Print Solutions Magazine

Change is inevitable. When change happens, you either cooperate and learn how to benefit from it, or you resist and eventually get run over by it. It’s really your choice.

When you embrace change, you look for new ways to make your life richer, easier and more fulfilling. You will start to view change as an opportunity for growth and new experiences. All of us have been through changes in the past, and they usually have worked out for the best.

Your thoughts affect your attitude and your motivation to act on change. For example, negative thoughts can control your behavior, and in extreme cases, paralyze you; positive thoughts make you more relaxed, centered and alert. It is easy to be negative and unmotivated, but it takes work to be positive and motivated.

If you could learn new ways to transform negative thoughts to positive ones, you would empower yourself and gain confidence in new situations. If you look for the positive, not only will it help you feel better, but it also will assist in creating the success you want.

Learn to play the “Appreciation Game.” Look for things to appreciate in every situation. When you actively seek out the positive, you naturally become more appreciative and optimistic.

Successful people maintain positive focus in their life no matter what is going on around them. They face circumstances squarely and take appropriate actions despite how uncomfortable or challenging they might be.

What can hurt us most is harboring resentment, holding a grudge, and feeling the same hatred over and over. By allowing yourself to get stuck in the past, you use valuable energy, robbing you of the power you need to move ahead. But by letting go of the past you can move into the future.

So often, we get upset with ourselves when we fail to communicate our true feelings to those who upset us. We become self-absorbed with a certain level of pain and anger. If you are totally truthful, you can move through negative thoughts and emotions, release them, and return to a state of acceptance.

If you spend your life full of bitterness and hatred, you have failed yourself because you aren’t giving anything back. People do the best they can to meet their basic needs. If they could have done better, they would have done better.

As we develop more awareness of how others’ behaviors affect us, we learn to deal with our issues more effectively. To succeed, you must face what isn’t working in your life, which often means doing something uncomfortable. Much of the time we are in denial, and we make up reasons why something isn’t working. If we learned to be more honest with ourselves, we would feel better. Defending and justifying a bad situation is really just a form of denial. Denial is based on fear. We are afraid to face facts squarely.

So, ask yourself what’s not working and how you can improve it. Start taking action steps to resolve it. By changing the attitude within, you’ll improve the life surrounding you. You’ll be doing your best to be “The Best.”

Jeff Long is director of manufacturer Graphic Dimensions Inc., based in Atlanta, and president of DMIA.

President’s Message