What Kind of Attitude Are You Projecting?
In high school, a brazen classmate of mine said to me, “You look mad at all the time”. I had no idea what he was talking about. I wasn’t mad. In high school, I was nervous most of the time. However, he made me consider the attitude I was projecting to people. My anxiety caused me to avoid eye contact and look constantly sullen.
The following is common sense: employers want a can-do attitude over a no-can-do attitude. I’ve seen people fixated on the idea that they can do nothing right (like they have huge personal deficiencies or curses of bad luck) and wondered if they were aware of their destructive behaviors? It is so simple to see the caricatures people make of themselves when stuck in particular grooves, but often, we don’t notice our own conditioned mannerisms.
What does a can-do attitude involve? Nothing spectacular or superhuman. It simply involves accepting work and offering an affirmation that it can and will be done. Be careful about what you convey to your boss on a regular basis as he/she assigns work.
For instance, I once had a supervisor who was not very realistic about his expectations. I even received confirmation from other employees that he expected things to be done much quicker than humanly possible. My boss, however, did not like to hear me say that something couldn’t be done, and I, a realist, was apt to make these kinds of observations, which seemed very negative from his perspective. I even became pessimistic, because I felt that no matter how hard I tried I was doomed.
I dealt with my supervisor by telling him only positive things: the work would be done, and I was confident in my abilities. Eventually, I noticed that he did not mind if I took a bit of extra time to finish work. He had set the standards high, so that I would keep my standards high. While I did not necessarily agree with his policies, I did not allow myself to become dark and depressive over them. I became conscious of any negative outlooks, and with this awareness, I concentrated on reversing these thought patterns.
Tags: attitude