates you to turn your excuse making butt prints into meaningful foot prints. I am a positive person, but from time to time, even I need a kick in the attitude. And you know what? A kick in the attitude is a good thing!
What will be your kick in the attitude?
Tags: change, kick in the attitude
Thanks!! I needed this today. I am a teacher of 11th and 12th grade students. I do not receive the cream of the crop(advance students) because I teach at a career technical center is the school district that receives students from the 6 county high schools; high school counselors think that only the students who are not college bound need to attend. I heard you speak several years ago at a conference in Birmingham, Alabama your message is greatly encouraging in a time when most of the information we receive is so discouraging. God bless you!!!