Thursday Thinking - Attitude Check

Ever find yourself stuck in a bad mood? You know what I mean. For one reason or another you've got a case of the doldrums. You've got a lot to do, and you realize that you need to get your attitude in check if you're going to get it done.

Good news! There may be some very practical steps that could help you turn things around.

On his Intentional Leadership blog, Michael Hyatt, suggests three actions people can take to adjust their emotional state. He says it's possible to instantly shift your attitude by taking the following three actions:

1. Shift your mental focus. We can choose what we think about.
Hyatt says we can look at our day with an "Argh, I have to..." sort of perspective, or a "Wow, I get to..." perspective. He has written a script for himself to recite as a way to frame and shape his focus. His "script" is pretty specific to his own situation, so I've adapted it into something more general you might be able to use:

• I am not here by accident. God can use me here, with these people, right now.
• That’s because He has a purpose; therefore, I have a purpose in being here.
• Through Christ, I can do all things. He has given me every resource I need to succeed.
• With the energy, the heart, and my gifts, I can make an impact—now and for eternity.
• I have something important to share. What I do matters.
• Something I do today could matter for years from now. Someone may look back on this day and say, “It started there.”
• By God’s grace, I can make a difference!

2. Change your posture. We can choose how we act.
Hyatt suggests that every emotion has physical attributes. He says:

For example, if I say to you, “act like you are depressed,” you would likely slump your shoulders, tilt your head down, and rub your face. You would frown and your breathing might slow down. If I say to you, “act like you won the lottery,” you would likely jump up and down, thrust your arms up into the air, and scream with joy. You would smile and your breathing might speed up.

Does the emotion cause the action or does the action cause the emotion? The truth is, it doesn’t matter. If you smile, for example, and hold it for several seconds, it will change your biochemistry.

In an article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a team of psychologists at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, showed that simply having people put their facial muscles in a configuration typical of a given emotion produced the feeling that the expressions represent. (See this article in the New York Times and this one in Scientific American.)

3. Watch your language. We can choose what we say.
Hyatt says that our words are more important than we think. They reflect our thinking. But they sometimes influence our thinking as well. He says:

Words have tremendous power. King Solomon reminds us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21).

But rarely do we apply these words to the language we use in talking to ourselves. For example, you ask someone, “How are you doing?” They respond, “Well, I’m surviving.” Strangely, those words shape their reality—or at least their perception of it. They end up barely getting by.

Conversely, I have another friend who always replies, “Outstanding!” This too shapes his reality. He always seems to be doing well. I know he has challenges, but his words empower him and give him the resources he needs to overcome them.

What do you think? Is Hyatt on to something here, or is it just a bunch of positive-thinking-self-help nonsense?

From my point of view, there really is something to all of these. My personal experience has proven all three of these attitude shifters to be helpful and effective.

It's important to note, however, that a healthy person in a funk on any given day is something very different from an unhealthy person struggling with clinical depression. We should be careful not to confuse people adjusting their attitudes and perspectives with people who truly struggle with a emotional wellness. It's one thing to shift an attitude, and quite another to address depressive disorders. One requires advice, the other requires treatment.

If you think you are suffering from something more serious than a bad attitude, please seek the help of your physician or a professional counselor. If, however, you're a generally healthy person who occasionally suffers from the blahs, you might want to try Hyatt's approach. Make a choice to change your focus, your posture, and your words.

As always, your thoughtful comments are welcomed.