Attitude has a direct impact on your success, no matter how you define that success. Whether success to you is being a good student, a profit-generating business man/woman or raising a child that is ready for what the world has to offer. Your attitude, positive or negative, will have a direct impact on the quality and quantity of your success.

Your attitude is a primarily driven by the things in your life, past, present and future that you focus upon. If you focus on the successes, both large and small, of your past and your present, then your future will continue to be populated with such successes. If, however, your focus is on that which you did not accomplish, then your future will be clouded with events and tasks that you believe you cannot accomplish.

A small example of such a cant focused attitude comes directly from my own experience. Some would say that I have a gift for drawing. For as long as I can remember I have been able to draw anything that I could see. Birds, tanks, cats, airplanes and even the human body were the topics of many of my drawings in the past. However, I am red/green color-blind. Growing up knowing that I did not see color the same way the rest of the world did led me to the belief that I could not draw in color, nor paint in color. This self-limiting attitude followed me into my 30s, when I finally decided to bury the believe that I cant do in color what I have been able to so crisply do in pencil for many years. I bought a painting kit and video, watched some public broadcast TV episodes of Bob Ross. With in a week I had painted my first full color lakeside sunset scene complete with wispy clouds and proud tree lines. Now to be honest, it was no Picasso but I felt a pride that one feels when they finally overcome an obstacle that has been in their way for far too long. This was the moment I decided it was time for the death of all my I Cants.

Writing all the things I every thought, even for a moment, that I could not do was the first step down death row for my I cants. I sat down that weekend and wrote for what seemed like hours, everything I ever let my brain entertain as an I cant. Things like: I cant speak in public. I cant lead a team of fortune 500 employees. I cant raise a child alone. I cant.. I cant I cant. One thing after another filled the paper as I wrote them all down. When I felt I had exhausted the I cants to their fullest. I took each piece of paper and folded them neatly in half. Taking them outside to my gas grill I ignited the flame to its highest level. Removing the grills themselves I dangled each piece of paper filled with my I cants and began burning them one by one. As I watched all my I cants go up in smoke I began to restate them in a more positive manner. I can speak in public, once I have the proper training and experience. I can lead a team of fortune 500 employees if we all have the same goal in mind. I can raise my child alone if necessary for I am a good father. I can build my own business. I can. I can I can One by one my I cants met with their final demise and I began replacing them with a more positive outlook on what I can do, as well as how I can begin taking steps to do it.

I recently learned that I am not the only one that has taken such steps towards executing their negative attitudes. Phillip Childs tells a story of a 4th grade class that spent a good portion of their morning writing down all their I cants onto pieces of paper. Not only the students but the teacher as well wrote down all their I Cants and placed them all in a single shoebox. Once all the sheets had been collected into the shoebox, the teacher led the students out onto the playground. In a far corner of this playground everyone took turns with the shovel digging a hole in which the box of I cants was placed and finally covered up. The teacher asked everyone to hold hands in a circle around the grave and bow their heads. She then began her eulogy. We are gathered here today to honor the memory of I cant. While he was with us, he touched each of our lives in some way. Some were touched in stronger ways than others She went on to speak of the surviving brothers and sisters of I Cant, who are; I Can, I Will, and I am going to right now. Mentioning that while these surviving brothers and sisters are not as famous or as strong (yet) as their buried sibling. Perhaps some day with our help I Can, I Will, and I am going to right now will leave a bigger mark on our world than I cant. After the eulogy the teacher and her students celebrated I Cants passing with a party full of cookies, popcorn and juice. Finally, on the wall of the classroom was hung a headstone, which read I Cant across the top and RIP in the middle. Every time one of the students forgot that I Cant was dead and buried she merely pointed to the headstone on the wall and they would rephrase their statement.

Now is the time to bury your I Cants. Lay them to rest for good so that you can begin to spin a thread of success into the fabric of your life. There are not be too many times that you will read, or hear, me specifically ask you to focus on the negative. However, this is one of those exceptions to the positive thinking rule. Sit down and make a list of all the I Cants that fill your mind. A list of all the I Cants that are stealing away the life you want, desire, and deserve. Write them one by one until you feel you have listed all of your I Cants. Then lay them to rest. Whether you follow my Viking style burial by fire, or if you follow the more traditional route that the 4th grade class took, matters not. What matters is that go through the steps of writing them all down and then lay them to rest once and for all, as you restate them as I Cans, I Wills and I am going to right nows.

Lastly, celebrate the laying to rest of your I Cants! Go out and do something special for you! Something that will mark this day in your memory. This way any time the ghost of I Cant tries to haunt your mind, you will be reminded of his demise. You will be reminded to restate the I Cant as one of his brothers or sisters I Can, I Will or I am going to right now.

Think Successfully & Take Action!