Ice Breaker – Superhero

(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas.  If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com.  If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)

Question:  If you were able to be a superhero, who would you be?  What would you call yourself?  What would your super powers be?  And to what use would you put them?

My Answer:  Superman has always been my favorite, but he is already taken.

At this time in my life, I’m going with Everywhere Man.  Everywhere Man has the ability to be many places at the same time.  I would use these super powers to be at work, be at home, be at my kids’ activities, be at the gym, and be many other places at the same time.  This super power would give me the ability to be present in many different places at the same time.

On second thought, I may not want this ability.  Instead, I’m thinking I should go with Present Man.  Present Man has the ability to be present in the moment right where he is with who he is with.  I struggle with this super power, because the other side of me wants to me like Everywhere Man.  Present Man is exactly the superhero I need to become.  (For more thoughts on this, check out my post – The Discipline of Being Present.)

Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!

8 Things You Need To Know About A Positive Attitude

The first person to come to my mind is my Grandma Miller.  Grandma passed away several years ago, but her positive attitude still impacts me.  Grandma struggled with multiple sclerosis for most of her life.  Her knees failed her.  She suffered from seizures.  And towards the end of her life, she could barely hold her head up.  Despite her physical ailments, she remained positive.  She often had a song on her lips, and she was friendly with every single person who crossed her path.  If there was someone I know who had a positive attitude, it was my Grandma Miller.

A positive attitude amazing benefits for creating a better life for you and the people around you.  Yesterday, we learned about the impact of having a negative attitude.  Today, we look at the impact of having a positive attitude.  Here are some things you need to know about the power of a positive attitude:

8 Things You Need To Know About A Positive Attitude

1. A positive attitude lifts others up.  Ask anyone who knew my Grandma.  They will tell you what an encouragement Roma Miller (that was her name) was to them.  People often came to visit my Grandma, and I bet they left her feeling more enthusiastic and thankful for the day.  If you want to make a difference for others, practice having a positive attitude.
2. A positive attitude helps you see the good things of life.  Grandma often looked out the back window in her kitchen while she ate her breakfast, and she talked to the squirrels in the back yard.  When the snow came in the winter (which it always did in Minneapolis), Grandma saw the beauty of God’s creation instead of the freezing cold of the blizzard conditions.  When you take off the blinders of negativity, you begin to see all the great things happening around you.
3. A positive attitude restores your energy.  Especially in the last years of Grandma’s life, she had to sleep more.  And the seizures she suffered from time to time knocked the wind out of Grandma’s sail.  Despite this, I can remember sitting with my Grandma while she was awake.  She seemed to discover a hidden supply of energy, and I’m certain it flowed as a result of her positive attitude.  I am more energetic when I allow a positive attitude to stick with me throughout the day.
4. A positive attitude improves your health.  Maybe this isn’t fair when it comes to my Grandma.  After all, she suffered physically for a good portion of her life.  I could argue that her positive attitude kept her pushing on well past the expectations of the doctors.  If you want to live a happier, healthier life, you have to find a way to be positive.
5. A positive attitude opens the doors to new opportunities.  Grandma had friends everywhere she went – in the neighborhood, at church, at the hospital, and even in the hospice center where she spent her final days.  Grandma also wasn’t afraid to try new things.  I remember her going for a lengthy swim against my Grandpa’s wishes when our family vacationed together in New Hampshire.  Grandma took off from the shore line and slowly paddles out several hundred yards to an island in the middle of Baptist Pond.  When you have a positive attitude, you will see doors opening for you.
6. A positive attitude multiplies hope.  Hope is a key ingredient for life.  Hope provides a reason for living.  Grandma always held onto hope.
7. A positive attitude is contagious.  If you want to positively impact the culture around you, put on a smile and learn to say thank you.  Before you know it, you will witness the rapid spread of positivity across the landscape of your life.
8. A positive attitude fosters positive relationships.  No one could stay angry at my Grandma for very long.  Her positive attitude was the catalyst for positive relationships through her community, church, and family.  If you desire friendship, restoration, and unity, put on a positive attitude and see what happens next!

When was the last time you had a positive attitude?  How did it impact you and others around you?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

8 Things You Need To Know About A Negative Attitude

I found myself angered by their poor attitude.  I wanted to walk over and tell them to shut up.  I wanted to tell them about the realities of construction projects.  I wanted to remind them to be thankful for the blessing of our gym.  Instead, I gathered by belongings and walked out to my car.

On my way to the office, I couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation in the locker room.  Negativity drags you down and brings others with you.  A negative attitude has many negative impacts.  In today’s post, I provide some of the ways a negative attitude adversely effects you:

8 Things You Need To Know About A Negative Attitude

1. A negative attitude brings others down.  When I left the gym, I found myself struggling with a negative attitude towards the men in the locker room.  Just like a virus, a negative attitude is contagious, and it will ultimately cause others to have a negative attitude.
2. A negative attitude causes you to miss out on the good things of life.  The men in the gym missed out on the blessing of having a gym and excellent workout facilities.  They missed out on the blessing of a new day.  And they missed out on the opportunity to lift encourage each other.  When you put on the blinders of negativity, you miss out on the great things happening all around you.
3. A negative attitude drains your energy.  I don’t know how the men in the locker room did the rest of their day, but I know from my own experience that I am less energetic when I allow a negative attitude to stick with me throughout the day.
4. A negative attitude compromises your health.  A negative attitude adversely impacts our physical, emotional, and mental health.  A negative attitude often prevents people from taking positive steps which could overcome health obstacles.
5. A negative attitude impedes your career development.  I wasn’t interviewing the men in the locker room for a job, but I would be unlikely to hire them if I came across them at a job fair.  I want people on my team who are positive and encouraging.  A negative attitude often prevents people from achieving the career advancement they desire.
6. A negative attitude misses out on hope.  Hope is a key ingredient for life.  Without hope, there is little reason for living.  A negative attitude overlooks the blessings of the past, the importance of being present, and the hope for the future.
7. A negative attitude fails to take responsibility.  The men in the gym could cancel their membership.  They could seek to understand the current status of the construction project.  Or they could determine to be a positive voice in the discussion.  Instead, they blamed others for failing to meet their expectations.  We live in a world where blame is too easily passed along to others.  If you want to have a negative attitude, blame everyone else for your problems.
8. A negative attitude destroys relationships.  I didn’t really have a relationship with the men in the locker room prior to their conversation, but I’m pretty our relationship would be destroyed if we did have one.  Negativity breeds disharmony, derision, and deceit.  These things lead to broken promises and shattered friendships.

When was the last time you had a negative attitude?  How did it impact you and others around you?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

Staying On Track In Between The Check-In Points

How do you stay on track with the goals and healthy habits in your life?

Is there someone in your life who holds you accountable to stay on track?

Do you have regular check-ins which keep you focused on your goal?

Two of my appointments this week reminded me of the importance of regular accountability.

First on Monday night, I had an appointment with my nutritionist.  I visited her back in September for the first time, and I haven’t been back since.  She gave me great advice in September.  She explained how to change my eating and my exercise to achieve some goals I have to live a healthier life.  She recommended I use MyFitnessPal to track my eating and exercise.  I did great with tracking all of this for about four weeks.  I lost several pounds.  I started converting fat to muscle.  And I was starting to feel a lot more energy throughout the day.

And then my second appointment kept getting postponed for one reason or another.  Over time, I stopped tracking my eating.  I thought I was eating fairly well still, and I still tracked my exercise.  But I stopped dropping weight.  I was a little discouraged, but I didn’t have enough accountability going to keep me on track.

Late last week, my wife reminded me of my appointment with my nutritionist this week.  Friday, I started tracking my food intake again.  After all, I didn’t want to show up at my appointment without some information.  On Monday night, my results indicated I was doing okay, but I probably missed out on the opportunity to make larger strides towards my goals because I stopped tracking.  My times of accountability were not close enough to each other to keep me focused (this coming from Mr. Discipline).

I got another reminder on Tuesday morning when I arrived at my dentist appointment.  Just like I had fallen off track with tracking my eating, I had fallen off track with my flossing.  I initially do well for the first couple of weeks after my dentist appointment, and I do well right before my next dentist appointment, but I am terrible in the flossing department the rest of the time.  Tuesday, I had the “privilege” of having a deep-cleaning because I hadn’t flossed and I was growing plaque barnacles on the bottoms of my teeth.  To prevent bone loss and gum deterioration, my dental hygienist numbed my mouth a scraped my teeth for an hour.

We need regular accountability in our lives.

This is why I meet with a mastermind group every other week.  This is why I meet with my men’s group every Friday morning at 6AM.  This is why I go to church every week.  I need these check-ins to keep me on track.

What area of your life requires more of your attention?  Who can you ask to hold you accountable to stay on track with this area of your life?  What works for you when it comes to accountability?  What hasn’t work for you when it comes to accountability?

Share your thoughts in the comments.  Let’s learn from each other!

How To Connect With Your Team Members

Do you feel connected to your team?

Several months ago, Matt McWilliams encouraged his readers to establish and maintain weekly one-on-one meetings with their direct reports. At the time, I was contemplating what I could do to connect with my team on a deeper level.

As an operations manager in the construction industry, I’m challenged to balance my time as I’m responsible to make sure my group is operating as planned. I meet with my team members monthly on an individual basis to review their projects to review their projects from a financial, resource, risk, and customer perspective. These monthly meetings, which typically last about an hour, provide a pretty good snapshot of things from a business perspective, but they don’t provide a lot of time for diving deeper personally.

I’m also responsible for participating in other department and company meetings. Again, these meetings are important for certain aspects of our business success, but they typically don’t provide opportunity for connecting on a more personal level.

I’ve heard it said that “It’s business, it’s NOT personal.” Well, I disagree. As a Christian leader in the workforce, I have a responsibility (and privilege) to represent Christ well. For me, this means our relationships in the business world are meant to be personal.

How can we take time to connect with our team members with all the different demands on our time?

This is the question that rolled around in my head as I read Matt’s post. I have so many things on my plate already. One-on-one meetings just don’t fit into my already busy schedule.

But Matt challenged me with this question:

How can you NOT take time to connect with your team members?

And so…I took Matt’s challenge and encouragement to heart. I’ll confess, I haven’t followed Matt’s recipe exactly. Instead of weekly one-on-one

We talk about business and the challenges that they are facing on a project or assignment. And we also talk about life outside of work. I’ve learned about their interests, their passions, and their families.meetings, I started with monthly one-on-one meetings. For the most part, these meetings have been 30-40 minutes each. I use a one-page outline to guide our discussion and to take notes which helps me capture details of our discussion. With 12 direct reports, these notes have been essential to helping me remember our conversations.  And it helps with my follow through on any action items that I have taken from our meeting. (NOTE: You can download Matt’s one-on-one meeting template here.)

What difference does it make if you know your team members?

It makes all the difference in the world.

The average working person spends 9-10 hours of their days at work – every day. (That’s two-thirds or more of their waking hours). Most people work over 2100 hours every year. If my math is correct, most people work about 80,000 hours in their life time. However you do the math, we spend a lot of time at work.

We are relational beings. We are made to connect with others and to be in community with others.

We are missing a huge opportunity to connect with others if we go to work, come home, get our paycheck, but fail to connect with our co-workers.

Intentional connections

My one-on-one meetings have helped me be intentional in connecting with my team. It’s helped my team to feel more connected to me. And it’s also helped my team succeed from a business perspective.

I’m so thankful I listened to Matt and started having one-on-one meetings with my team.

Do you have one-on-one meetings with your team?  If so, how have they made a difference?  If not, what are you waiting for? 

(Note:  My article originally appeared at mattmcwilliams.com.)

The Discipline of Transitioning Well – 4 Tips for Transitioning from One Event to the Next

When my son was a toddler, he struggled when it was time to do something else like go to bed, take a bath, or get in the car.  He was busy doing something else, and he didn’t like an abrupt end to what he was doing.  After enduring several tantrums, my wife came up with a plan.  She suggested we give Isaac a ten minute warning before it was time to do the next thing.  This gave him the chance to finish up what he was doing, and it gave him a heads up that something else was coming.  This strategy worked wonders in how Isaac handled transitions.

I was reminded of this the other day when I was talking with fellow youth leaders at our church.  We were talking about being ready to interact with students at least ten minutes before our meeting starts.  This requires me to put aside my thoughts from my previous appointments.

Too often, I abruptly move from one appointment on my schedule to the next without the opportunity to shift my mindset.  If I’m going to practice the discipline of being present, I must learn to first practice the discipline of transitioning well.  A solid plan for transition will help me make the most of my experiences before and after my schedule shifts from one thing to another.

Here are four tips for being intentional about your times of transition from one activity to the next:

4 Tips for Transitioning from One Event to the Next

1. Give yourself a buffer between appointments.  When I go from one thing directly to another thing, I don’t give myself an opportunity to transition well.  Learn to build ten minute buffers into your schedule so you have time to shift your attention.
2. Take notes to sum up your ending appointment.  One of the reasons we struggle to transition is that we haven’t left our previous appointment in a place of closure.  Our brains continue to process what we were just doing.  During your time of transition, take a few notes to help you remember where things were left in case you need to return to this activity later.  Use a journal, a note taking application for your phone or tablet, or a voice recorder to document how you are leaving things regarding your earlier appointment.
3. Take time to consider the objectives for your upcoming engagement.  If you fail to plan, you should plan to fail.  Use the minutes before your next appointment to plan – to process the goals for what is ahead.  For example, I should plan to interact with at least three students as I’m driving from my house to church for youth group.  Considering your objectives gets your brain ready for the next appointment, and it helps you to be more effective when you get there.
4. Make it a priority to make the most of every opportunity.  When we fail to transition well from one activity to the next, we are missing out on making the most of the present experience.  The discipline of transitioning well will minimize the possibility of wasting our time.

As I head into a busy day at the office, these are tips I need to remember TODAY.

How would your world be different if you made the decision to practice the discipline of transitioning well?  How has intentional transition made a difference in your life?

The Discipline Of Getting Expert Advice – 6 Ways Getting Expert Advice Will Stretch You

The top experts in the world are ardent students. The day you stop learning, you’re definitely not an expert.

After seeing our nutritionist, I changed by morning routine.  I used to do cardio and leave a little time for lifting at the end.  Now, I lift first before I do the cardio part of my workout.  Yesterday morning, I was at the gym when one of the trainers started watching me as I spent time on a few of the strength machines.  He interrupted me a few times to give me tips on how to more effectively use the machines.  Then he took me over to a few other pieces of apparatus to show me a few other strengthening exercises.  Again, I just needed a little expert advice to get me heading in the right direction.

Last night, I contacted a garage door expert to help me with a problem with one of my garage doors.  When he came over, he made a few adjustments and recommendations, and my garage door started working properly again.  I just needed a little expert advice.

My natural tendency is to do things on my own.  I don’t like asking for help, but I don’t have time to figure everything out by myself.  Sometimes it pays to call in the experts.  I must learn to practice the discipline of getting expert advice.  This discipline will save me a lot of time and aggravation when I hit a roadblock.

If you are like me, you probably struggle to practice the discipline of getting expert advice.  Here are a few ways expert advice will help you stretch:

6 Ways Getting Expert Advice Will Stretch You

1. Getting expert advice will humble you.  Most men have trouble asking for help.  Asking for help requires humility, and learning to be humble can be a stretching experience.
2. Getting expert advice will help you learn.  As the garage door repairman worked on our garage door, I watched and learned.  Next time I have a problem with the door, I will have a few things to try.
3. Getting expert advice will give others the opportunity to speak into your life and your challenges.  People want to help, and they want to use the knowledge and skill they’ve picked up along the way.  When you ask for expert advice, you provide the chance for others to help you.
4. Getting expert advice will ultimately save you time and energy.  Most of us don’t like to ask for expert advice, because we don’t want to pay for it.  In reality experts often bring value into our lives that far outweighs the financial impact.
5. Getting expert advice will help you meet many new people.  I didn’t know the trainer at the gym or the garage door repairman before I asked for their expert advice.  I like meeting new people, and asking for expert advice gives me the opportunity to plug into people I don’t know yet.
6. Getting expert advice prepares me to help other people.  Ultimately, I want to help other people.  By asking for expert advice, I either gain transferable knowledge or valuable connections that I can pass along to others.

How would your world be different if you made the decision to practice the discipline of getting expert advice?  How has expert advice made a difference in your life?

29 Discipline Posts To Stretch Your Life

How long have you been reading my blog?

Have you noticed a theme on my blog the past year?

As I was looking back at my blog archives, I noticed a them of discipline.

Developing discipline in our lives can be a STRETCHING experience.  I like what the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:11:

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

I want to live a productive life.  I want my life to make a difference.

In order to reach this goal, I have to be intentional – I have to be disciplined.

Here are a list of the posts I’ve written this year on the topic of discipline:

29 Discipline Posts To Stretch Your Life

1. Increase Impact By Decreasing Impulse
2. The Discipline Of Showing Up
3. The Discipline Of Being Present
4. The Discipline Of Celebration
5. The Discipline Of Unplugging
6. The Discipline Of Gratitude
7. 7 Habits That Build A Lasting Marriage
8. The Discipline Of Discipline – Why We All Need A Little Discipline In Our Lives
9. The Discipline Of Taking Risks
10. How Discipline Helps Keep You Going When You Feel Like Giving Up
11. The Discipline Of Rest – For When You Feel Weary
12. The Discipline Of Taking Inventory On Our Lives
13. The Discipline Of Laughter – 4 Ways To Develop The Discipline Of Laughter
14. The Discipline Of Boundaries
15. The Discipline Of Measuring Our Lives
16. The Discipline Of Standing Up
17. The Discipline Of Focus – 5 Ways To Help You Focus
18. The Discipline Of Adventure
19. The Discipline Of Preparation – 5 Ways To Prepare For The Outcomes We Desire
20. Small Steps To Big Leaps – Getting Outside Your Comfort Zone
21. The Long Walk
22. The Discipline Of Less
23. The Discipline Of Going The Extra Mile – 6 Ways To Go The Extra Mile
24. The Discipline Of Getting Feedback – 6 Steps For Getting The Feedback You Really Need
25. The Discipline Of Self-Assessment – 10 Areas For Self-Assessment
26. The Discipline Of Mastermind
27. The Discipline Of Pressing On (Even When You Feel Uninspired)
28. How I Maintain A Positive Attitude (When Negativity Surrounds Me)
29. 5 Steps To Creating A Personal Success Plan That Works

What discipline post was your favorite?  Why?

What discipline post did you need the most?  Why?

What discipline is not on the list above?

Please take a few minutes to give me your thoughts and ideas in the comments!

5 Steps To Creating A Personal Success Plan That Works

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!

Benjamin Franklin

Earlier this summer, I was elected to be president of my Toastmasters International club.  It was an honor to be selected for this position, but it also comes with a lot of work.  I have to kick-off and close our club’s bi-weekly meetings.  I have to plan and lead our club’s executive committee meetings.  And I have to interface with fellow officers, club members, and guests.

One of my responsibilities as the club president and member of the club executive committee is to create a Club Success Plan.  Essentially, this is a document to record the club’s current status, challenges, and goals for the coming term.  And the Club Success Plan provides a place to write down a plan for overcoming obstacles and achieving our goals.

This week spent time completing the Club Success Plan, and I’m excited for the results when we look back at the plan throughout the term and at the end of the term in June.

As I was working on the plan, I reflected on the importance of writing a success plan for other areas of our lives.

What do you want to accomplish this year?  What goals do you want to achieve?

Do you have a plan to get there?

Typically, we talk about goals at the beginning of the year.  Everyone gets hyped up on New Year’s Resolutions.  The enthusiasm lasts for a few weeks or even a few months before we settle back into our normal existence trying to survive the pushes and pulls of our busy lives.

By the time we get to this time of year, our resolutions and goals are long forgotten, and we are trying to make it to the next weekend.

As Benjamin Franklin said, many of us fail to achieve our goals because we fail to create a plan for getting where we want to go.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to fail.  I like to succeed.  I like to achieve.  I like to make progress towards my goals.

Writing a personal success plan doesn’t have to take forever.  You can write a success plan for yourself using these simple steps:

5 Steps To Creating A Personal Success Plan That Works

1. Evaluate your current condition.  Self-assessment is critical to creating a personal success plan that works.  What is working well?  What isn’t working so well?  What changes do you need to make in your life?  Take time to evaluate you.  This may require time away from the things that normally distract you, and it may require feedback from those who know you best.
2. Determine your goals.  Where do you want to be in one year?  What do you want to achieve?  There is no point in completing a success plan if you don’t take time to determine your goals.  If you don’t know where you want to go, you can be certain you will get there – no where that is.
3. Recognize the obstacles and challenges in the way.  What is keeping you from achieving your goals?  Is it time?  Is it skill?  Is it lack of knowledge?  We all face challenges.  When creating your personal success plan, you have to know your weaknesses and challenges.  Being aware of these will help you make changes to get around, get over, or get through the obstacles in the way of achieving your goals.
4. Write down a map for overcoming these obstacles and challenges and for achieving your goals.  Create a SMART roadmap to reaching your goals.  Be specific.  Have measurable check points along the way.  Make sure your goals are attainable and realistic.  Finally, determine the timetable for reaching your goals.  When you write down your road map, be as detailed as possible.  Who is responsible for reaching your goals?  What help do you need to meet your goals?  What specific steps will you take to make sure you succeed?  Write it down!
5. Work your plan.  Finally, a plan does nothing without action.  Once you’ve created your plan for success, follow through.  Take the necessary steps to succeed.  Stop along the way to evaluate your progress.  Then keep going.  Don’t stop until you reach the end – SUCCESS!

What do you want to succeed in the next year?  What is your plan to succeed?

What measures have you taken to achieve your success goals?

How I Maintain A Positive Attitude (When Negativity Surrounds Me)

Is the glass half empty?  Or is it half full?

I work in the construction industry in the Philadelphia area.  The industry is known to be fairly rough.  The language and conversation content is often very “colorful.”  And sometimes it seems like people only know how to communicate with each other by yelling and screaming.  Philadelphia has a reputation for being somewhat negative.  If you don’t believe me, it was Philly fans who threw snowballs at Santa Clause.  And if you are still not convinced, try listening to Philly sports radio for an hour.  You would think the everyone does everything wrong, and there is no hope for positive change.  So much for being the City of Brotherly Love.

Despite these circumstances, I am known in my office for having a positive attitude (most of the time).  In fact, I have repeatedly been asked the following question:  “How do you stay so positive all the time?”

Some people seem to be naturally disposed to having a positive attitude, but I think there may be a bit more to it.  Today, I’m giving you practical ways for you to develop and maintain a positive attitude even when negativity seems to surround you.  Here’s how I stay so positive all the time:

7 Ways To Develop And Maintain A Positive Attitude

1. Recognize the positive side of having a positive attitude.  A positive attitude sees hope even in challenging circumstances (negativity only sees despair).  A positive attitude saves energy (negativity wastes energy).  A positive attitude is positively contagious (negativity spreads like cancer).  A positive attitude paves the way for future opportunity.
2. Decide to pursue a positive attitude.  You have a choice to make every morning when you wake up.  Do you really want to have a positive attitude?  If so, you have to be intentional.  You have to pursue a positive attitude.
3. Practice being positive.  In a recent blog post, Seth Godin talked about attitude.  He said attitude is a skill.  In order to improve our skills, we have to practice.  This is the same for our attitudes.  If we want to have a positive attitude, we have to practice having a positive attitude.  This may not always seem easy at first – especially when life throws us lemons.  We must practice turning lemons into lemonade.  The more we practice having a positive attitude, the more it will become a natural part of who we are and how we interact with others.
4. Remove negative influences.  Negativity will drag you down.  It is important to stay informed, but we need to be careful with the “news” we ingest.  News media generally capitalizes on sensationalizing the negative.  There are a lot of “bad things” happening in the world every day, but there are a lot of “good things” that happen as well.  From a friend standpoint, learn to get rid of friends who are always negative.  They drag you down.  In today’s social media driven world, you may have to unfollow people who are always bring the negative to their Facebook or Twitter pages.  Turn the television off (or turn the channel) to avoid shows that negatively represent marriages, families, friendships, and work relationships.  When you come across something negative in your life, determine if it really needs to stay in your life.  If not, remove it!
5. Surround yourself with positive influences.  Read blogs and books that are uplifting.  Listen to podcasts that come from a positive perspective.  Watch television shows and movies that reinforce the positives.  Intentionally seek out relationships with people who will influence you positively.
6. Remember the positive.  Forget the negative.  Write down the positive things you encounter on a daily basis.  Use a journal to help you remember the positives.  The more you do this, the easier it will be to maintain a positive attitude.
7. Become a “positive attitude” evangelist.  Develop a positive vocabulary.  Use words like:  fabulous, terrific, fantastic, and magnificent.  Your words are contagious.  By using a positive vocabulary, others will begin to reconsider their vocabulary and their attitude.  Smile.  Smiles are also contagious, and they promote a positive attitude.  (Learn to smile more by reading this great post by Matt McWilliams.)  Write thank you notes.  Gratitude is one of the easiest ways to promote positive attitudes.  Help others see the positive in the challenges they face.  Mentor others, and teach them to develop and maintain a positive attitude.

What steps have you taken to develop and maintain a positive attitude?  What changes do you need to make to become more positive?