Tag Archives: lessons
Attitude ? Lessons from the Happy Barista
This post tells the story of how a positive attitiude leads to a positive outcome – wear your Friday attitude!
Yesterday afternoon while heading downtown to a showing, I stoppped off for a coffee at my favourite (independent) coffee shop here in Kitsilano. The Barista greeted me with a huge, warm smile and asked “How can I help you today sir?”. I asked for a small medium blend drip coffee and then couldn’t help but compliment her on her pleasant, positive demeanour and ask whether something unusually nice had happened to her that morning.
Her response was beautiful, she said, “No, nothing unusually good happened to me this morning, I just make a habit of wearing my Friday attitude every day of the week”. We laughed again and off I went.
Ten minutes later I was stuck in grid-lock traffic down on Burrard street. Since that chemical spill problem in the Electra building has kept Nelson Street closed, vehicle commuting downtown has been a nightmare. Drivers were upset, everyone running late for something. The guy next to me was losing it, flipping off everyone around him and swearing constantly under his breath.
I thought of my encounter with the happy barista, phoned my clients and calmy explained I’d be ten munites late. I then sat back, cranked up 103.5FM (yes, soft rock) and laughed in pity at all the poor angry souls around me taking the grid lock personally.
The lesson is one about attitude, your outlook on life at any point in time will directly reflect lifes ‘inlook’ on you.
I have attached a quote on positive attitude by Charles Swindall;
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
I am a Vancouver realtor and mortgage broker who has been in the real estate industry for 12 years. My formal education includes a Bachelor’s of Commerce from the University of Natal and a diploma in Urban Land Economics from UBC
I enjoy many outdoor pursuits such as fishing, surfing, kayaking, windsurfing and camping.
Vancouver is a great place to live!
More Having A Positive Attitude Articles
How to Sing – Lessons on the Right Mindset For Singing
Have you ever wondered how all these professional singers are able to sustain their careers throughout multiple decades, even getting stronger as they go on? The secret to their success is simple: It’s the right singing mindset which allows them to focus on improving their skills and look forward, even if they can’t seem to make any progress at all. In this article, I’m going to show you how to attain this mindset – so that you can boost your singing career to the sky.
The right singing mindset that I as a vocal coach personally advocate is based upon a few common sense principles that I will lay out to you in this article. These principles will become more natural to you as you stick to them and remind yourself of the advantages they have. So, here goes:
– The first principle is persistence. Without persistence, you will not get anywhere as a singer. To sing can be very exhausting and demanding at times, but you need to keep working hard! Too many people take their early setbacks as signs that they do not have any potential as a singer. This is the biggest mistake you can make. You must persist and consider the fact that all of the pros were once at the same stage you are. And they still made it!
– The second principle is determination. Now, how is determination different from persistence you ask? Persistence regards your career and singing skills as a whole while determination is related to your will to achieve individual goals lying in front of you. For example, if you are about to attend a singer’s audition, you must be determined and practice especially for this occasion. You must have the first principle already in place in order to be really successful because you will tell yourself that you can indeed succeed. But determination means that you will practice as hard as you possibly can in order to succeed at this specific audition.
– And the final principle is relaxation. Don’t make a chore out of your singing career. You can and even should take a few days off every once in a while, completely forgetting about singing. Read a book, watch a few movies, just relax! It will help your mind to stay focused once you return to singing – and it will prevent you from ever experiencing burnout.
Next, what you will want to do is find the right singing lessons that carry on these principles. If you want to learn how to sing, lessons that teach you more on the right singing mindset can be found at singing lessons online! Just give it a go and remember – persistence, determination, relaxation!
More Postive Mindset Secrets Articles
5 tips To Make a Killer First Impression – Personality Development & English lessons by Niharika
5 tips To Make a Killer First Impression – personality Development & English lessons by Niharika
Most people will judge you within the first few seconds of meeting you and their view will most likely never change. Making a good first impression is utmost important, because you only get one chance at it.
It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate you when you meet for the first time. In this short time, the other person forms an opinion about you based on your appearance, your body language, your attitude, your mannerisms, and how you are dressed.
So, whether they are in your career or social life, it’s important to know how to create a good first impression. This lesson by Niharika provides some useful tips to help you do this.
1. Set an intention.
The most important thing to do for giving a good impression is to set your intention. This is especially important before any kind of big event where you would be meeting a lot of people — i.e. conferences, networking events or friend’s parties. As you get ready or when you are driving over think about what kind of people you want to meet and what kind of interactions you want to have. This can be an incredibly grounding experience and works very well to focus on what kind of energy you want to have for your event.
2. Present Yourself Appropriately
Of course physical appearance matters. The person you are meeting for the first time does not know you and your appearance is usually the first clue he or she has to go on.
But it certainly does not mean you need to look like a model to create a strong and positive first impression.
The key to a good impression is to present yourself appropriately.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and so the “picture” you first present says much about you to the person you are meeting. Is your appearance saying the right things to help create the right first impression?
Start with the way you dress. What is the appropriate dress for the meeting or occasion? In a business setting, what is the appropriate business attire? Suit, blazer, casual? And ask yourself what the person you’ll be meeting is likely to wear — if your contact is in advertising or the music industry, a pinstripe business suit may not strike the right note!
For business and social meetings, appropriate dress also varies between countries and cultures, so it’s something that you should pay particular attention to when in an unfamiliar setting or country. Make sure you know the traditions and norms.
And what about your grooming? Clean and tidy appearance is appropriate for most business and social occasions. A good haircut or shave. Clean and tidy clothes. Neat and tidy make up. Make sure your grooming is appropriate and helps make you feel “the part”.
Appropriate dressing and grooming help make a good first impression and also help you feel “the part”, and so feel more calm and confident. Add all of this up and you are well on your way to creating a good first impression.
3. Be Open and Confident
When it comes to making the first impression, body language as well as appearance speaks much louder than words.
Use your body language to project appropriate confidence and self-assurance. Stand tall, smile (of course), make eye contact, greet with a firm handshake. All of this will help you project confidence and encourage both you and the other person to feel better at ease.
Almost everyone gets a little nervous when meeting someone for the first time, which can lead to nervous habits or sweaty palms. By being aware of your nervous habits, you can try to keep them in check. And controlling a nervous jitter or a nervous laugh will give you confidence and help the other person feel at ease.
4. Be Courteous and Attentive
It goes without saying that good manners and polite, attentive and courteous behavior help make a good first impression. In fact, anything less can ruin the one chance you have at making that first impression. So be on your best behavior!
One modern manner worth mentioning is “turn off your mobile phone”. What first impression will you create if you are already speaking to someone other than the person you are meeting for the first time? Your new acquaintance deserves 100% of your attention. Anything less and you’ll create a less than good first impression.
5. Close on a good note.
Keep them wanting more. Show that you had a really good time and would like to see them again. Maybe even text them saying so when you get home. People on a first date not only want to have a good time, but they want to know that you did as well. They want that reassurance. Don’t be over clingy though!
Enjoy the lesson!
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