Episode 46: Watch Your Attitude - Part 1

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Take the quiz today. Foreign welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim Fields, former corporate manager turned educational researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the micro discriminations that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in education that could affect you or your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K12 education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. On today's episode, I'll be discussing my thoughts on being aware of and managing your attitude. Attitude determines our perspective on everything. It's important and it can make the difference between being disheartened and being encouraged. A poor attitude can have detrimental effects on your psyche and that can affect others. A bad attitude repels others while a positive attitude attracts others. I'll address managing your attitude in five different ways. One toward others, two towards your work, three Toward life, four Toward helping or serving others, and five Toward what you say. I'll cover managing your attitude toward others and towards your work in this episode. As part one on this topic, I'll pick up managing your attitude toward life, toward helping and serving others, and toward what you say in Part two on this topic in an upcoming episode. Be sure to stay tuned. Let's first define what an attitude is. Merriam Webster defines an attitude as a mental position with regard to a fact or state or a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state. The mental position would be like having a helpful attitude, whereas a negative or optimistic attitude is more about a feeling or emotion. Let's start out with your attitude toward others. Your attitude toward others impacts how you relate to them. By others I mean strangers, neighbors, your spouse in laws, and your kids. These are people that you have interactions with on a daily or regular basis. Lets take strangers. What's your attitude toward people you don't know? Interest? Nonchalance? Curiosity? Does it depend on their circumstances? Their ethnicity? Have you actually thought about how your interactions with the stranger could impact their life? Your attitude could certainly be reflected in your actions toward that person, whether it be kindness, civility, or disregard. How willing are you to help them if needed? I typically use a wheelchair or electric chair to get around, and I can't tell you how many times I have seen people approaching a door that I'm getting ready to go in, get in front of me and not hold the door open for me. This is a direct reflection of that person's attitude towards someone who may need assistance. It's a clear case of man's inhumanity to man, figuratively speaking. I've also seen this displayed at the airport. I'm usually in the group that gets to board the airplane first, and I've seen people gain access to that group run down the jetway to get ahead of me so they don't have to wait behind me until I am assisted into my seat. Just total disregard and inconsideration for a fellow human being. There are many laws of the universe, and the saying that what comes around goes around is certainly true. How we treat others most certainly is a reflection of how we treat ourselves. And while we're on the subject of others, what's your attitude toward their time? Specifically, if they're performing a service for you, like a barber, hairstylist, manicurist, etc. Are you consistently late, which is basically an attitude of lack of consideration and disrespect for their time. Have an attitude of gratitude instead for their service that they are performing and just be on time. What about your neighbors? What's your attitude toward them? Do you know them? Do you respect or like them? Are you cordial with them? Your minimum attitude toward them should be respectful, friendly. No matter how they treat you, this is about your attitude toward them as a fellow human being sharing this planet. I've had the blessing of having good neighbors over the years and have developed friendly relationships with them. Being a part of community is important. It's a small way of sharing our lives together, celebrating with them or supporting them emotionally with when those circumstances are warranted. What's your attitude towards your spouse in general? I know that on any given day your attitude toward your spouse may need some improvement. I get it. But in general, how would you rate your attitude toward your spouse on a scale of 1 to 10? Regardless of your rating, determine what you want to change or improve, or whether you want to do anything about it. Remember that this is not about changing your spouse, which is something that's impossible for you to do. It's about upgrading your attitude for the betterment of the relationship. In any case, our attitudes toward our spouses can determine the atmosphere of our home environment. Attitude determines the tone of voice that you use when addressing him or her. Your attitude also determines the quality of your interactions with your spouse as you grow together. Attitudes, like emotions, fluctuate depending on the stage of life that you're presently in. When you're just married, you may have some grandiose ideas and attitudes toward your spouse as you're learning to be a married couple. Then the kids come and your attitude changes. As you adjust to new family dynamics, your attitude often becomes one of cooperation as the two of you are now a team, raising the new rookies. As the rookies grow into teenagers, attitudes are flying all over the place. Theirs, yours, and your spouses. Your attitude of team cooperation becomes even more solidified. Then the kids grow up and move out and it's back to just you and your spouse and possibly new attitudes toward him or her. Given that one or both of you have grown into different people. You both have grown and are seeking new interests and new adventures at this stage of your life, and a certain level of independence is present as well. The experiences that you shared over the years helped to shape your attitude. Just being mindful of what what your attitude is towards your spouse can help you be aware of the quality of the interactions and therefore the quality of your relationship. Speaking of kids, what's your attitude towards your children? Do you express love or annoyance with them? Even in times of annoyance, an attitude of love is all that's required. Listen to them. Seek to understand them. They are not an interruption to your life, they are an enrichment to your life. Yes, they can sometimes interrupt us at inopportune times, but the attention that they deserve should be worth you setting aside a small amount of time to engage with them. An attitude of love must take the highest priority. Finally, in this area of attitude toward relationships, how would you describe your attitude towards your in laws? Are you open and friendly, or are you guarded? Are you seeking to understand and then be understood, or are you just hoping to not have any interaction with them? Believe it or not, your children see your attitude toward those you interact with, including their grandparents. Your in laws show them the respect they deserve for just living on this planet long enough to have experienced some things, seen some things, things that might help you understand them better and shape your perspective. Sometimes there's just going to be a difference in perspective. That's just reality. What I'm addressing is your attitude when faced with different perspectives. Compartmentalizing these differences helps to frame the importance of the relationship rather than the non importance of a particular trivial event. Given the grand scheme scheme of things, respectfully share your observations with your spouse and use him or her as a sounding board for your sanity, not for any specific resolution. All relationships take time and this is just another type of relationship. Your attitude toward these relationships is worth examining because it can establish the foundation for your mental outlook on a daily basis. Make sure that your attitude is one that lifts you up as well as the other people that you interact with as much as possible. Now for your attitude toward work. Do you dread Monday mornings? Do you hate your job? Do you go through the motions on your job just waiting for the day to end? These are all symptoms of your attitude. Your attitude toward work affects not only how you do your work, but also how others work with you. Your attitude toward completing a task shows up in the work. In other words, if you have a negative attitude toward the work that you are to accomplish, then the quality of the work that you produce is of low quality. Instead of having a sour attitude towards your job, be graceful that you have a job. Try to find ways to be more creative and explore ways to demonstrate qualities that are beyond the job description. Perhaps you could volunteer to work on a cross functional project so that you get exposure to other areas of the company. It's important that you find ways to shift your attitude or perspective so that you look forward to your work. I think that looking outside of yourself for ways that can help contribute to your department or company as a whole is one way to shift your attitude about the work that you do. Do you enjoy the camaraderie of working in teams? Then find a way to make meaningful contributions when you collaborate with others in your department. Do you know how certain processes came to be that are part of standard operating procedure in your department? Now might be an opportunity to investigate whether those processes need need to be revised. Spend some time thinking about potential improvements to the processes so that you could propose those improvements in a team or department meeting. This may be just the thing to spark an upgrade in your attitude towards your job. Your attitude towards your work has a huge impact on how motivated you are to accomplish tasks. Research suggests that when you do something you enjoy or experience pleasure from it, your productivity will increase and the quality of your work will also be higher. Having an attitude of creative inquiry can help you view work as a source of enjoyment and as an opportunity to learn and grow. To cultivate this kind of perspective, it helps to focus on the process rather than just the product, to take time for self reflection without judgment or criticism, and to look for meaningful connections between seemingly unrelated topics. If this is not your ideal job, a change in your attitude could be the very thing that will open up an opportunity for you to move closer to your ideal job. Be thankful for what you have while at the same time be open to new possibilities. In conclusion of Part one, I wrap up by saying this. Your attitude is everything. Having a negative attitude affects your relationships and your work. On the other hand, having a positive attitude also impacts your relationships and your work. This time though, it produces a higher vibrational energy of peace, joy and love. It's well worth the time, energy and effort to be mindful of your attitude and to upgrade it when necessary. Part of attitude adjustment is also about self care, so be sure to do the work required to adjust your perspective. Deep breathing exercises, going for a walk and or reading personal development books all help to foster an environment for improving your attitude. As is the usual case for these thought sharing episodes in which I close with a couple of quotes, here are my quotes for this episode for you to ponder. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. Winston Churchill Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character. Albert Einstein People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude. John Maxwell if this is the type of subject matter and discussion that resonates with you, please follow my podcast or whatever service you're listening to. This also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a rating, a review, or a comment on Apple, Spotify or podchaser. If you like this podcast, the best way to support me and help help me grow it is by leaving a review. This helps my rankings and entices other people to listen to the show and share this episode with anyone that you think would find it valuable. Be sure to tell your friends, family and community about my podcast. I'd really appreciate it if you would recommend my podcast to a friend directly on Twitter and to mention my show in your tweet. Additionally, connect with me on Instagram and Facebook with the handle kimjfields. Thanks for listening today. I hope you'll come back for more K12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle and be sure to stay tuned on the next episode. I'll be discussing bullying in school. Until next time. Aim to learn something new every day. Foreign Consider being a regular subscriber you.

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