i change my attitude essay

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“Our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as being able to remake ourselves.” ~Gandhi

It was 1999 and my life stunk. I had failed miserably as a missionary for my church, I’d been sent to a mental hospital and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and I was in the process of losing the woman I thought I was going to marry.

I was in bad shape, and didn’t have a clue as to how I could right the ship, so to speak.

Now, 13 years later, I have a great job that provides for me and my family. I have a beautiful wife, two lovely children (with another on the way!), and plenty of free time to pursue the hobbies I enjoy. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and thanks to a few tiny little pills I take every day, I also enjoy good physical and mental health.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that everything changed completely overnight. It didn’t.

To deal with the loss of my girlfriend I did some therapy; I put myself back on the market and did a lot of dating; I consciously chose to let go of what I thought should happen and accept what had happened. Slowly, I healed until one day I realized that I was open to loving fully again.

Dealing with my mental illness is a challenge that continues to this day. I’ve put in place the foundation for good mental health by accepting the fact that I will need to be medicated for the rest of my life.

After making that choice, there has still been an endless parade of medications as we try to find the right cocktail for me. And even with the medications, I still have good times and bad. The medication, I’ve found, is a tool and not a panacea.

Making these outward choices has really helped, but there is one thing that really changed everything for me: I changed my attitude.

What caused that change? I read a book called Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl.

Frankl was a neurologist and psychiatrist who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. He was forced to work as a slave laborer and watch as many of his peers died slow, miserable deaths.

He was separated from his own wife, mother, and father, and lost them all before the war ended. But what did Frankl learn from his time in the concentration camp? Here’s what he had to say:

“Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances…”

When I read those words, something clicked inside of me. I intuitively knew that they were true, and I knew that I needed to learn how to give myself an attitude adjustment if I wanted to have any measure of peace in this world. So I began to study.

I read everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with personal development, and I began to notice patterns in the books I was consuming.

Over time, the patterns became clearer and clearer until I was able to identify 10 “rules” of happy living.

I call these rules The Ten Principles of Personal Development. They are, in no particular order:

• Be loving toward everyone you meet.
• Forgive all who attempt to harm you.
• You become what you think.
• Look for ways to strengthen those who have less than you have.
• Always seek knowledge and truth.
• Always be honest.
• Never waste what you are given.
• Be grateful for all that you have.
• Develop a spirit of optimism.
• Have faith in something greater than yourself.

Once I identified the Ten Principles, I needed a way to make them a part of my life. So I studied some more. What I found is that the best way to make something a part of your life is to set a goal and follow through on it.

So I began to set one goal a month, doing my best to live one of the principles for 30 days or so. I used The EASIER Method of Goal Achievement to pursue my goals.

If you were trying to be more grateful using the EASIER method, you would:

• Envision yourself being grateful for everything that was given to you throughout the day.
• Assess your current levels of gratitude. In what situations do you easily express your gratitude? In what situations do you struggle?
• Create a strategy that will allow you to be grateful more often.
• Implement your strategy.
• Evaluate your progress as you go through the day’s activities.
• Report your progress to someone you love and trust.

The impact of my decision to live the Ten Principles was monumental. The more I tried to live the principles, the better I felt. The better I felt, the more I wanted to live the principles. I had created a positive feedback loop that was self-reinforcing.

There were still challenges in my life, of course; now, however, I was able to tackle them with a positive attitude, and that seemed to make all the difference. Little by little my attitude improved, and as my attitude improved, I began to enjoy my life more and more.

We all go through difficult situations in life. If you’re in a tough place right now, choose one of the principles above and set a goal to practice it as well as you can over the next month.

This might not immediately change your circumstances, but you will likely find that changing your attitude slowly but surely changes your life.

Photo by h.koppdelaney

About Justin Riggs

Justin loves talking, writing, and thinking about how we can best use our time on this earth. Visit his blog at http://denvergoals.wordpress.com to learn how to transform your life and download your free copy of his e-book, Success! A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Achieve Your Goals and Dreams.

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How changing your attitude impact your life

By Catharina Kallio

Have you ever thought about the connection between your attitudes and the way you live your life? For some strange reason, attitudes are often thought of as something that is just there, something static. We tend to think of them as something that happens to us, out of our own control.

But what if instead we started to think of attitudes as something malleable. How would your life get better then? Once you realise how changing your attitudes can affect your life, you’ll want to focus on it much more.

Your attitudes can change your life

An attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object, person, thing, or event.

If we look at the definition and try to internalize it, we can draw a few conclusions. Depending on your attitude, the outcome will be different in each situation.

Thinking about it a little further, it means that a certain circumstance, person, thing or event can be perceived and reacted to in different ways. Simply put, if I’ve a different attitude than you, I’ll react differently than you. It’s not the circumstance or the person that differs, but our attitudes and thoughts about it.

What we often don’t understand is how our thoughts affect our feelings and our emotions drive our actions. This then leads to the results we’ve in life. Our thoughts and reactions can either serve us or work against us. They can help us live the life we want or they can prevent us from doing so.

The great thing about all of this is that attitudes are learned and therefore can be changed to serve you better.

How a change of attitude changed the entire situation

This story comes from real life and is a perfect example of how a change in attitude rewrites the story and the outcome.

I was on my way to work one morning and was about to get into my car with one of my boys. I expected him to sit next to me in the front, but I was surprised that he didn’t. Instead, he opened the door in the back of the car. All the years up until now my boys have more or less been fighting over which one of them is allowed to sit in the front seat.

Now, suddenly, something had changed. I got curious and asked my son why he wanted to sit in the back of the car, to which he replied, “There’s a lot more room in the back.”

“What we many times fail to understand is how our thoughts impact our emotions and our emotions drive our action. Which will then create the result we have in life.”

The lesson of the story about changing your attitude

What this story clearly demonstrates is that even though there was no change in the seats in the car, there was a  change in attitude . There was a change in both thought and behavior.  

The advantage of sitting in the front seat most likely remains, while the advantage of sitting in the back seat has been found. Even though the circumstance or situation is still the same, the definition has changed.  

Often we tend to spend a lot of energy on things we can’t control, which then reinforces our negative feelings. (Compare to them fighting about who is allowed in the front.) 

Instead, we can either learn to rewrite the story we have in our heads. Or we can learn to just let go of those situations and focus on what we can influence. If you learn to do this, you’ll save a lot of energy that you can use in other areas of life.

Changing attitude at work and what that can do for you

We can also apply the story described in the workplace because it’s applicable in other areas of life as well.  

At work, many of us tend to spend a lot of energy on things we cannot influence, rather than letting them go. We talk about the situations with our colleagues and ruminate about them. When we relive the situation over and over again, we feel even more upset.  

What we in fact are upset about is the story we have in our heads about how things should be versus how they’re.  

Sometimes we even berate a person because of our own attitude toward them, rather than because of who they really are.

The story in your head creates your attitude

Let’s say I think I’m currently being treated badly at work. I try to tell my boss about it, but she doesn’t listen. Then I push the issue further and talk about it even more. But I feel unheard. When I feel unheard, I get cynical and negative, and it shows in the way I act toward others.  What’s even worse: is, I start to think I’m not worthy or good enough.

Instead, we can look at this scenario from a different perspective by stepping out of our own story that we’ve created about the incident.  

I can try to talk to my boss about the problem, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure she understands my perspective. If I do my best and I’m still not heard, I’ve to make a decision. One of the choices I have is to keep pushing the issue, and I’ll probably get upset. 

But I can also try to change my attitude about the circumstances (as my boys have did). Instead of fixating on what I can’t do, I can change my attitude and find things I can do instead.

If you focus on things over which you’ve no power, you’ll feel angry, cynical, and perhaps even critical. 

On the other hand, if you become aware of what you can influence and change if necessary, it’ll serve you better.  

You have it in your power to change your attitude about any given situation or person in your life. This is how changing your attitude is going to impact your life.

So you see, the seat isn’t important, but how you perceive the seat is more important.

If you are interested to learn more about changing how you think, you might also want to read:

• Everything is created twice, first in your mind and then in reality
• How to change yourself
• To grow yourself start from knowing yourself

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1. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is the cornerstone of a positive mindset. By appreciating what you have, you can shift your focus from what’s missing in your life to what’s abundant.

• Start by recognizing the good in your life:  Take a few minutes each day to write down what you are thankful for. It could be as simple as a warm meal or a sunny day.
• Try to see challenges as opportunities for growth: Instead of complaining about the traffic, appreciate the extra time you get to listen to an audiobook.
• Express gratitude to others: Whether it’s a quick thank you to a colleague or a heartfelt note to a loved one, acknowledging the kindness of others can uplift both you and the recipient.

2. Cultivate a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset, a concept popularized by psychologist Carol Dweck , can fundamentally change how you approach challenges and setbacks.

• Believe in your ability to learn and grow: Instead of saying, “I’m not good at this,” say, “I’m not good at this yet.”
• Treat mistakes as learning opportunities: Remember, it’s okay not to be perfect. What’s more important is to keep improving.
• Celebrate progress, not just the outcome: Did you spend an extra hour at the gym this week? That’s a win worth celebrating!

3. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness can help you stay rooted in the present moment and reduce anxiety about the past or future.

• Engage in regular meditation: Even a few minutes a day can make a difference.
• Do one thing at a time. If you’re eating, just eat. If you’re reading, just read. Fully immerse yourself in the experience.
• Practice mindful breathing throughout the day: Breathing can help you reset your mind and find calmness.

4. Foster Positive Relationships

Surrounding yourself with positive influences can have a dramatic impact on your mindset and attitude.

• Seek out people who inspire you and make you feel good about yourself.
• Distance yourself from negativity: It’s not always easy, but it’s essential for your mental well-being.
• Nurture your relationships: Invest time and energy in building strong bonds with your loved ones.

Dreaming about sex can have a deeper spiritual meaning behind it, whether it means that your relationship with your significant other will be more cherished, or there is some new journey ahead of you, it will be a positive week for you.

5. Engage in Regular Physical Activity

Physical activity is not only good for your body but also for your mind.

• Find a form of exercise you enjoy: It could be yoga, dancing, hiking, or any other activity that gets you moving.
• Aim for consistency over intensity: Even a short walk every day is better than an intense workout once a month.
• Listen to your body: Push yourself, but also make sure to rest and recover.

6. Adopt a Balanced Diet

What you eat affects how you feel. By nourishing your body with healthy food , you can enhance your mood and energy levels.

• Prioritize whole foods. Include plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains in your diet.
• Limit processed foods: They are often high in sugar and unhealthy fats that can hinder your mental and physical health. Enjoy your meals. Savor each bite and appreciate the nourishment it provides. This can help you develop a positive relationship with food.

7. Practice Self-Care

Self-care is about taking care of your physical, emotional, mental health and even physical. It’s about treating yourself with kindness and compassion.

Related: Execesive lemon water intake on a daily basis can be bad for your body and health!

• Establish a routine that includes activities you love. It could be reading, gardening, painting, or anything else that brings you joy.
• Prioritize rest and relaxation. Make sure to get enough sleep and take breaks when you need them.
• Learn to say no: It’s important to set boundaries to prevent burnout.

8. Set Goals and Visualize Success

Setting goals can provide a sense of direction and purpose. Visualizing success can boost your motivation and confidence.

• Set SMART (Specific: Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals. This can help you stay focused and motivated.
• Visualize your success: Imagine achieving your goals in as much detail as possible. Feel the excitement and pride.
• Celebrate small victories. Every step towards your goal is an achievement worth celebrating.

Every road has its ups and downs, never give up after falling or dreaming about some bad luck like shattering glass , keep being persistent and it will pay off.

9. Embrace Change

Change is a part of life. By embracing it, you can adapt more easily and turn challenges into opportunities.

• See change as an opportunity for growth: It might be uncomfortable, but it often leads to personal and professional development.
• Be flexible. Adapt to new situations and be open to new ideas.
• Learn from change: Every change brings lessons that can help you grow and evolve.

10. Develop Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is about understanding and managing your emotions. It can improve your relationships and overall well-being.

• Practice self-awareness: Recognize your emotions and understand their impact on your thoughts and behaviors.
• Manage your emotions effectively: It’s okay to feel, but don’t let your emotions control your actions.
• Empathize with others. Understanding the emotions of others can improve your relationships and social interactions.

Early childhood trauma can make it more difficult for you to develop emotional intelligence, but there is always time for recovery.

11. Nurture Your Curiosity

Curiosity can lead to learning and growth. It can help you stay engaged and motivated.

• Ask questions: Don’t be afraid to admit when you don’t know something.
• Seek new experiences: They can broaden your perspective and enhance your understanding of the world.
• Stay open-minded: Be receptive to new ideas and viewpoints.

Related: Spruce up your everyday conversations with these 15 cool ways to respond when someone asks, “ How was your day? ”

12. Seek Continuous Learning

The pursuit of knowledge can enrich your life and help you grow.

• Make learning a lifelong habit: Whether it’s through books, online courses, or workshops, there are countless opportunities to learn.
• Learn from everyone: Each person you meet can teach you something.
• Embrace the unknown: It’s an invitation to learn and explore.

13. Practice Resilience

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity. It can help you cope with life’s ups and downs.

• Foster a positive outlook: Believe in your ability to overcome challenges.
• Build strong relationships: They can provide support during difficult times.
• Develop coping strategies: They can include activities like journaling, meditation , or talking to a friend.

14. Cultivate Self-Confidence

Self-confidence can empower you to pursue your dreams and overcome obstacles.

• Celebrate your strengths: Acknowledge what you are good at and take pride in it.
• Learn from your mistakes: They are stepping stones to success, not evidence of failure.
• Practice self-compassion: Be gentle with yourself. Remember, no one is perfect.

15. Develop a Positive Self-Talk

The way you talk to yourself can influence your mindset and attitude.

• Replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations: Instead of “I can’t do it,” say “I can do it.”
• Practice self-compassion: Remind yourself that it’s okay to make mistakes and that you are doing your best
• Celebrate your achievements: Regularly remind yourself of your progress and accomplishments.

Final Words

Changing your mindset and attitude isn’t an overnight process. It requires consistent effort and practice. However, with these 15 strategies, you can embark on a journey of personal growth and transformation that can lead to a more fulfilling and joyous life.

Remember, the power to change lies within you. You have what it takes to create a life that you love.

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How to Change Your Attitude

Last Updated: December 14, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Trudi Griffin, LPC, MS . Trudi Griffin is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Wisconsin specializing in Addictions and Mental Health. She provides therapy to people who struggle with addictions, mental health, and trauma in community health settings and private practice. She received her MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Marquette University in 2011. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 393,461 times.

A negative outlook on life can have serious consequences to your health, your relationships, and your feelings of satisfaction in life. Changing your attitude can be achieved through mindful, conscious thought and attention. Generating a positive attitude, practicing gratitude, and selectively forming new habits that promote positivity is a life-long process that can result in a changed attitude.

Generating a Positive Attitude

• Consider joining a support group for people who are similarly motivated to change their lives for the better.
• In making these changes, chances are you'll notice some patterns of positivity in your life. No one's life is all bad, and by letting go of the parts of your life that no longer serve you, you'll become more aware of the habits you want to strengthen.

• Some disagreement is natural in healthy relationships. Most relationships have some combination of healthy and unhealthy characteristics.
• Talk to a counselor together with your partner if you find yourself unable to change the unhealthy patterns on your own.
• If you are in a relationship that is violent, or emotionally or physically abusive, seek help with a local domestic violence agency. You can find these agencies in the United States by calling 211.

• Make sure to look for the positive in yourself as well.
• Remember that everything is an opportunity to learn new skills, especially the things that feel most difficult at first. If nothing else, you can be grateful for the chance to learn new things in a bad situation.
• Never stay in a situation simply because it's bad. You may be tempted to pretend that unhealthy behavior — a racist boss, an abusive partner, an emotionally manipulative friend — is providing a good opportunity for you to learn patience and tolerance. While this may be true, staying may not be the healthiest choice. One of the most positive things to learn from a bad situation is that you can leave.

• For best results, find ways to do kind things for others in a way that is completely anonymous. For example, fill up all the coin slots in a laundromat with quarters when no one is looking.
• Don't just think of how you would want to be treated; imagine the way another person might want to be treated. For someone who's very shy, perhaps writing him a note to congratulate him on his presentation might be kinder than giving him a loud compliment and hug in front of others.

wikiHow Quiz: What Kind of Reality Check Do I Need?

Pick a sea creature:, developing an attitude of gratitude.

• Some research suggests that writing gratitude lists by hand is a valuable part of this process. The physical act of writing by hand slows down your attention in a meaningful way.
• If you really can't think of anything to be grateful about, pretend to feel grateful. Remember, you're still learning to change your attitude. Consider gratitude as, "Hey, it could be worse."

• If you want to write the note, but not send it, that's fine. The purpose of writing thank you notes is mostly to practice articulating appreciation. It might not be possible to find people from your past, or the person might be deceased.
• Research shows that people who spend at least 15 minutes per week writing gratitude letters, over 8 weeks, show a demonstrable increase in positivity.

• If you practice a religion, you might turn to prayers found in this religion. If you don't consider yourself a religious person, practices of meditation might be more valuable.
• Even though it may not feel like it, practicing meditation and prayer is a kind of exercise. The more you practice, the better you will become. You may not notice the difference at first, but over time you will be able to maintain a calm, peaceful attitude no matter what's going on around you.

• For another kind of gratitude jar, try adding some change or a dollar to the jar every day when you write in your gratitude journal. When the jar is full, use the money to find creative ways to "pay it forward:" buying gift cards for unsuspecting people who might need the help, or buying flowers for someone who rarely receives recognition.
• If you're a crafty person, decorate your gratitude jar with ribbon, paint, or stickers.

• Notice when you're tempted to complain, and try to find something positive to turn your attention to.
• Complaining focuses your attention on what you'd rather have different without actually requiring you to do anything different. It keeps you in a position of powerlessness.

• Knowing more about why you've made the choices you've made may help you to avoid making bad choices in the future.
• Remember that while most negative circumstances are the result of a conscious choice made on your part, sometimes bad things happen despite careful planning. No one is immune from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• If you can't find another way to think about a bad situation, ask someone for help. Talk to a counselor, a therapist, a trusted friend or another person. You don't have to face this alone.

Forming New Habits

• If it's easier for you to take an additional hour at the end of the day, you can try this. Most, but not all, people find it more productive to take time in the early morning hours.
• Don't allow yourself to waste the morning time in negative mind traps, like reading depressing news or scrolling through social media.

• This doesn't mean to abandon a friend who may be having a hard time, but if your friend's life is always full of drama and hardship, you may need to take a break.
• If being around negative people is unavoidable (for instance, if it's your boss or supervisor) you may be able to put their negativity to use. Try to understand where it's coming from, and counter it with positivity.

• Think about what adjustments you can make to your daily routine to include more things that bring you happiness.
• Pause several times per day to take your happiness level. If you're feeling happy, think about the circumstances that have contributed to this feeling.

• When you're in a new, stressful situation, pause and take a deep breath before doing or saying anything.
• If you can, take the time to think something out before giving an answer. Say, "I need to think about it."

• You might use a particular word or phrase to return your attention to the present, such as "now" or "present" or "return."
• Don't berate yourself for losing focus. Remember, kindness is essential to developing a positive attitude.

• Try not to keep multiple tabs up on your internet browser, and turn off your phone when you're watching television. If you are washing dishes, turn off the news. Doing one thing at a time, and doing it well, will increase your positive attitude. [15] X Research source
• If you have to multitask, set aside specific times for it. When the time is up, return to your single-task outlook.
• When you're having a conversation with a friend, turn off your phone.
• Slow down your attention to be more fully present in every activity.

Expert Q&A

• Don't worry if you have a hard time changing your attitude. This is a long-term process, and won't be different immediately. Be patient with yourself as you change. Thanks Helpful 9 Not Helpful 1

• If you have signs of clinical depression or anxiety, you may need professional help to change your attitude. Check with your medical health provider, or call 211 (in the United States) to find local resources. Thanks Helpful 22 Not Helpful 8

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• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/happiness-purpose/201503/happiness-life-7-rid-lifes-unnecessary-negatives
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/notes-self/201310/8-keys-healthy-relationships
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/click-here-happiness/202101/the-power-positivity
• ↑ https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/gratitude_journal
• ↑ https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/21/11/gratitude-more-just-saying-thank-you
• ↑ https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2015/08/positive-emotions-your-health
• ↑ https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good
• ↑ https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_trick_your_brain_for_happiness
• ↑ https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-exercises/
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/blog/best-self/2014/08/6-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-attitude-and-stay-positive
• ↑ https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier
• ↑ https://positivepsychology.com/present-moment/
• ↑ https://hbr.org/2012/03/the-magic-of-doing-one-thing-a
• ↑ https://www.teachthought.com/technology/25-tips-to-deal-with-digital-distractions/

About This Article

To change your attitude, start by taking action to be kind to others on a regular basis. Just small things filling up the laundromat dryer with quarters for the next person or writing a quick note to cheer up a friend will increase your own positivity. Another key to having a positive mindset is practicing gratitude. Cultivate the discipline of gratitude by keeping a journal where you write down something from each day that you are grateful for. Extend that gratitude to others by sending thank you cards to the people who have helped you, whether it be for something that happened recently years ago. For more tips from our Counseling co-author, like how to improve your attitude with mindfulness and meditation, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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• 10 Ways of Thinking That Will Boost Your Academic Performance

You should also read…

• How to Find the Learning Style That Suits You Best
• 8 Bad Habits Successful Students Don’t Have

Do you wonder exactly what it is that the high achievers do that others don’t? Perhaps they work harder than everyone else. Perhaps they have a secret stash of books that nobody else knows about. Perhaps they’re just cleverer. We’d hazard a guess, though, that the mystery ingredient is more a state of mind: it’s the fact that they have the right attitude. One must never underestimate the importance of thinking in the right way when it comes to academic success. Achieving a positive state of mind where your studies are concerned is almost as important as learning academic ways of thinking; in this article, we’ll look at both. Getting into the right mindset will provide a tremendous boost to your studies and your ability to cope well with your academic workload. In this article, we give you some inspiring ways of thinking that you can adopt as mantras to help you take a more positive approach to your studies.

1. “Rome wasn’t built in a day”

Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, success generally doesn’t happen overnight. It’s something you have to work hard at over a prolonged period of time. It takes effort and determination, and you can’t expect instant results. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…” (we’d perhaps skip the “pain” part of that quote, but the rest stands!). This is very true of your education. Academic success takes many years of hard work . There are no shortcuts; there’s no substitute for a lot of reading, a lot of essay-writing, and, unfortunately, probably a lot of mistakes as well (we’ll look at how to respond to those later). However large the task that lies ahead of you feels when you first start it, there will come a time when you look back over everything you’ve learned and realise that your knowledge has grown from a small hamlet to a large and beautiful city (to use the Rome analogy). But it takes time, and you’ll need to be both determined and patient with yourself while you’re getting there. Remind yourself of this fact each time you feel impatient with your studies, and look back over how far you’ve already come.

2. “I will not admit defeat”

We all have moments of feeling defeated, saying to ourselves, “I can’t do this”. Give your studies a boost by turning negativity into positivity, simply by adding the word “yet” to any statement you feel tempted to make about your inability to do something. Rather than “I can’t do this”, tell yourself “I can’t do this yet ” (or, if you’re feeling particularly positive, “I can do this”!). For example, it’s not “I can’t figure out Latin verbs”, it’s “I can’t figure out Latin verbs yet.” Instead of giving up hope, thinking in this way encourages you to look forward to a time when you’ve mastered whatever it is you’re having problems with. Given time, you can conquer the problem. You just have to keep going, even when the going gets tough.

3. “I will not rest on my laurels”

If you’re top of your class and always get excellent grades, the temptation is to rest on your laurels – to think you’re already good enough, so there’s no point making any extra effort. This is a bad way of thinking, because there’s always more you can do to get even better at your studies, no matter what the subject and no matter how good you are at it. If you’ve exhausted the potential of the A-level syllabus, for instance, you can start researching other areas of the subject, reading widely to increase your knowledge. You can take on an extra qualification, such as the Extended Project Qualification , to add additional credentials to your university application. You can start reading up on topics you might end up studying at university. You could even mentor a younger student. The more you do to improve your subject-specific knowledge and skills, the better – particularly for the subject you intend to study at university, but general knowledge is valuable too. In your essays, strive for better each time, impressing your teacher with extra things you’ve learned outside the classroom. Working at a higher level in this way, your essays will stand out from those of your classmates, rewarding you with better university references and top exam results.

4. “I will learn from my mistakes”

There’s no doubt about it: criticism can be very upsetting. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to respond to it. Getting yourself into the right mindset for handling criticism will be a good boost to your studies, because it allows you to learn from your mistakes so that you continue to improve. Taking criticism personally – for instance, taking it as a sign that your teacher has a vendetta against you, or taking it to mean that you’re no good – isn’t going to help anyone. A much better way of thinking is to take criticism constructively, viewing it as your teacher’s way of helping you to do better next time. Reread what you wrote, objectively, in the light of the criticism you’ve received, and make sure you’ve understood exactly where it fell short. Then ensure that in your next essay, you don’t make the same mistake.  We’ve covered how to respond to different types of essay feedback in a previous article, so take a look at that to learn more about how you can learn from your mistakes.

5. “To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail”

This is particularly true of exam preparation , but it’s also applicable to your studies in general. Failing to prepare adequately for a class, essay, exam, interview, or any other situation or piece of academic work, is a guaranteed way to set yourself up for disappointment. The best students allow plenty of time for each and every assignment, and work meticulously towards it, preparing thoroughly and producing excellent results. Rushed work comes across as sloppy, and is unlikely to yield the top grades. Getting into the habit of allowing plenty of preparation time, and viewing that preparation time as fundamental to your future success, will stand you in good stead for school, university and beyond.

6. “I will not be afraid of failure”

While we certainly wouldn’t advocate preparing to fail as discussed in our previous point, it’s also true that being afraid of failure holds many people back from achieving their true potential. They’re afraid to try new things in case they’re no good at them, and afraid to express their opinion or make bold statements in case people disagree with them, sticking to bland essay-writing that sits on the fence and doesn’t excite the reader or break new ground. Successful students, on the other hand, are not afraid of failure; they know that success lies in experimentation, even if it doesn’t always go to plan. They don’t beat themselves up if they get a bad grade or negative feedback; they learn from it and do better next time (not everyone can be perfect all the time, after all). Winston Churchill (who didn’t do too well at school himself) summed up this sentiment with the words, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Bright students may not experience quite as much failure as this statement implies, but they nevertheless appreciate the importance of maintaining enthusiasm in the face of a setback. If at first you don’t succeed… try, try, try again.

7. “I will be interested in everything I study”

Do you feel that some of your subjects are boring? If so, the chances are that that says more about your attitude than it does about the subjects themselves.  Bearing in mind that you generally do better at subjects you find interesting, wouldn’t it be great if all your subjects were as fascinating to you as your favourite one? With a change in your way of thinking, they can be. Your misconceptions about the subject may have arisen from poor teaching early in life, or it could be that your present teacher doesn’t do enough to inspire your interest; or perhaps you can’t see a reason why you need to learn a subject that doesn’t appear to have any direct relevance to everyday life. If any of that is the case, the responsibility falls on your shoulders to look at the subject in a different light and to think about what makes what you learn interesting. Try to enjoy the pursuit of knowledge purely for its own sake; our pursuit of knowledge is, after all, one of the things that makes us human. If you make an effort to find interest in everything you study, you’ll soon find that learning is much easier, that facts stick in your mind more readily, and that your grades start improving, even for the subjects you previously didn’t care much for. If you approach a subject with the mindset that it is interesting and enjoyable, you’d be amazed at how much easier you find it to study and succeed.

8. “I choose not to be convinced by everything I read”

Moving on now to a couple of particularly academic ways of thinking, you can give your studies a massive boost by learning to think critically about everything you read. Critical thinking is vital for success at university, and the sooner you start cultivating this way of thinking, the better. Understanding that writers have an agenda – that they’re all trying to convince you of something (usually that their opinion is right) – is crucial in developing this way of thinking. For everything you read, ask yourself questions about what the writer wants you to believe, and approach everything skeptically. What is their background and agenda? What information have they used to form their opinion, and how reliable is that information? Be difficult to convince, and you’re well on the way to thinking critically. We’ve already covered critical thinking in a previous article, so take a look at this for some more ideas to help you learn this new way of thinking.

9. “I will form my own opinion”

Underpinning the concept of critical thinking is the idea of thinking for yourself. Following on from the notion that one should not be convinced by everything one reads, one of the most important ways of thinking you can adopt for academic success is the determination to form your own opinions about everything you learn. Rather than accepting the opinion of whatever scholar you happen to be reading at the time, you should try to read as wide a variety of opinions as you can, and then, having approached each text in the manner described in our previous point, you decide which argument you find most persuasive. Including your own intelligent opinions in your essays – adequately backed up with reasons and evidence, of course – will show your teachers or lecturers that you’ve thought about the subject in sufficient depth to decide what you actually think (rather than copying someone else’s opinion or sitting on the fence), and that’s the hallmark of a top student. Again, we’ve explained how to think more rationally and develop your own opinions in a previous article .

10. “I will believe in my future”

Finally, it’s easy to think negatively when your studies are getting you down and to imagine that your future is bleak (that you’ll fail all your exams, for example). Perhaps you’ve received a bad grade, feel overwhelmed with your workload or you’re struggling to get to grips with a difficult topic. At times like these, it’s important to believe in yourself and to believe that you have a bright future ahead of you. It may not feel like it right now, but success is well within your grasp. Keep that goal in mind, and the rest will follow.

How To Change Your Attitude When You Can’t Change Your Situation

The phrase “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” may not always be one you embrace—especially when an unexpected life situation arises. But no matter how difficult life feels, there’s something to be said for making the most out of the moment. 

This doesn’t mean you should lie down, get comfortable, and refrain from making changes in your life because everything is spiralling out of your control. What it does mean, is making changes to how you feel about it. When you can’t change your situation, you can make changes to your attitude. Roadblocks may make you feel out of control, defeated, and emotionally exhausted, but you don’t have to live there. 

Most of us feel uncertain and distressed when faced with situations we can’t change, no matter what personality type we are . The good news is, no matter your situation, you can learn to change your attitude.

1. Managing your stress

Stress plays a large factor in our emotions and how we handle them. Suppressing your stress or mismanaging it can provoke changes in your attitude, and lead to any number of things that affect your mood. 

For instance, unmanaged stress can result in physical ailments, anxiety, or depression . Prolonged exposure to stress may weaken the immune system, and when you don’t feel well physically, it can impact how you feel mentally.

The Mayo Clinic also points out that anger, restlessness, a feeling of being overwhelmed, and a lack of motivation are all physical symptoms of stress.

If your situation is causing you to feel stressed, the first thing to implement is a proper stress management regime to uplift your mood and attitude. Common recommendations include exercise, art therapy, journaling, relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga,  meditation, and social activities. It’s normal for everyone to have their own techniques. 

2. Recognize negative feelings and thoughts  

Regardless of whether you type as a Feeler or a Thinker in the Myers and Briggs personality system, your emotions (and how you process them) will play a large part in your attitude. You can’t move forward with an attitude change if you’re still letting feelings of disappointment or unhappiness lead your day. 

If you’re a highly rational Feeler , you may feel you’ve already recognized your feelings and looked at them logically. Other types may struggle with this process. Either way, it is not until you deal with your emotions, rather than dismissing them or rationalizing them, that you will feel better equipped to begin the journey to changing your attitude. 

The best way to get your feelings out on the table is to write them down or engage in a hobby that allows for emotional expression. Running , for example, is a meditative activity that may allow yourself to engage in inner reflection.

After identifying your feelings and recognizing negative thought processes, such as blaming yourself for life events that are outside your control, ask yourself why you feel that way. Acknowledge it, and then give yourself permission to let go of thoughts that do you no good.     

3. Changing what is possible

While you may not be able to change your situation as a whole, you can always implement small changes in your life that help improve things. Ask yourself, “What can I change that’s been bothering me?” 

Think of small things that will make life easier, lighten your mood and give your outlook a boost. Is your home office too cluttered? Have you been putting off organizing? Maybe you have a small goal you’ve yet to implement, such as reading ten pages a day or starting a new exercise routine or cooking regimen? 

While implementing small, focused goals in your day-to-day life may not feel like the big-picture solution that types like ENFPs , ENFJs and ENTPs crave, it’s still a helpful tip for every type. Judging types especially may feel better when they meet small goals, because it gives them a sense of control and accomplishment. For Perceivers, different goals are always emerging. But it’s the act of doing something – rather than doing nothing – that helps you feel in control of a situation. Alphabetizing your new bookshelf can give you an attitude lift! 

As an INFJ , the recent COVID-19 shut down in California forced me to embrace these small goals I’d been putting off for months. And the steps I took, while small, have given me a feeling of consistency, peace, and accomplishment when I otherwise might have felt out of my comfort zone, with little control over my day-to-day. 

Most of the time, small changes are doable, so why wouldn’t you take them on? Take a look at your schedule, find a slot of ten minutes, and think, “What can I fill this time with to make myself feel happier? What changes can I make?” 

4. Practice gratitude and acceptance 

My mother told me that she never knew what acceptance was until she’d been through the fire after an illness she couldn’t control. Like many people, she used to think that “accepting what you can’t change” means to accept that you have no control over your life; a surrender. 

But acceptance doesn’t mean you take whatever life is throwing at you at face value. It means you’re aware of when a circumstance is inalterable, but you remain grateful and aware of other things you can change to pull yourself through. It’s recognizing that sometimes, we aren’t in the cockpit of the plane (yes, I know it’s hard Judging types). But you can, and will, get through difficult life events. 

Life doesn’t always hand out the easy cards. But if you accept that you can’t change your circumstance, you’ll find yourself more readily equipped to roll with the punches rather than sitting in a negative stew of blame. You’ll understand that you’re not surrendering control, but altering where you focus your control. 

Perceiving types may find more comfort in not planning, but even they can grow tired of feeling out of control. Accepting doesn’t come easy for everyone, especially when you’re a hard-headed INFJ who craves an odd balance of structure and freedom like me. But once you allow yourself the chance to accept life as it is, you don’t need to feel out of control. There is always something you can control, and always a way to make life brighter during the tough times.

5. Set affirmations 

Changing your attitude is learning a new habit. That means you’re going to have days that require extra patience and extra reminders. That’s okay. You’re allowed to have days where you feel down—we all are. 

One way to commit to an attitude change is to remind yourself daily. Voice your intentions, or affirmations, before you get your day started. Wake up and tell yourself that you’re going to have a good day and you’re going to be more positive. When you repeat something to yourself long enough, it has a lasting effect on your mood, like a self-fulfilling prophecy . 

6. Acknowledge your accomplishments

I am the first to say how much I hate giving myself praise, but there are times when it’s essential to give yourself a pat on the back. Whenever a situation has you down, acknowledging your past accomplishments gives you a chance to reflect. 

Try reminding yourself of the times you pulled through a tough situation; remember the things you’ve accomplished, no matter the odds. Take time to cheer yourself on and remember situations will eventually change.

7. Immerse yourself in things that make you happy

You’d be amazed how much lighter you’ll feel when you immerse yourself in things that make you feel joy. Although your day-to-day may make you feel negative, you can give yourself a boost by incorporating things you’re passionate about into your life. 

This can be as easy as singing along to a song you love, listening to a podcast that inspires you, practicing a self-care routine, cooking a favorite dish, or watching a film. 

Make the changes!

This year has been anything but predictable, and that can cause even the most unflappable person to feel out of kilter. Making these changes may not be easy at first, but once you’ve changed your attitude, you can better handle any situation life throws at you and learn to cope when you feel out of control.

Cianna Garrison Cianna Garrison holds a B.A. in English from Arizona State University and works as a freelance writer. She fell in love with psychology and personality type theory back in 2011. Since then, she has enjoyed continually learning about the 16 personality types. As an INFJ, she lives for the creative arts, and even when she isn’t working, she’s probably still writing.

Essays About Change: Top 5 Examples and 10 Prompts

If you are writing essays about change, see below our best essay examples and writing prompts to help expand your horizon on this topic.

The only thing constant is change. It could be good or bad. It could be short-term or have a lasting impact. The best we can do is to ride on this inevitable and never-ending cycle of change and try coming out of it still standing, thriving, and smiling. This ability to cope with change is called resilience. 

However, some changes – such as the loss of a loved one or a livelihood — are too overwhelming to deal with that some fall into trauma and depression, in which case psychological support is highly encouraged. Read on to see our round-up of rich, well-written essays about change, and a list of helpful prompts follows to help you start your essay. 

1. “The Psychology Of Dealing With Change: How To Become Resilient” by Kathleen Smith

2. how prison changes people by christian jarrett, 3. six ways the workplace will change in the next 10 years by jordan turner, 4. “social movements for good: what they are and how to lead them” by derrick feldman, 5. “the right way to make a big career transition” by utkarsh amitabh, 1. changing your lifestyle for the better, 2. be the change the world needs, 3. adapting to life-changing events, 4. addressing climate change, 5. how did technology change our daily lives, 6. people who changed the world, 7. if you could change the world, 8. dealing with resistance to change, 9. coming-of-age novels, 10. changing your eating habits.

“If you can learn to cope with change, you’ll lower your risk for anxiety and depression. Your relationships will flourish, and your body will feel healthier. But if you can’t cope with change, only a minor amount of stress can make you feel overwhelmed by life. You might also struggle to set and meet the goals you have for yourself.”

Instead of fixating on events and people over which we do not have the power to control, we should focus on ourselves and how we can embrace change without fear. Some tips in this essay include practicing self-care, being in the present, and focusing on your priorities, such as health and well-being. 

Check out these essays about being grateful and essays about heroes .

“Ultimately, society may be confronted with a choice. We can punish offenders more severely and risk changing them for the worse, or we can design sentencing rules and prisons in a way that helps offenders rehabilitate and change for the better.”

In an environment where you are forced to follow the rules to the letter and worry about your safety and privacy daily, prisoners could develop a kind of “perpetual paranoia” or “emotional numbing” and deteriorate cognitive abilities. The essay suggests a rethink in how we deal with law-breakers to encourage reform rather than punish and risk repeat offenses.

Check out these essays about police brutality and essays about assessment .

“As technology closes the divide between geographically separate people, it introduces cracks in relationships and cultures. The remote distribution of work means that many employees will not build the same social relationships in the workplace, leading to issues of disengagement and loneliness.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted our way of work in our new normal, but more changes are yet to unfold. This essay looks into the future of work where responsibilities and demands will see a sea change; machines will be co-workers; and the best employee is defined by digital skills, not years of experience.

You might also like these essays about cinema and essays about jealousy .

“Social movements for good establish a mass platform of action for a population, which helps inform and cultivate the awareness necessary to help prevent an issue from affecting more people. True social movements for good have the power to generate awareness that produces tangible results, helping the general population live longer, more productive, happier lives.”

A social movement for good aims to bring social justice to an aggrieved community by calling for tangible support and resources. To accelerate a movement’s momentum, an effective leader must possess certain qualities in this essay.

“There were so many questions running through my head during this time. Why should I quit to make this my full-time job? Is this what I really want? When should I quit? Poet Mary Oliver’s words kept ringing in my head: ‘What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’”

Deciding on a career change is more complex than deciding whether you want to do something different. A career shift entails lifestyle, mindset, and motivation changes, each of which has to be carefully reassessed and prepared for. This essay guides you in deciding when or why it is right to leave your job.

10 Interesting Writing Prompts on Essays About Change

Below are thought-stimulating prompts to help with your essay: 

Committing to regular exercise or getting to bed earlier may be easier said than done. Moreover, the determination that was burning at the start of your lifestyle change journey may wane in the latter part when things get tough. So, for your essay, provide practical tips from wellness experts and your own experience on how to sustain a routine toward a better lifestyle. You can split your essay into sections for each health and wellness tip you recommend.

This is the gist of the famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi: “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Unfortunately, many of us get frustrated over people refusing to change but fail to see how this change should start with our perception and action. In this essay, write about what an individual can do to focus more on self-improvement and development. 

Have you ever faced a situation where you had to adapt to a drastic change? It could be moving to a different city or school or dealing with losing a loved one. Share your experience and list the traits and practices that helped you through this challenging phase. You may also research what psychologists recommend people to do to keep from falling into depression or developing anxiety. 

To offer a unique highlight in your essay, tackle what your school or community is doing to fight global warming. Interview city councilors and mayors and learn about ongoing initiatives to keep the city clean and green. So this essay could help entice others in your community to work together and volunteer in initiatives to slow climate change.

List down the advantages and disadvantages technology has presented in your life. For example, seeking clarification from teachers about an assignment has been made easier with the many communication channels available. However, technology has also enabled a work-at-home or distance learning arrangement that is causing burnout in many households. 

Feature a person who has revolutionized the world. It could be a scientist, artist, activist, writer, economist, athlete, etc. Preferably, it is someone you idolize, so you do not have to start from scratch in your research. So first, provide a short profile of this person to show his life and career background. Then, write about their ultimate contribution to society and how this continues to benefit or inspire many. 

If there’s one thing you could change in this world, what would it be? This sounds like a question you’d hear in pageants, but it could be a creative way to lay down your life advocacy. So, explain why this is where you want to see change and how this change can improve others’ lives.

Resistance to change is most common when companies modernize, and the dinosaurs in the office refuse to learn new digital platforms or systems. Write about what you think leaders and human resource units should do to help employees cope with changes in the new normal.

A coming-of-age novel tells stories of protagonists who grow up and undergo character transformation. From being eaten up by their fears, the main heroes become braver and better at confronting a world that once intimidated them. For this prompt, share your favorite coming-of-age novel and narrate the changes in the hero’s qualities and beliefs. 

Delivering fast food has become so easy that, for many, it has become a way of life, making it an enormous challenge to replace this practice with healthy eating habits. So, research and write about nutritionists’ tips on creating a lifestyle and environment conducive to healthy eating habits.

If you’re still stuck picking an essay topic, check out our guide on how to write essays about depression . For more ideas, you can check out our general resource of essay writing topics .

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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Ways To Change Your Attitude When You Can’t Change Your Situation

Have you been experiencing frustration as a result of life circumstances that you cannot change? If so, you’re not alone. Many people experience this at some point in life. Regardless of where you find yourself in life (and where you’d like to be), you may be experiencing life circumstances that are simply out of your control. It might be a relationship, a job, or even a dreaded responsibility that makes you feel stressed or anxious. While we cannot always control our life circumstances, research suggests that what is often within the scope of what we can control is our attitude .

The following five ways to change your attitude pull from scientific research on attitude and may help you effect behavioral changes that lead to goal attainment and greater overall well-being.

What is attitude?

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), an attitude is “a relatively enduring and general evaluation of an object, person, group, issue, or concept on a dimension ranging from negative to positive.” 

Attitude change and toxic positivity

As a child and into adulthood, you may have received reminders to work on a positive attitude or “turn your frown upside down.” While such statements may be expressed with good intentions, they don’t always fully acknowledge the true meaning of attitude, nor the pitfalls of toxic positivity.

From time to time, it is acceptable and human to experience negative emotions and to feel like you can’t maintain a positive attitude without sacrificing your honesty or vulnerability. However, when you can’t change a negative attitude, it may be beneficial to try new strategies and tap into your social support system, which can include friends, family, and a trusted therapist.

The relationship between attitude and behavior

Some psychologists devote their careers to the study of attitudes and how behaviors and attitudes are related and change together. There are even principles that recognize the link between behavior and attitude, such as the principle of attitude consistency . This principle states that our affect, behavior, and cognition about something tend to be aligned. Therefore, our attitude can influence our behavior.

Social marketing offers examples of this phenomenon. For example, a campaign promoting abstinence from smoking may effectively “sell” an attitude and ideally can change the associated behavior.

However, the relationship can go the other way as well, with research showing that our behaviors can also influence our attitude .

Ways to change your attitude

The science of attitude change underpins the following strategies. They’re intended for people who can’t change their current circumstances but have the resources to shift their attitudes.

Notice and accept your feelings

In the course of a day, you likely experience a range of feelings—some pleasant, some less so. However you’re feeling, you might take a moment to simply notice and even jot down your emotions in a journal or on a sticky note. Consider what you’re feeling and whether certain emotions feel more intense at a particular time of day.

If you’re familiar with meditation , you may have found that these questions can come up naturally during meditation. A meditative practice can be simple: just five minutes of sitting in a quiet space and noticing your breath can increase your emotional awareness.

When you take inventory of your feelings, you can start developing strategies to alleviate the unpleasant ones and maximize the good ones. For instance, if you notice that you often feel irritable after lunch, you might consider adding an afternoon walk to your routine or sitting down to your afternoon workload with a favorite beverage. These small changes might break up any monotony that you experience and help you change specific emotions that arise throughout the day.

Manage stress

Stress is inevitable, but there are many effective ways to manage it. To prevent the accumulation of stress, mental health care professionals recommend engaging in regular exercise, eating nourishing food, and participating in enjoyable activities. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider starting small.

You might try heading to bed 20 minutes earlier, taking ten minutes in the morning to read a book, or calling a friend or family after a stressful day. These small investments in your health and relationships can reap significant rewards over time.

When you feel less stressed and more connected to other people, you may be more likely to think positively. Ultimately, this may change your attitude about life, encourage you to take risks, and help you bounce back from setbacks.

Reevaluate your expectations

If you wake up every morning and expect to check off everything from your to-do list and then some, it might be time to reevaluate your expectations.

In some cases, what we want to achieve isn’t possible in the present moment. You might consider rearranging your expectations as a “portfolio” of life areas, balancing work, family, friendships, and other foundational aspects of life.

This does not mean you have to lower all expectations and give up on the possibility of improvement, but adjusting your expectations may help prevent disappointment. With healthy, realistic expectations, you may find that you make more progress and accomplish more of your goals, which may help you build momentum to achieve even more. 

Redefine success

Similar to reevaluating your expectations, redefining what “success” means to you can take time and reflection. By slowing down and checking in with yourself, you may find that you can make changes based on your values and priorities. 

Some experts posit that success is in your attitude , which means that if you expect to fail, you might unintendedly set yourself up for that outcome. However, if you decide that you’ll achieve your goals, getting there may become a matter of how and when, not if, you’ll achieve your goals.

For example, you might track the number of times you complete a daily walk or whether you successfully complete a five-minute meditation in the morning. These actions may seem small, but they can add up over time. By monitoring them, you might see and feel the change in your attitude.

Seek out support

Although you can implement any of these strategies on your own, you may find that you make more progress with the help of a supportive, licensed therapist to guide you through these and other changes. Therapists are often knowledgeable about the challenges and rewards of attitude change, which can result in transformative behavioral changes. 

To make therapy more convenient and affordable, a growing number of counselors offer their services online using digital platforms. For example, with online therapy at BetterHelp , you can engage in therapy from home through phone or videoconferencing. You can also check in with your therapist at any time via in-app messaging, and they’ll respond as soon as they can. 

Research indicates that online therapy can be just as effective as in-person counseling. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) specifically focuses on changing thoughts and attitudes to promote positive behavior change, and research published in JMIR Mental Health shows that CBT can be effectively conducted online (iCBT).

• Embracing Kindness To Yourself And Others Every Day Medically reviewed by Majesty Purvis , LCMHC
• How To Be Seductive (And Still Be Yourself) Medically reviewed by Paige Henry , LMSW, J.D.
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The Components of Attitude

Definition, Formation, Changes

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Overview of Attitude

Attitude formation, attitudes and behavior, why attitudes change, frequently asked questions.

In psychology, an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object, person, thing, or event.

Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing. They can have a powerful influence over behavior and affect how people act in various situations. While attitudes are enduring, they can also change. The main components of attitude are cognitive, affective, and behavioral, which means they incorporate thoughts, feelings, and actions.

This article explores what attitudes mean in psychology and how they are formed. It also covers how attitudes impact behaviors and factors contributing to attitude change.

Illustration by JR Bee, Verywell 

To understand the meaning of attitudes, it can be helpful to look at a few different examples. Attitude can refer to:

• Your opinion on the death penalty
• Your opinion about which political party does a better job of running the country
• Whether prayer be allowed in schools
• Whether violence on television be regulated

Chances are that you probably have fairly strong opinions on these and similar questions. You've developed attitudes about such issues, and these attitudes influence your beliefs as well as your behavior. Attitudes are an important topic of study within the field of social psychology . But what exactly is an attitude? How does it develop? 

How Psychologists Define Attitudes

Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times.

For example, you might have mixed feelings about a particular person or issue. Researchers also suggest that there are several different characteristics that make up attitudes. The components of attitudes are sometimes referred to as the ABC's of attitude.

3 Components of Attitude

• Affective Component:  How the object, person, issue, or event makes you feel
• Cognitive Component:  Your thoughts and beliefs about the subject
• Behavioral Component:  How attitude influences your behavior

Attitudes can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitudes are those that we are consciously aware of and that clearly influence our behaviors and beliefs. Implicit attitudes are unconscious but still have an effect on our beliefs and behaviors.

Several factors can influence how and why attitudes form, including:

Attitudes form directly as a result of experience. They may emerge due to direct personal experience, or they may result from observation.

Social Factors

Social roles and social norms can have a strong influence on attitudes. Social roles relate to how people are expected to behave in a particular role or context. Social norms involve society's rules for what behaviors are considered appropriate.

Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways. Consider how advertisers use classical conditioning to influence your attitude toward a particular product. In a television commercial, you see young, beautiful people having fun on a tropical beach while enjoying a sports drink. This attractive and appealing imagery causes you to develop a positive association with this particular beverage.

Conditioning

Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes develop. Imagine a young man who has just started smoking. Whenever he lights up a cigarette, people complain, chastise him, and ask him to leave their vicinity. This negative feedback from those around him eventually causes him to develop an unfavorable opinion of smoking and he decides to give up the habit.

Observation

Finally, people also learn attitudes by observing people around them. When someone you admire greatly espouses a particular attitude, you are more likely to develop the same beliefs. For example, children spend a great deal of time observing the attitudes of their parents and usually begin to demonstrate similar outlooks.

Attitudes can form through direct experience, social influence, formal education, conditioning processes, and observation.

We tend to assume that people behave according to their attitudes. However, social psychologists have found that attitudes and actual behavior are not always perfectly aligned.

After all, plenty of people support a particular candidate or political party yet fail to vote. People also are more likely to behave according to their attitudes under certain conditions.

Factors Influencing Attitude Strength

• Are an expert on the subject
• Expect a favorable outcome
• Experience something personally
• Stand to win or lose something due to the issue
• Are repeatedly expressed attitudes

Changing to Match Behavior

In some cases, people may alter their attitudes to better align them with their behavior. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which a person experiences psychological distress due to conflicting thoughts or beliefs. In order to reduce this tension, people may change their attitudes to reflect their other beliefs or actual behaviors.

Using Cognitive Dissonance

Imagine the following situation: You've always placed a high value on financial security, but you start dating someone very financially unstable. You have two options to reduce the tension caused by conflicting beliefs and behavior.

You can end the relationship and seek a more financially secure partner, or you can de-emphasize the importance of fiscal stability.

In order to minimize the cognitive dissonance between your conflicting attitude and behavior, you either have to change the attitude or change your actions.

While attitudes can have a powerful effect on behavior, they are not set in stone. The same influences that lead to attitude formation can also create attitude change.

Learning Theory

Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning can be used to bring about attitude change. Classical conditioning can be used to create positive emotional reactions to an object, person, or event by associating positive feelings with the target object.

Operant conditioning can be used to strengthen desirable attitudes and weaken undesirable ones. People can also change their attitudes after observing the behavior of others.

Elaboration Likelihood Theory

This theory of persuasion suggests that people can alter their attitudes in two ways. First, they can be motivated to listen and think about the message, thus leading to an attitude shift.

Or, they might be influenced by the characteristics of the speaker, leading to a temporary or surface shift in attitude. Messages that are thought-provoking and that appeal to logic are more likely to lead to permanent changes in attitudes.

Dissonance Theory

As mentioned earlier, people can also change their attitudes when they have conflicting beliefs about a topic. In order to reduce the tension created by these incompatible beliefs, people often shift their attitudes.

Attitudes are not set in stone and may change when people learn new information, when they are persuaded by influential people, or when they experience discomfort due to holding conflicting beliefs.

A Word From Verywell

Attitudes play a pivotal role in shaping human behavior, from the choices people make about living their lives to the health behaviors they engage in daily. Understanding where these attitudes come from and how they sometimes change can help you look for ways to improve your attitudes, whether it means adopting a more positive outlook on life or changing your opinion based on new information.

Attitudes can be positive or negative, and explicit or implicit. Positive attitudes involves good feelings, where negative attitudes are charaterized by hostility, anger, or dislike. Explicit attitudes are conscious, while implicit attitudes are unconscious.

The cognitive component of attitude involves the thoughts that people have about something. The affective component refers to the emotional response tht people have about the attitudinal object. 

International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences. 3 D Model of Attitude.

Chaiklin, H. Attitudes, Behavior, and Social Practice . The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare : Vol. 38 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. 

Perlovsky L.  A challenge to human evolution—cognitive dissonance.  Frontiers in Psychology . 2013;4. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00179.

American Psychological Association.  Teaching tip sheet: Attitudes and behavior change . 

• Chaiklin H. Attitudes, Behavior, and Social Practice.  Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare . 2011. 
• Teaching Tip Sheet: Attitudes and Behavior Change.  American Psychological Association.  http://www.apa.org/pi/aids/resources/education/attitude-change.aspx

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Attitude changes everything – it can change your life

Attitude changes everything. Change your attitude and you can change your life. You cannot always control what happens to you in life but you can always control how you respond to the challenges or difficult situations you encounter. The attitude you approach anything with is entirely your choice. The way you choose to respond mirrors your attitude and so by changing your attitude you can change your perspective and change your life. Your attitude reflects the way you see the world and how you live in it. It affects every aspect of your life, your happiness, relationships, health, wellbeing and success. Developing a positive attitude that you apply with action can change the way you live your life regardless of the challenges or adversity you face. In this post I want to share with you some of the ways attitude can change the way you live your life.   “It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The attitude you choose will determine the outcome

Select the most useful attitude that will help you with the challenges you face. The attitude you choose will determine how successful you will manage the challenge or situation. Consider how that attitude will determine what you say, your behaviour and action and what will be the outcome.

Always take action with a purpose

Before you take any action, decide how it will serve your greater goals. Act with thought and consideration when choosing an attitude that will help you take the actions that will manage the challenges you face.

Move out of your comfort zone

If you stay stuck in your comfort zone, it may seem safe and familiar but if you don’t challenge yourself nothing will ever change. If you don’t stretch yourself every day, you will never find out what you are truly capable of. Have a go, take a risk and transition from your comfort zone into your growth zone where you will gain purpose, live your dreams, set goals and overcome the obstacles that have been holding you back.

Take action without expecting success

Change happens and confidence grows from taking action. It’s where you learn most about yourself and build resilience. Of course you have to make decisions and plan your actions to achieve the results you want, but it’s a big mistake to expect those results and then be upset or downhearted when you don’t get them. Take the best action you can but don’t fixate about the result.

Use setbacks or disappointments to learn from and to build resilience

Rather than feeling bad if you fail, reflect on your actions and see what you can do to better or learn what to do next. Growth comes from failing and learning, again and again. Seek out those who share your positive attitude. It’s a known fact that your brain automatically copies the behaviours of the people around you. Therefore, it makes sense to surround yourself with people who have a positive and proactive attitude and move away those who are unduly negative or drain your energy.

Practice gratitude more frequently

Achieving an “attitude of gratitude” entails more than simply recognising what’s wonderful in your own life. Take action by thanking other people for their gifts or kindness to you, even if that gift is something as simple as a smile or an acknowledgement. Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you want to be happier nurture the ability to laugh at yourself. It will help to balance your drive and purpose with a dash of gentle humour and fun.

If you are facing a challenge or difficulty today what attitude will you choose to help yourself?

What action will you take as a result?

If this post has been helpful please share it with other women who may benefit from reading it.

Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-darbyshire-evans

and go to www.finerthinking.com and you can sign up on the homepage for a COMPLEMENTARY BREAKTHROUGH SESSION to discover how you can learn to change your attitude and change your life so you can thrive not just survive and be fulfilled and enjoy the industry you love.

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Positive Attitude — Positive Attitude – the Key to Success

Positive Attitude - The Key to Success

• Categories: Attitude Positive Attitude Success

About this sample

Words: 1121 |

Published: Aug 30, 2022

Words: 1121 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Works Cited

• Cameron, J., & Pierce, W. D. (2002). Reinforcement, reward, and intrinsic motivation: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 70(1), 47-95. doi: 10.3102/00346543070001047
• Covey, S. R. (1989). The seven habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. New York, NY: Free Press.
• Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House.
• Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 47, pp. 1-53). Academic Press.
• Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
• Greenberg, M. T. (2010). School-based prevention: Current status and future challenges. Effective prevention and intervention practices in early childhood education and care (pp. 55-70). Springer US.
• Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge. Oxford University Press.
• Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.
• Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological inquiry, 13(4), 249-275.
• Ziglar, Z. (2000). See you at the top. Pelican Publishing Company.

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• Positive Psychology

6 Steps to Transform Your Outlook

Realize that you do, indeed, have the power to choose a different way..

Posted January 5, 2017 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

Whether it's January 1 or June 30, every day is one in which you can make a resolution to improve your life. Every morning, you can wake up and choose to let negative energy control your life or choose to live with positivity.

When you've had a bad day, week, month, or year, you can end up in a negativity spiral. You feel upset and angry, so you project these feelings out to the world and see everything through an upset and angry lens. People respond to your negative energy with their own negative energy, which just makes you feel more terrible. It's a spiral of awfulness—but it's possible to end it.

Here are six steps to transform your outlook on life, to stop your negativity, and see life positively.

1. Stop complaining.

When you sit around complaining about how terrible your life is, your life will be terrible. Complaining, wallowing, self-pity: None are creators of an enjoyable, satisfying life. The first thing you need to do to transform your outlook on life is to stop complaining about how bad your life is. Even if you don't yet have the tools to make your life better, you have one that will stop making your life worse .

2. Practice thought-stopping.

Before you can open yourself up to positive thinking , you've got to stop your negative thinking . When all of your thoughts are negative, negativity will be all you know. Remember: Energy follows thought. You can practice thought-stopping by becoming more aware of when your thoughts are based on negativity rather than facts. When you recognize that you are thinking in a negative, rather than factual, way, you stop the thought before it can cloud your perception.

3. End your "Yes, but…" attitude.

"Yes, but…" is a marker phrase of a negative outlook. When you "Yes, but…" life, you see the hole instead of the doughnut. When asked, "Do you like your job?" you respond, "Yes, but it doesn't pay well." When someone suggests you look for a better-paying job, you respond, "Yes, but then I might have to move to a different city," and so on.

Every life has its ups and downs, but when you only see the downs as significant, you miss all the ups. Happiness can be as much a state of mind as a factual situation. Step two of your transformation into a more positive person is to stop "Yes, but…" and try "Yes, and…" instead. "Do you like your job?" "Yes, and I'm working hard to further my career ."

4. Beware the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sometimes you think you perceive your authentic inner world when you are actually pushing your experience in a particular direction. It's called a self-fulfilling prophecy . You tell yourself your life is terrible and will never get better, so you do subtle things to make your life terrible—and you get stuck in that rut. We do this because it's good to feel right, even when feeling right also means feeling awful.

In my work, I see patients who feel more comfortable telling a version of their lives that keeps them stuck in victimhood rather than risk exploring why they feel like a victim. Examining their feelings might reveal that they're the authors of their misfortune. Mindfully, purposefully, and non-judgmentally examine the ways you see yourself as a victim. When you look at your life through a neutral lens, you may be surprised at how many areas there are in which you have more control than you thought.

5. Replace negative beliefs.

By replacing negative, unhelpful thoughts about yourself with positive, helpful ones, you can become more empowered. If, for example, you use people-pleasing thinking, believing that you'll only be happy once everyone likes you, concentrate instead on liking yourself. If you think pessimistically that your life will never work out, tell yourself that your life can be whatever you decide to make it.

You can reframe every negative thought you have about yourself in a positive way. This isn't lying to yourself. It does, however, mean you spend more time looking at the doughnut and less at the hole, and it means that the doughnut has frosting and sprinkles and the hole is just a neutral, unremarkable hole.

6. Take positive action.

Often it's not enough to change the way you think about yourself and situations. Sometimes you have to do things differently, too. If you once complained about being single and you've now changed your negative thought—"I'll never meet anyone I like"—to a positive one—"I haven't met anyone I like yet, but I still can"—the next step is to get out there and date. Or if it's a new job you're after, it's not enough to tell yourself, "It's not that all jobs are chaotic and stressful , it's just that the one I currently have is," you've got to polish your resume, get out there, and network.

Realize that you do, indeed, have the power to choose a different way. You can see life through a dark, everything-is-terrible-and-will-always-be-terrible lens and have a negative outlook on life, or you can see life through a clear, everything-is-what-it-is-and-life-has-ups-and-downs-and-that's-ok lens and have a positive outlook on life. The choice is yours to make.

For more tips on how to turn negative beliefs into positive ones, visit my website.

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Andrea Brandt, Ph.D, was a marriage and family therapist in Santa Monica, California who brought over 35 years of experience to her roles in family therapy, couples counseling, group therapy and anger-management classes.

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Essay on Attitude

Students are often asked to write an essay on Attitude in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Attitude

What is attitude.

Attitude is how you think and feel about something or someone. It’s the way you view things. It can be positive or negative. For example, if you like dogs, you have a positive attitude towards them. If you don’t like homework, you have a negative attitude about it.

Types of Attitude

There are three main types of attitudes: positive, negative, and neutral. A positive attitude means you see the good in things. A negative attitude means you focus on the bad. A neutral attitude means you don’t feel strongly one way or the other.

Importance of Attitude

Your attitude can affect your life in big ways. If you have a positive attitude, you feel happy and can handle problems better. But if you have a negative attitude, you might feel sad and find it hard to solve problems. So, it’s important to try to have a positive attitude.

Changing Your Attitude

If you want to change your attitude, you can do it! Start by thinking about good things instead of bad ones. Talk to people who make you feel good. And remember, it’s okay to have bad days. Just try to have more good ones.

In the end, your attitude is your choice. You can choose to be happy or sad, positive or negative. It’s up to you. So, try to choose a positive attitude. It can make your life better.

Also check:

• 10 Lines on Attitude
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Attitude
• Speech on Attitude

250 Words Essay on Attitude

Attitude is how we think, feel, and act towards different things in life. It’s like a mental filter through which we experience the world around us. A good attitude can make us happy and positive, while a bad attitude can make us unhappy and negative.

There are mainly two types of attitude: positive and negative. A positive attitude means you see the good in everything. You stay hopeful, even in tough times. On the other hand, a negative attitude means you focus more on the bad side. You might feel sad or angry most of the time.

Our attitude shapes our actions. If we have a positive attitude, we will act in a positive way. We will be kind to others, work hard, and never give up. But if we have a negative attitude, we might act in a harmful way. We might be mean to others, not work hard, or give up easily.

The good news is that we can change our attitude. We can choose to have a positive attitude. It might not be easy, but it is possible. We can start by thinking happy thoughts, being grateful for what we have, and doing things that make us feel good.

In conclusion, attitude is a powerful tool. It can shape our life and our future. It’s up to us to choose a positive attitude, and live a happy and successful life.

500 Words Essay on Attitude

Understanding attitude.

Attitude is the way you think and feel about something or someone. It is like a mental filter through which you experience the world around you. Your attitude can be positive or negative, and it often affects how you behave. For example, if you have a positive attitude towards studying, you will enjoy learning new things. On the other hand, if your attitude is negative, you might find studying boring and difficult.

There are mainly three types of attitudes: positive, negative, and neutral. A positive attitude means you see the good in things. You are hopeful and optimistic. A negative attitude means you focus on the bad in things. You are often unhappy or unsatisfied. A neutral attitude means you do not feel strongly one way or the other.

The Power of Positive Attitude

A positive attitude is a powerful tool. It can help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals. When you have a positive attitude, you believe in yourself and your abilities. You see problems as opportunities to learn and grow. This can make you more resilient and adaptable.

Moreover, having a positive attitude can make you happier and healthier. It can reduce stress and increase your energy levels. It can also improve your relationships with others. People are often drawn to those who are positive and uplifting.

The good news is that you can change your attitude. It is not always easy, but it is possible. Here are some ways to do it:

1. Practice gratitude: Every day, think of three things you are thankful for. This can help shift your focus from what’s wrong to what’s right in your life.

2. Surround yourself with positivity: Spend time with positive people. Read uplifting books. Listen to inspiring music. These can influence your attitude in a good way.

3. Change your thoughts: Pay attention to your thoughts. If you notice negative thoughts, try to replace them with positive ones. This can take time and practice, but it can make a big difference.

4. Be kind to yourself: Treat yourself with kindness and respect. Speak to yourself as you would to a good friend. This can help improve your self-esteem and your attitude.

In conclusion, your attitude plays a key role in how you experience life. A positive attitude can help you overcome challenges, achieve your goals, and lead a happier, healthier life. Remember, you have the power to change your attitude. It might take some effort, but the rewards are well worth it. So, start today, and see the difference a positive attitude can make.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Having a Positive Attitude towards Study

When you think of homework and study, most of you immediately feel a sense of dread and negativity, right? Well, it doesn't have to always be like that! In this blog, I'll go through some thought processes that you could try use to change your attitude and make study a bit more enjoyable. 

Focus on the end-goal instead of the road there

You might easily find yourself wanting to complain about an essay that you have to write for next Tuesday, or the list of vocab that you have to learn for your test tomorrow, but you might find it a lot easier to face these tasks if you force yourself to really think about why you're doing them.

In the case of the essay, you're doing it so that you can practise, so that your teacher can correct it and so you can learn from your mistakes, so you can get better, so that finally, you can get a great mark, feel a sense of achievement and if you're in 3rd or 6th year, get the results (or college course) you want!

Focusing on the future and focusing on the reasons why you're doing something that you mightn't particularly like can make it a lot easier to carry out. Also, remember, everything comes to an end eventually, and so will all the study and homework, etc. It won't last forever, so concentrate on the future, when you'll be finished, and let that be your overpowering, positive thought, instead of a potentially negative one that could end up making the task a lot harder for you.

You can't always change a negative situation, but you can change your attitude towards it

We've been there, trust us, we know it's not always singing and dancing being in school, in class, or even at home doing schoolwork. Sometimes, everything just sort of seems to be negative and it's like there's a cloud over your head all the time, and it's not easy to get rid of, especially if you're not a huge fan of school.

Something that could help though, is remembering that you are in complete control of your attitude.

You might be dreading something in school: an essay, a presentation, a test, whatever. Or maybe something has already happened; maybe you got a bad result in a test. Your thoughts towards it are probably pretty negative BUT do they have to be? No! Sure, you can't change the way the test went, and you can't change the fact that you have to do that essay. However, you can change the way you feel about it. In fact, it's one of the only things you can change about it, so use that to your advantage!

Let's take the bad result on the exam as an example. You did quite badly and you feel really disappointed about it and can't stop thinking about it. Your general attitude at the moment is negative. But does it have to be? No. Only your attitude is making you feel bad, and nothing else. To get rid of this feeling, you should try and change the way you see the situation. Sure, you didn't do as well as you wanted, but you can learn from your mistakes and try and do better next time. Is feeling negative and annoyed about it going to help? No! There are little to no benefits to negative thoughts like these, so if you ever feel yourself experiencing them, really ask yourself do I need to feel this way? Then see if you can come up with a more positive outlook and attitude on the situation.

Just because someone else feels a certain way, doesn't mean you have to too

For some reason, the cool thing to do always seems to be to give out and complain about exams, study. This is silly. Don't be afraid to work hard and admit to it! Of course everyone is going to dread and hate these things if everyone treats it so negatively.

I often found myself saying things like "yeah, ugh I've so much study do to, this evening is going to be awful!" if people first complained to me about study themselves. You don't have to agree with everyone's opinions. In fact, if you tried to make the situation positive every time that someone said something negative about homework or study to you, you might find yourself feeling better. Instead, you could say:

Ah no, I'll have it done in no time and then I'll get to watch Netflix after! 😊

You might not notice little things like that making a difference at the start, but try to be aware of automatic negative thoughts and reactions like that, and do your best to turn them into a positive thought in whatever way works for you!

Don't set yourself up for failure

We've all done it. Before a test, say "Oh my god I'm going to fail this!!".

This is such a negative thought, and even if you're only saying it jokingly, knowing that you'll pass, it's not doing anyone any good to predict failure. Next time someone says this to you, try instead to keep it positive, with a "ah I'm sure it won't be that bad". Going in to an exam, or even tackling an essay or assignment with a negative attitude will not make it any easier for you. Tackling it with a positive attitude however, will always work in your favour, and could have some beneficial and positive effects on your classmates and friends too.

Try to draw positivity from all aspects of your day

If you do positive things in your day outside of school, it might help you have a more positive attitude towards your school work.

For example, eating healthy or doing exercise. It won't magically make you a genius or the happiest person on earth, but they are things that can help you feel good and will stand to you for the rest of the day in anything else you do!

Challenge any generalisations

There are a lot of sweeping assumptions and generalisations made in the secondary school community about various things. For example, everyone says the Leaving Cert is the worst and the hardest thing you'll have to do.

Of course, if you hear this before 6th year, you're going to dread it! Someone has already given you an idea of what it's like before you've even tried it, and you're going to just take their word for it.

Instead, challenge this. If there's ever something you haven't experienced yet, but you've heard bad things about it, try to look at it positively, differently. Don't assume that you'll feel the same way as everyone else until you've actually experienced it, and make sure to form your own opinion, instead of adopting someone else's negative one.

You can listen to these tips via The Studyclix Podcast, where Eimear and Nessa talk about their tips for staying positive:

I hope some of these suggestions will help you have a more positive outlook and attitude towards school and your day in general. Remember,  you're in control of how you feel!

Send us a message if you have any questions or worries.

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Should I change my attitude 3 Pages 732 Words

             When I examine if I should change my attitude I feel that it is important to investigate the different influences that have formed my attitude. I have been influenced by the different values and morals that my parents, family, and teachers have taught me. My attitude has also been formed through experiences that I have had. There are also many factors that have cause changes in my attitude.              Should I change my attitude? I guess when you really think about it, everyone can bear to change something about their attitude. People have different views on situations, and some are right and some are wrong. I consider myself to have a fairly open attitude to new ideas, and the ideas of others. I do not feel that I need to change my attitude overall, but I feel that there are certain aspects of my attitude that could be adjusted.              "Our knowledge springs from two fundamental sources of the mind; the first is the capacity of receiving representations (the ability to receive impressions), and the second is the power to know an object through these representations (spontaneity in the production of concepts). Intuition and concepts constitute, therefore, the elements of all our knowledge." (Immanuel Kant)              This quote is discussing how knowledge is formed, and this can be referred to attitude as well. Our attitude is developed from our mind, the impressions we receive, and through representation, the concepts we learn.              Growing up in a small community of Northern Maine I have not been exposed to as much as someone from the city, because of this I feel it is important that I keep an open attitude when I see things that are different, or things that are new for me. In the community that I grew up in there was only one African American family, I do not consider myself to be racist, but I feel that there are a lot of people in my town who are prejudice. I feel that this is due to lack of exposure. When I notic              ...

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Q: How can I change my sons date of birth on his birth certificate and citizenship papers. He was adopted from Haiti.

we have since received an new birth certificate from vital records in Haiti? Thank you

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A: Official documents like birth certificates and citizenship papers are legal records, and altering them is considered forgery, which is a serious crime. If your son was adopted from Haiti and you have received a new, official birth certificate from the proper authorities in Haiti, then that updated birth certificate should be recognized as the valid legal document. In this case, you should contact the relevant government agencies, such as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), to update their records with the new, official birth certificate. It's essential to follow the proper legal procedures to ensure that your son's documents are accurate and legally recognized. If you have further questions or concerns, it is best to consult with an experienced immigration attorney who can provide guidance specific to your situation and help you navigate the legal process of updating your son's records with the appropriate authorities.

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I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school really thought about my application. What I learned surprised me.

• I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school thought about my application. 
• Most of my scores weren't that impressive, but they really liked my genuine attitude and excitement.
• Reviewing my application reminded me how far I have come as a student. 

"Brian spoke so fast it was electrifying."

This was the first quote from my Yale interviewer. She wrote those words in my admissions file, a document I finally got my hands on three years after being accepted into Yale University .

I remember that interview like it was yesterday. It was a Zoom call — my application cycle happened at the crux of pandemic remote learning — and I was wearing my father's old, oversize dress shirt. The interviewer was lovely. Some of my answers to her questions probably didn't make sense, and she was right. I definitely forgot to breathe in between my sentences.

But viewing my admissions file years later gave me a peek into what my interviewer was actually thinking that day, and I learned what really got me into Yale.

I reviewed my application as a junior with the registrar

Every student in the US can review their college admissions file under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I emailed my university registrar, and within 45 days, a member of their support staff reached back out to schedule a virtual meeting. Picture-taking and recording were not allowed, so I jotted notes by hand.

There was very little verbal interaction between me and the staff member. She screen-shared my admissions file and let me read in silence. Something told me she understood the emotional weight of this moment for students, and I appreciated that. It is intimidating for any teenager to package their identity into a 650-word common application essay and a questionnaire — but it is arguably even more so to witness retrospectively how everything was judged.

I got a behind-the-scenes look into Yale admissions when they read my application

Each aspect of my application was rated out of nine points. My readers gave me a six for my extracurriculars and for my first teacher recommendation. They gave me a seven for my second teacher recommendation and my counselor's recommendation. I received an "outstanding" for my interview and a 2++ for my overall rating. The overall rating is given on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 being the highest, and pluses were a good sign.

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In all, my ratings weren't exactly bad, but they weren't extraordinary either. The numbers on the pages stared back at me — cold, formulaic, and transactional. It felt strange to be reduced to a system of numbers, knowing that something as qualitative as extracurricular activities could still be broken down and scored.

Beyond the ratings, however, what truly stood out were the comments left by the admissions officers . Many of the comments were on my character, my essays, and the possible contributions I would make as a student.

"I teared up reading Essay 1," one reader wrote of my common application essay. Another said of the same essay: "His Chinese New Years are untraditional in that they remind him of his family's financial struggles."

I got emotional. All the memories of writing that essay came flooding back. I remembered how difficult it was to start it. I knew there was no easy way for someone to understand me without first knowing my background. I wanted to prove that I deserved a seat at the table where legacy students and the wealthy continue to outnumber their first-generation, low-income peers like myself.

I kept reading and found more comments from admissions officers that moved me: "He treats his mom well;" "He seems to have a truly good heart;" "One of the most intelligent, sincere, jovial students ever met;" "I have no doubt that Brian would push his peers at Yale to stand up for what's right;" and "I come away with compelling impressions that the student would contribute significantly to the undergrad community."

I searched for a negative comment. There were none.

I didn't deserve this, I muttered under my breath. Here I was, a junior in college, no longer a 4.0 student , my post-grad plans murky, balancing two part-time jobs and hoping to make it out of midterms alive. It felt good knowing that someone had rooted for me to be here.

The process reminded me how far I have come

Coming from an underserved household where no one had gone to college, I had always looked at the Ivy League application process skeptically.

Without the resources to enroll in SAT test prep and the financial safety net to pursue unpaid leadership positions and resume-boosting activities at school, I had doubted the "holistic" admissions process many colleges boast. My critiques about Yale remain numerous.

But at least in their comments, the admissions committee gave me grace in that they reviewed my application in light of my circumstances. I might never know exactly what happened in that reading room. Still, a couple of lessons ring true, based on my own viewing experience and my conversations with others who had done the same: Good character and potential are the key; I didn't need to be perfect.

And finally, I — not anyone else — needed to give me the fighting chance of applying in the first place.

"GPA is outstanding, especially in context," an admissions officer said. "This is a home run."

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Guest Essay

When I Became a Birder, Almost Everything Else Fell Into Place

Mr. Yong is a science writer whose most recent book, “An Immense World,” investigates animal perception.

Last September, I drove to a protected wetland near my home in Oakland, Calif., walked to the end of a pier and started looking at birds. Throughout the summer, I was breaking in my first pair of binoculars, a Sibley field guide and the Merlin song-identification app, but always while hiking or walking the dog. On that pier, for the first time, I had gone somewhere solely to watch birds.

In some birding circles, people say that anyone who looks at birds is a birder — a kind, inclusive sentiment that overlooks the forces that create and shape subcultures. Anyone can dance, but not everyone would identify as a dancer, because the term suggests, if not skill, then at least effort and intent. Similarly, I’ve cared about birds and other animals for my entire life, and I’ve written about them throughout my two decades as a science writer, but I mark the moment when I specifically chose to devote time and energy to them as the moment I became a birder.

Since then, my birder derangement syndrome has progressed at an alarming pace. Seven months ago, I was still seeing very common birds for the first time. Since then, I’ve seen 452 species, including 337 in the United States, and 307 this year alone. I can reliably identify a few dozen species by ear. I can tell apart greater and lesser yellowlegs, house and purple finches, Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks. (Don’t talk to me about gulls; I’m working on the gulls.) I keep abreast of eBird’s rare bird alerts and have spent many days — some glorious, others frustrating — looking for said rare birds. I know what it means to dip, to twitch, to pish . I’ve gone owling.

I didn’t start from scratch. A career spent writing about nature gave me enough avian biology and taxonomy to roughly know the habitats and silhouettes of the major groups. Journalism taught me how to familiarize myself with unfamiliar territory very quickly. I crowdsourced tips on the social media platform Bluesky . I went out with experienced birders to learn how they move through a landscape and what cues they attend to.

I studied up on birds that are famously difficult to identify so that when I first saw them in the field, I had an inkling of what they were without having to check a field guide. I used the many tools now available to novices: EBird shows where other birders go and reveals how different species navigate space and time; Merlin is best known as an identification app but is secretly an incredible encyclopedia; Birding Quiz lets you practice identifying species based on fleeting glances at bad angles.

This all sounds rather extra, and birding is often defined by its excesses. At its worst, it becomes an empty process of collection that turns living things into abstract numbers on meaningless lists. But even that style of birding is harder without knowledge. To find the birds, you have to know them. And in the process of knowing them, much else falls into place.

Birding has tripled the time I spend outdoors. It has pushed me to explore Oakland in ways I never would have: Amazing hot spots lurk within industrial areas, sewage treatment plants and random residential parks. It has proved more meditative than meditation. While birding, I seem impervious to heat, cold, hunger and thirst. My senses focus resolutely on the present, and the usual hubbub in my head becomes quiet. When I spot a species for the first time — a lifer — I course with adrenaline while being utterly serene.

I also feel a much deeper connection to the natural world, which I have long written about but always remained slightly distant from. I knew that the loggerhead shrike — a small but ferocious songbird — impales the bodies of its prey on spikes. I’ve now seen one doing that with my own eyes. I know where to find the shrikes and what they sound like. Countless fragments of unrooted trivia that rattled around my brain are now grounded in place, time and experience.

When I step out my door in the morning, I take an aural census of the neighborhood, tuning in to the chatter of creatures that were always there and that I might have previously overlooked. The passing of the seasons feels more granular, marked by the arrival and disappearance of particular species instead of much slower changes in day length, temperature and greenery. I find myself noticing small shifts in the weather and small differences in habitat. I think about the tides.

So much more of the natural world feels close and accessible now. When I started birding, I remember thinking that I’d never see most of the species in my field guide. Sure, backyard birds like robins and western bluebirds would be easy, but not black skimmers or peregrine falcons or loggerhead shrikes. I had internalized the idea of nature as distant and remote — the province of nature documentaries and far-flung vacations. But in the past six months, I’ve seen soaring golden eagles, heard duetting great horned owls, watched dancing sandhill cranes and marveled at diving Pacific loons, all within an hour of my house. “I’ll never see that” has turned into “Where can I find that?”

Of course, having the time to bird is an immense privilege. As a freelancer, I have total control over my hours and my ability to get out in the field. “Are you a retiree?” a fellow birder recently asked me. “You’re birding like a retiree.” I laughed, but the comment spoke to the idea that things like birding are what you do when you’re not working, not being productive.

I reject that. These recent years have taught me that I’m less when I’m not actively looking after myself, that I have value to my world and my community beyond ceaseless production and that pursuits like birding that foster joy, wonder and connection to place are not sidebars to a fulfilled life but their essence.

It’s easy to think of birding as an escape from reality. Instead, I see it as immersion in the true reality. I don’t need to know who the main characters are on social media and what everyone is saying about them, when I can instead spend an hour trying to find a rare sparrow. It’s very clear to me which of those two activities is the more ridiculous. It’s not the one with the sparrow.

More of those sparrows are imminent. I’m about to witness my first spring migration as warblers and other delights pass through the Bay Area. Birds I’ve seen only in drab grays are about to don their spectacular breeding plumages. Familiar species are about to burst out in new tunes that I’ll have to learn. I have my first lazuli bunting to see, my first blue grosbeak to find, my first least terns to photograph. I can’t wait.

Ed Yong is a science writer whose most recent book, “An Immense World,” investigates animal perception.

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The physical sensations of watching a total solar eclipse

Regina G. Barber

Science writer David Baron witnesses his first total solar eclipse in Aruba, 1998. He says seeing one is "like you've left the solar system and are looking back from some other world." Paul Myers hide caption

Science writer David Baron witnesses his first total solar eclipse in Aruba, 1998. He says seeing one is "like you've left the solar system and are looking back from some other world."

David Baron can pinpoint the first time he got addicted to chasing total solar eclipses, when the moon completely covers up the sun. It was 1998 and he was on the Caribbean island of Aruba. "It changed my life. It was the most spectacular thing I'd ever seen," he says.

Baron, author of the 2017 book American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World , wants others to witness its majesty too. On April 8, millions of people across North America will get that chance — a total solar eclipse will appear in the sky. Baron promises it will be a surreal, otherworldly experience. "It's like you've left the solar system and are looking back from some other world."

Baron, who is a former NPR science reporter, talks to Life Kit about what to expect when viewing a total solar eclipse, including the sensations you may feel and the strange lighting effects in the sky. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Baron views the beginning of a solar eclipse with friends in Western Australia in 2023. Baron says getting to see the solar corona during a total eclipse is "the most dazzling sight in the heavens." Photographs by David Baron; Bronson Arcuri, Kara Frame, CJ Riculan/NPR; Collage by Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption

Baron views the beginning of a solar eclipse with friends in Western Australia in 2023. Baron says getting to see the solar corona during a total eclipse is "the most dazzling sight in the heavens."

What does it feel like to experience a total solar eclipse — those few precious minutes when the moon completely covers up the sun?

It is beautiful and absolutely magnificent. It comes on all of a sudden. As soon as the moon blocks the last rays of the sun, you're plunged into this weird twilight in the middle of the day. You look up and the blue sky has been torn away. On any given day, the blue sky overhead acts as a screen that keeps us from seeing what's in space. And suddenly that's gone. So you can look into the middle of the solar system and see the sun and the planets together.

Can you tell me about the sounds and the emotions you're feeling?

A total solar eclipse is so much more than something you just see with your eyes. It's something you experience with your whole body. [With the drop in sunlight], birds will be going crazy. Crickets may be chirping. If you're around other people, they're going to be screaming and crying [with all their emotions from seeing the eclipse]. The air temperature drops because the sunlight suddenly turns off. And you're immersed in the moon's shadow. It doesn't feel real.

Everything you need to know about solar eclipse glasses before April 8

In your 2017 Ted Talk , you said you felt like your eyesight was failing in the moments before totality. Can you go into that a little more?

The lighting effects are very weird. Before you get to the total eclipse, you have a progressive partial eclipse as the moon slowly covers the sun. So over the course of an hour [or so], the sunlight will be very slowly dimming. It's as if you're in a room in a house and someone is very slowly turning down the dimmer switch. For most of that time your eyes are adjusting and you don't notice it. But then there's a point at which the light's getting so dim that your eyes can't adjust, and weird things happen. Your eyes are less able to see color. It's as if the landscape is losing its color. Also there's an effect where the shadows get very strange.

Crescent-shaped shadows cast by the solar eclipse before it reaches totality appear on a board at an eclipse-viewing event in Antelope, Ore., 2017. Kara Frame and CJ Riculan/NPR hide caption

You see these crescents on the ground.

There are two things that happen. One is if you look under a tree, the spaces between leaves or branches will act as pinhole projectors. So you'll see tiny little crescents everywhere. But there's another effect. As the sun goes from this big orb in the sky to something much smaller, shadows grow sharper. As you're nearing the total eclipse, if you have the sun behind you and you look at your shadow on the ground, you might see individual hairs on your head. It's just very odd.

Some people might say that seeing the partial eclipse is just as good. They don't need to go to the path of totality.

A partial solar eclipse is a very interesting experience. If you're in an area where you see a deep partial eclipse, the sun will become a crescent like the moon. You can only look at it with eye protection. Don't look at it with the naked eye . The light can get eerie. It's fun, but it is not a thousandth as good as a total eclipse.

A total eclipse is a fundamentally different experience, because it's only when the moon completely blocks the sun that you can actually take off the eclipse glasses and look with the naked eye at the sun.

And you will see a sun you've never seen before. That bright surface is gone. What you're actually looking at is the sun's outer atmosphere, the solar corona. It's the most dazzling sight in the heavens. It's this beautiful textured thing. It looks sort of like a wreath or a crown made out of tinsel or strands of silk. It shimmers in space. The shape is constantly changing. And you will only see that if you're in the path of the total eclipse.

Shots - Health News

Watching a solar eclipse without the right filters can cause eye damage. here's why.

So looking at a partial eclipse is not the same?

It is not at all the same. Drive those few miles. Get into the path of totality.

This is really your chance to see a total eclipse. The next one isn't happening across the U.S. for another 20 years.

The next significant total solar eclipse in the United States won't be until 2045. That one will go from California to Florida and will cross my home state of Colorado. I've got it on my calendar.

The digital story was written by Malaka Gharib and edited by Sylvie Douglis and Meghan Keane. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at [email protected].

Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify , and sign up for our newsletter .

NPR will be sharing highlights here from across the NPR Network throughout the day Monday if you're unable to get out and see it in real time.

Correction April 3, 2024

In a previous audio version of this story, we made reference to an upcoming 2025 total solar eclipse. The solar eclipse in question will take place in 2045.

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