Last week we discussed the importance of having a “can do” attitude. To summarize last week’s post, when it comes to being successful, there are two types of people—those who believe they can and those who believe they cannot. The people in the first group always generate ideas and ways to achieve their goals, while those in the second group will offer only excuses for why the possible is really “impossible.” The “I can’t” folks remain in a state of continuous frustration and are always physically and emotionally drained.
You might be wondering how to move from an “I can’t” attitude to a “can do” mentality. Here are three ways to instill and foster a “can do” attitude in your personal life and in your career:
1. Pick something you want to accomplish and tell all your friends, colleagues, and family what you intend to do.
It’s amazing how motivated you will be to get something done once you’ve said it out loud. For example, several months ago I ran a marathon, and when I made the decision at the end of 2012 to run this race as one of my 2013 goals, I told all my friends, people at work, and family members what I intended to do. I even took it one step further when I shared the news on my social media networks and blogged about my goal. I loved it when people would ask me how my training was going, for I was able to talk about both the triumphs and the challenges of the journey. Sharing my goals kept me focused on the end result and allowed me to complete my training plan, run the race, and finish well!
2. Whenever a problem is identified, never end a meeting or conversation without proposing some sort of solution.
This can be difficult and may seem even impractical. What happens when you force yourself and others to come up with a potential solution? You use the right side of your brain, where you access your creativeness. In relentlessly searching for at least one potential solution, you’ll be surprised—once that first solution is proposed, many more will follow. Try it the next time you face a problem or are in a team meeting with a difficult challenge in front of you. I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised!
3. Spend more time acknowledging and celebrating accomplishments, big and small, that both you and the people around you achieve.
In other words, catch yourself and others doing things right! This is one of the easiest things to do, yet is the most overlooked. We often have a tendency to easily recognize the bad. A few years ago, I tipped the scales at 225 pounds, and I’m embarrassed to admit that, according to the American Heart Association, I had a body mass index of 30.5 and had crossed over into the obese category. For years, I slowly put on the weight and then struggled to lose it again. I worked out regularly and tried to eat healthily. I was often extremely hard on myself when I would slip up in my workouts or eating habits. I rarely celebrated when I chose to eat a healthy meal or forced myself out of bed early in the morning to get to the gym.
In 2011, I decided that I needed to make some big changes. I wanted to try something different. So I skipped the fad diets and the gimmicky infomercial exercise programs and purchased a $3 phone app along with a $50 membership to My Plate by LIVESTRONG. This program was simple to use; I just entered my current weight and goals, tracked my exercise and calories, and repeatedly celebrated my accomplishments!
Celebrating every milestone kept me focused on the end goal and helped me maintain my “can do” attitude. In the end, I lost 50 pounds and, for the most part, have kept the weight off over the last three years.
Yes, our world today is challenging. Our business and personal lives are complex, and we can often feel like there are more problems than answers. It can be so easy to fall victim to problems and to obsess about the challenges we face, making all things more difficult as we strive to find our way. Empowering others and ourselves, however, gives us the freedom to try new things, to take risks, and to learn.
I believe empowering ourselves into the “can do” state starts by getting into action. Being part of the solution instead of focusing on the problem will contribute to your ability to achieve your goals. These three basic steps of saying it, solving it, and celebrating it can be the best way to fertilize your “can do” attitude!
