Instead of Watching TV, You Can...

Read, ride a bike, go for a hike, jog, see a play, play an instrument, read, meet a friend for coffee, call your parents, learn to play an instrument, go sightseeing, take up a hobby, read, visit a local attraction, go to the gym, go for a walk, rollerblade, go golfing, play with your kids, go to the Aquarium, check out the local zoo, write (journal, article, etc.), read, workout at home, and sooo much more.

How to Change Your Attitude

I love attending the Sales Meetings at Ideon Packaging.  I'm in Operations, not Sales (although I could easily argue we're all in sales at one point or another), but I've been attending the Sales Meetings since joining Ideon over 10 years ago.  Why?  Ideon's Sales Meetings have been the source of great discussions, ideas, innovation, training and have served as the foundation for the company that Ideon has grown into today.  Not to mention continue to grow.

Today's Sales Meeting revolved around a book we're all reading right now called Rainmaking Conversations by Mike Schultz and John E. Doerr.  Chapter two was the focus of our discussion, which is centred around having a conversation with yourself about wanting to achieve more.  Specifically, six questions to ask yourself.  I'm not going to give away what the six questions are, if you want to know then go get the book.

What I am going to share is our round-table discussion we had on what it takes to change your attitude, which stems from one of the six questions.  These answers came from rookie Sales Team Members to others with years of experience and even a couple of us who aren't in sales.  I wanted to share our answers because they're real, from real people who are on the front lines everyday.  

So, how do you change your attitude?

Exercise - Exercise creates energy, energy to accomplish.  If you can stare down that little demon in your head that tells you "it's too hard", "I'm too tired" or "I can't do it" to the point where the demon goes away, then you're setting yourself up to accomplish anything.

Catalyst - For many people (myself included) there's a moment or event that spawns a change in attitude, like getting fired from a job or receiving constructive feedback about your performance.  Just be sure to acknowledge and use it to grow, don't dismiss it.

Glass Half Full - BE POSITIVE!  Positivity is a choice.  Last time I checked negativity and pessimism isn't fun, so why choose to be that way?  I was told many years ago that if it won't matter in 5 years then it's not a big deal.  Read up on Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern, this will help you.

Inner Reflection - Take some time every day to sit down and reflect on how the day went.  Celebrate the wins and treat the challenges as gifts, to help you get better.

Reading & Listening to Positive Stuff - Surround yourself with positive attitude influencers.  Watching and reading the news is NOT POSITIVE, so why do it?  You are what you repeatedly do.

Listening Deeply to People - Practice empathic listening skills with others and show them that you understand their point of view.

Surround Yourself With Positive People - Have you ever fired a friend?  I have.  It's not fun to do, but friends have a HUGE influence on your attitude.

Constantly learning - If you don't know how to be positive of change your attitude then go find a book on the topic.  There is an infinite amount of information in the world on self improvement, development and attitude.  You're not the first person who has wanted to improve their attitude or lifestyle, and chances are someone has already written a book about it.  Read!

Set Goals - Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, career, personal, family, etc...  Write them down and look at them constantly.  Make them stretch.  When a goal is reached set a new one.

Believe What You Do - If you don't believe in what you do it will come shinning through in your attitude.

Attitude is a choice, change is a choice, success is a choice, hard work is a choice...  What do you want out of life?  What's you choice?

Strive Towards One-Piece Flow

Many people have a belief that batch and queue is easier and gets the job done faster. This couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, one piece flow is the ideal way to set up a process. Besides reducing the time it takes to complete a task, there are many other benefits to one piece flow, such as:

- Reduces work in process (WIP)
- Eliminates excess inventory
- Improves floor/space efficiencies
- Heightened morale
- And much more...

To help demonstrate one piece flow vs. batching, here's a video I found on Youtube. Take a look... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQThEIJhhNs

Try it for yourself. Whether your process is entering orders, filing, processing people through a doctors office, manufacturing widgets or stuffing envelopes, if you want to reduce the time it takes to complete the process then move to one piece flow.