How Much Does Attitude Really Matter in Career Success? Insights and Simple Steps to Stay Positive

archnahr
Hey all,

Nice piece of an article I found on some site.

Positive Thinking

Harvard and Stanford Universities have reported that 85% of the reason a person gets a job and gets ahead in that job is due to attitude, and only 15% is because of technical or specific skills.

Interesting, isn't it? You spent how much money on your education? And you spent how much money on building your positive attitude?

Ouch. That hurts.

Now here's an interesting thought. With the "right" attitude, you can and will develop the necessary skills.

So where's your emphasis? Skill building? Attitude building?

Unfortunately, "Neither" is the real answer for many people.

Perhaps if more people knew how simple it is to develop and maintain a positive attitude, they would invest more time doing so. So here we go. Five steps to staying positive in a negative world:

1. Understand that failure is an event; it is not a person. Yesterday ended last night; today is a brand new day, and it's yours. You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and then you can expect to win.

2. Become a lifetime student. Learn just one new word every day, and in five years, you will be able to talk with just about anybody about anything. When your vocabulary improves, your IQ goes up 100% of the time, according to Georgetown Medical School.

3. Read something informational or inspirational every day. Reading for 20 minutes at just 240 words per minute will enable you to read 20 200-page books each year. That's 18 more than the average person reads! What an enormous competitive advantage... if you'll just read for 20 minutes a day.

4. Enroll in Automobile University. The University of Southern California reveals that you can acquire the equivalent of two years of a college education in three years just by listening to motivational and educational cassettes on the way to your job and again on the way home. What could be easier?

5. Start the day and end the day with positive input into your mind. Inspirational messages cause the brain to flood with dopamine and norepinephrine, the energizing neurotransmitters; with endorphins, the endurance neurotransmitters; and with serotonin, the feel-good-about-yourself neurotransmitter. Begin and end the day by reading or doing something positive!

Remember: Success is a process, not an event.
samvedan
Hi,

Thanks for an excellent post! Drawing inspiration from your post, may I add the following? Like success is a process and not an event, one must also remember that in the ultimate analysis, your attitude determines your altitude!

In life, we need both - skill building and attitude building because, to achieve anything in life, one needs a minimum of two things - the skill to do and the will to do. If the skill is accompanied by the will, desired performance is a certainty.

Regards,

Samvedan

August 18, 2006
archnahr
Hey all,

Thanks a lot!

But it is not just an article; I am really inspired by this. This is really true. Even if you are not that qualified but have an attitude, you can win the world because attitude can also make you learn.

Thanks, Samvedan, for your valuable inputs.

Cheers,
Archna
sabarivenkat
No doubt, it is attitude that matters ultimately. Though aptitude lands one in a job, what carries him further is the attitude. This simple word, attitude, in fact, envelops many traits that ought to be in a person to be successful.

Attitude building is actually a personal evolution by adding values to oneself. It builds character. Observe any successful person in any walk of life, and you will find them to have the right attitude to become so. Hence the quote, "Attitude determines your altitude."

I am unable to recollect the name of this eminent scholar but remember his quote. Successful companies recruit people with attitude and train them for skills. When I took charge of the HR department, I chalked out my mission as to build people with attitude. I will share the presentation I prepared separately. I have made enviable progress in that direction and thereby am able to perform functions effectively.
If you are knowledgeable about any fact, resource or experience related to this topic - please add your views. For articles and copyrighted material please only cite the original source link. Each contribution will make this page a resource useful for everyone. Join To Contribute