A young girl was once walking on a lonely street, unhappy with herself. She was not beautiful like others.
“My friends are happy because they have boyfriends and since I am not beautiful, nobody is coming to me.” With this complex, she was lost in her thoughts. There was a strong breeze and her silky hair started dancing with it. The breeze silently said, “Be like me, child; go with the flow and you will glow.” The breeze taught her to have an attitude that would lift her beyond physical beauty.
The breeze is constantly moving; so, to move with the vastness of life and not get stuck to your body, be like it. The breeze says, “I do not move for happiness, but out of happiness. I do not dance for happiness, but out of it. Youth should learn this art to operate from happiness and not for it. Happiness is an attitude. To be a winner in life is also an attitude.”
William James said, “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult undertaking which, more than anything else, will determine its outcome.”
Attitude is more important than facts; for, the former puts us in an empowered state of being. When you are empowered, you are bigger than a problem rather than a victim of it, and living in such a space makes you a winner. An easy task becomes difficult when you have a poor attitude, and vice versa. How can we develop a good attitude?
Change your physiology: Walk erect with your chin up and your head held high. Keep your back straight. Sit erect. Let your body express the meaning of the word you say. When you talk of heaven, your face must glow and radiate joy. Your eyes must shine and lips should reflect heaven.
Change your psychology: Powerful and positive thoughts are a great asset. Change your mind by changing your thoughts.
A pessimist sees difficulty in opportunity and an optimist sees opportunity in difficulty. Change your emotions by recollecting happy events. All successful people achieved success because they consistently held a positive belief, which is more than a mere thought. Stephen Hawking had a disability, but he is one of the greatest scientists of our times. Beethoven was deaf and still composed masterpieces. They all came from a powerful belief of “I can” rather than “I can’t”.
Change your values: Apply the ABC technique. A for attitude, B for belief, and C for bringing caring energy into whatever you do. One’s vision should be to be an outer as well as inner winner. Being an outer winner gives you success and being an inner winner gives you satisfaction. To bring both to your life is the greatest challenge. To get what you like is to be an outer winner. One should have the freedom to choose what they like. Your desire to reach a goal is your freedom. Achieving it is being an outer winner. You should know how to maximise performance, you should know how to be a team player, you should have negotiating skills and you should know how to delegate and be a leader. You should be
a leader and a follower. You should walk your talk and talk your walk.
Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru