If you have a positive attitude, words like optimistic, forward looking and energetic describe you. You take a Go Get ‘em approach to challenges and problems. You go out to do good things and to have good days. In doing so your enthusiasm infects and energises others so they also have better days.
Looking to the soccer teams in the current World Cup for examples is irresistible, so I’d choose New Zealand and Slovenia as teams whose positive attitudes are helping them make a little bit of sporting history.
A negative attitude works in exactly the opposite way. It is conveyed in low energy, pessimism, and being disheartened. By being sure that everything will go wrong, people with negative attitudes help ensure that it does. Sports coaches know all about the killer effects of negative attitude and so at the level of World Cup soccer it’s unlikely you’ll see much evidence of it.
But you’re on your own in singles tennis and a susceptibility to negative attitude can be your worst opponent. Watch the Wimbledon matches over the next two weeks. Compare the players who can come back from two sets down to win, with those who give up when a line call goes against them.
Bad attitudes come in all forms. Some people simply ‘have attitude’. The French team has attitude, both good and bad. They showed team spirit in solidarity with the player who was sent home, but poor attitude in that their subsequent actions have threatened to jeopardise their World Cup aspirations.
Then there are people who seem not to have any attitude at all. Italy and the England skipper come to mind. Neutral, disengaged, unmotivated, they lack the energy that leaders and teams needs for inspiration and top performance.
The best thing about attitude is that you can choose yours. Admittedly, choosing to be positive at a time when everything seems to be against you is difficult, but being able to do so – more than anything else – distinguishes the winners from the losers.
What attitude have you chosen for today?