No Matter Your Age – People Will Follow Your Attitude

Positivity Definition: Displaying a positive and/or “can do” attitude in all circumstances.

There are many things in your life that are out of your control. Those circumstances can make you feel hopeless and wonder how you will ever reach your goals or have the impact you yearn to make. But some people always seem to overcome their circumstances and others seem to get stuck in them. Why? Attitude.

When I led sales teams, the age on those teams ranged from 23 to 63. Sometimes the 23 year olds had more influence over the team than the more tenured people. I could always track that back to the attitude an individual chose in the face of difficult circumstances.

My father, The General, said to me in my teens: “Hey bud, your attitude is a choice. Make a different choice.” He was training his son to not focus on his circumstances. The lesson was that Leaders of Character make a choice that others often miss. In the midst of our circumstances, we can choose to control our reactions to those circumstances.

The pattern has consistently repeated itself through history. Churchill, Kennedy, and Mandela all inspired others to follow and change history through the example of their attitudes. Recently, we witnessed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspire his homeland and the world in spite of the circumstances he faced.

These leaders didn’t let their circumstances choose their attitudes. They chose their attitudes. They did not have special training or get a certificate that prepared them for how they faced the obstacles in their lives. They just made a choice in the midst of a difficult situation that created an opportunity for them to