“Let’s put all our energy into setting New Year’s goals that focus on the positive. You can’t control the economy, or other people, but you can control yourself and how you react to it.” 

– Chris Leader

Thinking with Altitude

“How you see things and think about things will really affect your outcomes. It’s all about how you see opportunity!”  Chris explained early on the New Year’s Day Holiday, as we got together to sip Monday’s Warm Cocoa.

He’d been thinking of a different spin on resolutions for the new year for the past couple of days.  Chris has always been a kind of a “goal guy” and he’s always focused on helping others to become the best they can be.  Because he is a professional speaker, his comment piqued my interest.  After all, I couldn’t imagine how he could have come up with a new spin on resolutions and goal driven achievement.  I mean the guy already trains thousands of people on this exact subject annually.  I was all ears!

“A couple of nights ago Tina (Chris’ wife) and I had dinner with my youngest brother and some other people.  He lives right across the street from me.  We had a fabulous dinner!  He barbequed some prime rib for us and we got to talking about New Year’s Resolutions.”

It was the night before New Year’s Eve.  Everyone at the table was comparing ideas and talking about some ideas.  They were talking about dieting, losing some weight, exercising and other thoughts.  The conversation seemed to be almost just like every other year.  Then someone, his sister-in-law, delivered an alternative view.

“When it was my sister-in-law’s turn she explained that she doesn’t make resolutions, she makes New Year’s Eve Goals.  I was like, you know me and goals, so I perked up right away!  I was all ears!”  Chris said like an excited animated character.  “She believes that setting resolutions is setting yourself up for failure because it focuses on stopping doing something negative like, I’m going to lose weight, or I’m going to stop eating carbs, or I’m going to stop eating chocolate, or whatever it is.”

Goal setting, she thought, inspires you to achieve something positive.  “So, instead of going on a diet, I’m going to focus on eating healthy this year.”

Chris explained.  “It’s kind of the same thing, but it is looking at it from a different vantage point. Or, a different side of the same coin.

She went on to explain that for the last ten years she has had the same resolutions and when she explained them to Chris he felt as if they were all sort of esoteric.  “They were kind of fluffy.”  

I know Chris very well and he’s a focused goal hunter.  He is all about being specific, measurable, it has to live on his calendar, to be achievable.   But then, his sister-in-law tickled his interest, as if floating goose down right under his nose.

“Her New Year’s Goal is to stay positive, no matter what life throws at her.  I thought, this is all good and well, but we all have issues.  She then explained that all people have problems, but having the right attitude to deal with them makes all the difference. Over the past ten years she’s been focusing on maintaining a positive attitude and that has transformed her!”  Chris said with excitement glittering, like stars in the darkest night, from his eyes.

When Chris thought about what she was saying he was able to recall that she was always in a good mood!  Her focus on being positive, had indeed, changed her outlook on everything!  She would say that whatever a person is facing isn’t always as big as they think it is and that remaining positive every day has the magical ability to shift perspective.  Problems are a lot smaller when you look at them with the right attitude!  

So, Chris finished our sipping time together by making a little friend-to-friend pact with me.

“Let’s put all our energy into setting New Year’s goals that focus on the positive. You can’t control the economy, or other people, but you can control yourself and how you react to it.” 

It’s thinking with Altitude.