MOTIVATION
The answer may lie in the way we were raised. Dr. Martin Seligman, the guru of positive psychology, explains op- timism and pessimism as “a habit of thought learned in childhood or adolescence.” Dr. Andrew Shatté – co-founder of Adaptiv Learning Systems and a psy- chologist who trained at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania under Seligman – agrees: “The vast majority of your attitude comes from learning your parents’ belief systems.” Does this mean, if your parents looked at the world as gloom and doom, that you will, too? Possibly, but here’s the good news – you can learn to be positive.
“A ‘can-do,’ positive attitude is made up of many different things,” says Shatté. “Optimism comes mostly from certain kinds of thinking styles developed over time. It also has to do with the way you look at the causes of a problem.
How to Develop and Maintain a Positive Attitude
RENEE HOUSTON ZEMANSKI
Studies by Harvard and Stanford Universities proved the old adage, “Attitude is more impor- tant than aptitude.” The research showed that people who excelled in their jobs did so because of a positive attitude – and only 15 percent got ahead because of technical or specific skills. So, the big question is: Why do we spend so much time developing skills and so little developing a positive attitude?
22 | MARCH 2020 SELLING POWER © 2020 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
“Everything good and bad that happens to us has a cause – and it’s usually more than just one,” explains Shatté. “Every cause can be catego- rized into ‘me or not-me,’ ‘always or not-always,’ and ‘everything or not-everything’ thinking styles. For example, a problem is caused either by us or by something outside of ourselves. These thinking styles have an impact on our mood.” Shatté says that no single think- ing style is inherently good. “For instance, people who possess the ‘not-me, not-always, not-everything’ explanatory style have high esteem, but remain mediocre because ‘it’s not their fault,’” he says. “The style that does the best in sales (or in life, for that matter) is a flexible style. Flex- ible people see all of the causes and then instinctively focus on the things they can control rather than on things beyond their control.” To become more flexible, Shatté advises: “Focus on how you react to different situations. After every sales call do a quick analysis. Be mindful of your style as you analyze. The key is to
FOTOGESTOEBER /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29
