Chapter 1 IMPORTANCE OFATTITUDE

Building a positiveattitude

Chapter 2 SUCCESS

Winning strategies

Chapter 3 MOTIVATION

Motivating yourself andothers every day

Chapter 4 SELF-ESTEEM

Building positiveself-esteem and image

Chapter 5 INTERPERSONALSKILLS

Building a pleasingpersonality

Chapter 6 SUBCONSCIOUSMIND AND HABITS

Forming positive habitsand character

Chapter 7 GOAL-SETTING

Setting and achieving yourgoals

Chapter 8 VALUES ANDVISION 223

Doing the right thing forthe right reason

CHAPTER 1

IMPORTANCE

OF

ATTITUDE

Building a positiveattitude

Page 7 of 175

There wasa man who made a living selling balloons at a fair. He had all colors of

balloons,including red, yellow, blue, and green. Whenever business was slow, he would

release ahelium-filled balloon into the air and when the children saw it go up, they all

wanted tobuy one. They would come up to him, buy a balloon, and his sales would go up

again. Hecontinued this process all day. One day, he felt someone tugging at his jacket.

He turnedaround and saw a little boy who asked, "If you release a black balloon,would

that alsofly?" Moved by the boy's concern, the man replied with empathy, "Son,it is not

the colorof the balloon, it is what is inside that makes it go up."

The same thing applies toour lives. It is what is inside that counts. The thing inside of us

that makes us go up is ourattitude.

Have you ever wondered whysome individuals, organizations, or countries are more

successful than others?

It is not a secret. Thesepeople simply think and act more effectively. They have learned

how to do so by investingin the most valuable asset--people. I believe that the success

of an individual,organization or country, depends on the quality of their people.

I have spoken toexecutives in major corporations all over the world and asked one

question: "If you hada magic wand and there was one thing you would want changed,

that would give you acutting edge in the marketplace resulting in increased productivity

and profits, what wouldthat be?" The answer was unanimous. They all said that if people

had better attitudes,they'd be better team players, and it'd cut down waste, improve

loyalty and, in general,make their company a great place to work.

William James of HarvardUniversity said, "The greatest discovery of my generation is

that human beings canalter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."

Experience has shown thathuman resources is the most valuable asset of any business.

It is more valuable thancapital or equipment. Unfortunately, it is also the most wasted.

Peoplecan be your biggest asset or your biggest liability.

TQP--TOTALQUALITY PEOPLE

Having been exposed to anumber of training programs, such as customer service,

selling skills, andstrategic planning, I have come to the conclusion that all these are

great programs with onemajor challenge: None of them works unless they have the right

foundation, and the rightfoundation is TQP. What is TQP? TQP is Total Quality People--

people with character, integrity,good values, and a positive attitude.

Don't get me wrong. You doneed all the other programs, but they will only work when

you have the rightfoundation, and the foundation is TQP. For example, some customer

service programs teachparticipants to say "please," and "thank-you," give smilesand

handshakes. But how longcan a person keep on a fake smile if he does not have the

desire to serve? Besides,people can see through him. And if the smile is not sincere, it is

irritating. My point is,there has to be substance over form, not form over substance.

Without a doubt, one doesneed to remember "please" and "thank-you," the smiles,etc.--

they are very important.But keep in mind that they come a lot easier when accompanied

by a desire to serve.

Someoneonce approached Blaise Pascal, the famous French philosopher and said, "IfI

had yourbrains, I would be a better person." Pascal replied, "Be a betterperson and you

will havemy brains."

Page 8 of 175

TheCalgary Tower stands at 190.8 meters. The total weight of the tower is 10,884tons,

of which6,349 tons is below ground (approximately 60%). This shows that some of the

greatestbuildings have the strongest foundations. Just like a great building stands ona

strongfoundation, so does success. And the foundation of success is attitude.

YOURATTITUDE CONTRIBUTES TO SUCCESS

A studyattributed to Harvard University found that when a person gets a job, 85% ofthe

time it isbecause of their attitude, and only 15% of the time because of how smart they

are andhow many facts and figures they know. Surprisingly, almost 100% of education

dollars goto teach facts and figures which account for only 15% of success in work!

This book is all aboutthat 85% of success. Attitude is the most important word in the

English language. Itapplies to every sphere of life, including one's personal and

professional life. Can anexecutive be a good executive without a good attitude? Can a

student be a good studentwithout a good attitude? Can a parent, teacher, salesman,

employer, employee be goodin their roles without a good attitude?

The foundation of successregardless of your chosen field, is attitude.

If attitude is such acritical factor in success, shouldn't you examine your attitude toward

life and ask how yourattitude will affect your goals?

ACRES OFDIAMONDS

There wasa farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he

wascontent. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him

and toldhim about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The

wise mansaid, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have yourown

city. Ifyou had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own

country."And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy

and he wasdiscontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent

because hewas unhappy.

The nextmorning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and

went insearch of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He lookedall

throughEurope and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally,