CANCEROUS ATTITUDE DISEASES BY TEMITOPE OJO
Here is what Zig Ziglar said about attitude: Your attitude, not your aptitude will determine your altitude.
A new year is here again and the rave of the moment is the customary
'what are your new year resolutions' question; the setting of short and long-term
goals for 2018.
I am a staunch advocate for setting goals and having new year
resolutions, but my fear is: without the right attitude, your well laid down
plans may undergo a shipwreck even before it goes into sea.
Hence, I have below a list of some diseases of attitude you should try to avoid as you sojourn through
the year 2018.
1.) NEGLECT - Neglect starts
as infection. It starts with the smallest of tasks like the making of your bed
in the morning, then it preys upon other disciplines. Here is a good phrase to
note, "Every let down affects the
rest of your performance."
Neglect diminishes self-worth; your self-esteem constantly takes a
bullet in the head with every failure in checking the boxes.
Remember - Everything affects everything in life. Nothing stands alone
as every lack of discipline affects the rest and every new formed discipline
also affects the rest. The key is to diminish the lack and increase the new.
I ask that as you begin the new year with your big, hairy, audacious
goals, you start with the smallest of disciplines like making your bed in the
morning when you wake, sending a nice message to mum and dad, picking up the
mind-nourishing books to read, substituting a sugary-filled snack with an apple
fruit and you would be amazed at how much your self-esteem will be lifted.
Your confidence to tackle your audacious goals will take on an
exponential jump simply because you were able to clean up the smallest of
disciplines. You, friend, didn't give in to neglect.
2.) INDIFFERENCE - Indifference is
a cancerous attitude. It is simply known as drifting through life or also
called a mild/timid approach to life. But the problem with this approach is,
you just cannot drift to the top of the mountain. The top is reserved for those
with strong feeling.
Pity the man who sits on the fence, never picks a direction. He better
gets into a decision with his feet, standing tall, lest he unknowingly chooses
a direction with his back on the floor!
The good Lord said at the end of the bible, "here is the best way to live: one way or the other." That
is best. Hot or cold. Not lukewarm, half-baked, middle, not too hot, not too
cold. Indifference - what a sad way to live.
Take a critical look at all of the great historical leaders. Apostle
Paul - Leader of the Early Christians, Nelson Mandela - Leader during
apartheid, Martin Luther King - Leader during the Civil Rights Movement.
Examine them and you would find not a shred of indifference!
Why did God pick Paul to be the leader of the early Christians during
the tough times despite his track record of persecuting the same Christians?
Answer - STRONG FEELING. Whatever
Paul got into, everyone in the community knew what he was into. The Lord must
have thought to himself, "he just had to be something else."
In one of Apostle Paul's later writings, he said, "the things I
once loved, I now hate, the things I once hated, I now love." Now, that is
strong!
One of the greatest lines in ancient scripts says, "whatever your hands find to do, do it
with all your heart, do it with all your might, do it with all your
power." I ask that you take that as your philosophy. Embrace it.
As you proceed in the year 2018, I implore you to see how many
decisions you can get into, and not how many you can get out of.
Just pick a direction and go with everything you have got. The good
thing is, if it is the wrong direction, you will find out quicker.
You may as well back it up with the serenity prayer: "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept
the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the
wisdom to know the difference." For the things you cannot change, be
cold, but how about the things you can change; friend, I implore you - go hot
on them!
3.) COMPLAINING - Complaining is
probably the commonest of all cancerous attitudes, especially amongst our
generation. We have a narcissistic sense of entitlement. We complain about the
weather, the soil, the government, the country, the economy, our friends, our
relatives, our family, our background forgetting that is all we have got.
Friends, the key is not to complain about all we have got, but to
think of how we could acquire the skills to turn all we have got into equity.
Some of us even have a funny list of reasons why we are not doing well
which of course does not have our names on it. Why don't we instead spend that
time working on ourselves, getting more skills and becoming more valuable to
the work and marketplace.
People even spend a significant amount of time complaining about how
low the minimum wage is, but the question is: the minimum stage; is it a ladder
or a bed? If you think of it as a bed, I ask that you change philosophy and in
2018, begin to think of this country as a ladder to climb. Work more on
yourself and become more valuable and inevitably, a rise will come alongside
because you have become more valuable to the marketplace.
Wonderful readers, with all the beautiful goals you have listed for
2018, you need your 24 hours to be utilized judiciously. Complaining is a time
predator. Who needs it? Give it up! Spend
ten minutes complaining and you have wasted ten and you may have begun what
is known as economic cancer of the bone.
Remember the children of Israel in the scriptures and how they had
their future cancelled because of complaining. This simply means: indulge in complaining long enough, and you
get your designed future cancelled.
In conclusion, life is serious.
Not grim nor gloomy, but serious. There is a great war. A great war between
good and evil; enterprise and ease; weeds and human activity, but the good
thing friends is, weeds are no match for human activity. Though, if you stand
still, how far in will they come? All the way! They will grow right around your
shoes. If your rest too much in 2018, the jungle will overtake the village of
your mind.
Revered readers, there is great war - a war that started upon the
inception of 2018. A war between your
big, hairy, audacious goals and the diseases of attitude.
Above is a great list of cancerous attitudes, there are more but we
could start with those three. Just ensure you are on the lookout of the things
that can destroy all the good you have started in 2018.
Cheers!
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