Your Attitude to Success
No matter what I've done in my life, I was guided by my state of mind; a positive or negative attitude made all the difference. As an investor in 2006, you should know that the attitude you use everyday will definitely steer you toward success or failure. Investors who practice developing an optimistic approach to the decision making process before making important, non-emotional judgment calls, will tell you what a significant difference a constructive attitude can make.
There are actually people who make a living helping potentially successful investors cultivate a mind set that will set them on a course to achieve something important. If you walk around thinking negative thoughts, you are much more likely to give up. You are much more likely to abandon your goals, more likely to lose money and focus on bad investment opportunities. I have even seen two people receive the same exact information but use the data differently because of their varied approaches to getting the same job done. Negative versus positive is an age old battle that you must conquer to achieve your personal objectives.
It's easy to give into negative thoughts. I heard it said that you cannot catch health; you have to work to maintain your physical well-being. But it is very easy to catch a sickness. You don't even have to try. The same goes for attitude. Go ahead and listen to the world around you. You'll hear non-constructive discussions around the office, you'll get backed up in traffic, that important letter won't arrive and you'll get to work on Monday the day after your favorite team lost the big game. I guess you need to quickly determine what you can change and what will go on with you or without you in this world. Patience and self-control must be always be a major ingredient to insure a useful life.
I was recently talking to someone who uses positive daily affirmations to create the positive influence he is looking for in his life. He said he believes these affirmations highlight the way we would like things to be in an ideal world. He uses them to become a very confident trader and by repeating these optimistic assertions makes the impossible, over a period of time, become reality.
Attitude establishes the way you feel about people and situations. Your daily routine is affected as a result of your attitude, which, in turn, creates a response from the people you come into contact with every day of your life. So, essentially, what you think, you will receive. It is our personal attitude toward everything around us that determines the resultant attitude toward us. Create a positive, enjoyable attitude and you'll have positive results; including a positive investment experience.
Don't blame others for your attitude. If you think things are going correctly, then they are. If you believe something is erroneous, then it is. It is our individual thoughts that guide our course in life. Life is all about the choices we make. Look for the books, publications, television programs, movies that generate positive feelings. And remember, everyone makes mistakes, but don't give up when you do. You must learn from every mistake you make and try to not make the same error twice. If you can forgive yourself, you'll be much happier at the end of the day when you pull into your driveway and reunite with your family, friends and pets. And isn't that what it's all about.
Originally published in the Outspoken e-newsletter.