A friend of mine sent this to me in an e-mail. I thought it was positive and just wanted to pass it along - Ed

** ARTICLE: The Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Mental Attitude ?
written by Bruce St. John, Leadership Coach **
-----------------------------------------------------------

Personal energy is an important component of personal and business
productivity. Most people cycle between positive and negative energy
states during the work week. But the percentage of time spent in positive
and negative moods varies significantly. Some people seem to be overwhelmingly negative,
while others in similar circumstances can remain
much more positive. Increasing the time spent in positive states will
improve personal productivity. The following ten tips suggest ways to
facilitate a more positive attitude.

1. Work first on your relationships.

Relationships are both our best sources of happiness and our biggest
sources of problems and frustrations. Developing good relationships and
improving or ending the poor relationships in your life will increase
your personal energy. An effective tactic to start improving your
relationships is to develop better personal boundaries and standards and work on reducing tolerations.

2. Develop a routine to start every day in a positive mental state.

It is very helpful to start the day with a routine that creates
positive energy. Many people find activities like an early morning walk,
exercise, meditation, quiet time, etc., effective in getting their day off to a
positive start. It is easier to stay positive, if you can start with a
positive attitude.

3. Learn how to monitor your current mental state and changes to it.

This is a complex area, but if you can link negative mood changes to a
source or cause, then you are frequently in a position to quickly
change back. The important point here is once you are in a negative state,
get the message or value from the situation, then take some action to
return to a positive state. This is discussed more in #6 below.

4. Create an energizing physical environment.

Invest some time and money to make your personal surroundings pleasing
and energizing to you. Some small items may make a big difference to how
your personal space affects your moods. Poor lighting can lower your mental
state, especially in the winter. I put 800 watts of halogen lighting in
my workspace and noticed a big mood improvement. Some people report a big
improvement in their mood just by cleaning up their bedroom and making
the bed before leaving for work. Clutter is de-energizing to many people. A
sink full of dirty dishes is de-energizing to some. A small water fountain
can create a feeling of energy. Music can offset feelings of isolation.
Feng Shui is an entire discipline that addresses the harmony of physical
surroundings. Further reading in this topic may give you some good ideas.

5. Carefully monitor your self-talk.

Negative self talk is a common source of low moods. When you are
hearing negative self talk, be alert to the unrealistic, overly negative
messages. Focus on getting any truthful message, then shifting out of overly
self-defeating criticism. It is true that we are usually our own worst critic.

6. Develop methods of shifting yourself to a more positive state.

Once you are aware of your negative moods, and have developed your own
method of getting the value out of the bad mood, then craft methods of
moving back to a positive mood. These methods can include positive self
talk, taking action towards a desirable goal, interacting with another
person. One creative method is to maintain a Truth Journal in which you
write down your personal Truth about various topics. This Truth can
include past successes, what you are really good at, things you enjoy,
compliments you have received, progress towards goals, etc. Then, when
you are feeling negative about a topic, read the Truth Journal.

7. Deal with problems effectively.

Problems are a part of life. Few people enjoy problems. But, in many
cases we can learn from problems. It may help to ask yourself several
questions, such as:
- What am I contributing to this problem?
- What Life Lesson have I been missing here?
- What is the worst that can happen and how can I improve on that?
- What am I doing right?
- What am I going to do differently?

Getting into a habit of using problems as learning experiences can help
us avoid becoming de-energized when they occur.

8. Focus your energy on attracting more of what you want.

Time and energy spent dwelling on problems is frequently better spent
pursuing desirable goals. It helps to examine your own contribution to
any difficulties and understand how you may need to change.
Then be sure to ask others directly for what you want from them;
don't fall into the trap of under communicating.
In this way, you are always making course corrections and moving forward.
I have found it helpful to print out a
list of goals, and my theme for the week first thing Monday morning.
This seems to help me get started on a positive note.

9. Be a positive energy source with others.

Negative energy seems to attract negative results. Keeping your own mood
positive can encourage positive moods and suppress negative behavior in others.

10. Avoid using negative energy as an energy source.

Many people have a shortage of positive energy in their lives and use
negative energy as their energy source. They create busyness, use
deadlines, crises, and problems to keep them going. In many cases,
their motivation patterns shift entirely from seeking pleasure to avoiding
pain. In most cases, serious burnout is the eventual result of becoming
dependent on negative energy sources.

About the Author:
This piece was originally submitted by Bruce St. John, Leadership
Coach, who can be reached at bstjohn@aol.com, or visited on the Web at
http://www.brucestjohn.com/. Bruce St. John wants you to know: I help
business leaders become the person their dog thinks they are!

Thanks, Ed!

__________________
Debby
182.5/162.8/130?140?
--------------------------------------------
LC (with a few sidetracks) since 1/12/03
Starting weight of 206.5

Ed, that was invaluable!!!! And sooooooooo true. #'s 5,6,7, and 9 were especially important to me.

5. Carefully monitor your self-talk. This is very important, especially to people like us who are dealing with weight issues. Positive self-talk may be very difficult for many overweight people, but it's sooooo important. And it ties directly to self-worth. Each and everyone of us is important, especially to our loved ones. I always try to remember that when I am getting down on myself.

6. Develop methods of shifting yourself to a more positive state. Awareness is half the battle. Like Dr. Phil says, "You can't change a problem if you don't acknowledge it." That is the first step in dealing with a problem in a positive manner.

7. Deal with problems effectively. To me, this means that if you aren't a part of the solution, you are part of the problem. So, I never want to be part of the problem, and always try to remember to be part of a solution.

9. Be a positive energy source with others. I find that when I am being positive with people, they respond by being positive, usually. And this ties in with # 7. Being part of a solution means being positive. And the returns are amazing. It's kind of a Karma thing, ya know? Or you reap what you sow.

Thank you for posting that!!!!! You are always a good and positive contributor to these boards!!!!

__________________

thanks Barb

Great post ed. I have to say my biggest hurdle has been to achieve 10.

When I was stressed or depressed in the past I fed off it. Had certain people I hated and relished doing so. Then I realized that hate takes up so much energy I decided to let that go. So does feeling sorry for yourself. It takes less energy to do something about it that to constantly whine. I may stumble sometimes but all these things are good to keep in mind.

__________________
Noël


Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strengths.

Noel,
Yeah the last one can get all of us. Having stress motivate us to do something. Is the negative enegry. Instead of planing things out and taking the time really think about things. I procrastinate so many things in my life. From getting ready for work to paying my bills or just cleaning my house. Then when the stress hits, my easy way out is eat to much to suppress the stress. It's a short term fix and has given me my long term problems. I have been doing things cut out my procrastinating. Like getting rid of my TV. I would sit and watch the thing for hours and get nothing done. Then hate myself for doing it. Now when I get home from work I go to sleep and in my mornings I make myself breakfast and go for a walk and try to things around my house instead of just sit there zoning out. It's more then just my diet I'm trying to change in my life, but it's all related.
I keep comming back here daily to read the list over and over. trying to learn someting I'm missing.