Why Your Attitude can Make or Break Your Future

The Importance of Staying Open-minded and Eager to Learn

New study shows that approximately 9,000 out of 10,000 failed hires were fired for attitudinal reasons only, like a lack of coach-ability and motivation, low levels of emotional intelligence, and bad temperament.

Over the weekend, I was scrolling through Forbes and ended up reading an old interview from 2012: Hire for Attitude. Throughout the discussion, Mark Murphy, author of Hiring for Attitude and CEO of Leadership IQ, shed light on the importance of soft skills in this ever changing hiring landscape.

It got me thinking, if this was 8 years ago, I can only imagine how much more important soft skills have become today, and even more so as we are all working remotely and have to work twice as hard to feel half as connected, involved and present on a social level.

These days, it’s so easy to feel unmotivated, unproductive, unhappy. And it’s so hard to not let that affect our work methods and overall mood.

But, no matter how hard it is, we must realize that our attitudes today will determine the outcome of tomorrow.

So, here are two things I've done to improve my outlook on life, and to be better prepared to enter the workforce with a positive attitude:

1. Manage your Expectations

It’s important to manage our own expectations of ourselves. No one knows you better than you. So, if you understand the limits to your attitude and your social skills, don’t go for jobs that will expect the complete opposite of who you truly are. There are jobs out there for everyone, from the most out-going social butterfly, to the most reserved introvert. Finding the right fit for your attitude and your overall ‘vibe’ is so important in the long-run.

2. Shifting your Perspectives

Through much self-reflecting, I’ve come to understand how important perspective is, and how it sets the tone for everything in your life: your career, your relationships, and more. If you’ve been focusing on all the negatives in your life, if you’ve been feeding in to them, giving them space to grow and weigh heavier and heavier, you need to shift your perspective. Do a full 180. Obviously, some problems are worse than others, and ‘just don’t think of it’ seems like a superficial thing to say, but at the end of the day, we have to do our best with what we have. For me, that’s flipping my perspective. It’s being grateful for everything I have and everything I’m good at it, instead of feeling down about everything I’m missing or lack. It's banking on my strengths and believing in my talents. It's challenging myself.

That being said, if you take anything away from today’s post, I hope its the understanding that knowing yourself, listening to your needs, and shifting your perspective can make or break your mood. And staying positive, open-minded, and finding that eagerness to learn, is what will make or break your future.

What do you think, CULTURVERSERS?

The next 'LIFE' blog post will be about how to make your positive attitude shine through virtually. We want to know how you stay positive and motivated through remote working and schooling. Answer this short 1-minute survey to shed light on your experience and share your thoughts.