10 Jul I Can! ~Developing a “whatever it takes attitude”! Part 6

Recently I spent some time doing one of my favorite things…shark fishing. At 8:30pm I had a big shark hit my bait! The fight was on! As always, when you have a big shark on the other end of your line, it always draws a crowd. From 8:30 until 10:30 I had about 30 people gathered all around me. From 10:30-12:30 the numbers began to dwindle. Now the crowd was down to 15-20 people. Finally when I brought the big shark in (it was over 300 pounds), it was just me, my wife and son! It was a grueling six hour fight but when it comes to shark fishing and all of life, I truly have a “whatever it takes” attitude!

Over the last two months we have been talking to you about just that…

Developing a “Whatever it takes” attitude.

Let’s review: Last month we began our series with “10 Aspects of Attitude”:

1. It is your “advance” man…people meet your attitude before they meet you

2. It’s your “John the Baptist” preparing your way

3. It is your best friend or worst enemy

4. It reflects more honestly and consistently on you than your words

5. It draws people to you or repels people from you

6. It is the librarian of your past

7. It is the speaker of your present

8. It is the prophet of your future

9. It is more important than your I.Q.

10. It is the difference maker!

Then we discussed four basic types of people in life:

1. Cop-outs…they have no God-given goals and make no decisions

2. Hold-outs…they have God-given goals but are afraid to respond to the challenge

3. Drop-outs…they have God-given goals but quit when things get tough

4. All-outs…they have God-given goals and get them done… whatever it takes!

Then we launched into… 10 Keys to Kindling an “I Can” Attitude:

1. Reject an “I can’t” attitude (Mark 2:4).

2. Take the bull by the horns (Phil. 3:12).

3. Enter the “No Moan Zone” (Phil. 2:14).

4. Empathize don’t criticize (Ezek. 3:15).

5. Fan the flame of your passion (II Tim. 1:6).

6. Go the second mile…over and over again (Matt. 5:41).

This month let’s continue…

7. Quit stewing and start doing (James 1:22). Have you ever “intended” to do something but never actually did it? We all have! Here’s the problem with that…intentions are not actions. Remember mom’s old adage? “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all!” While this is certainly sound advice, I would like to add to this. If you do have something nice to say, make sure you say it!

I have made it a personal goal of mine not to just intend to say something encouraging to someone, but to actually do it! I still send encouraging notes via “snail mail”. There is something about an actual note and not just an email or text that truly encourages someone. Recently I have started out these notes by saying, “I was just thinking about you and how awesome you are, but me thinking about you doesn’t actually encourage you…thus this note.” I will then go on and encourage whoever I am writing. I have been more determined than ever to not just intend to do something, but actually do it!

You see, the two greatest gaps in life are:

1) Knowing and doing

2) Wanting and having

If you will close gap number one, you’ll automatically close gap number two!

There are also two kinds of “failures” in life:

1) Those who did, but never thought

2) Those who thought, but never did

Remember this: Don’t waste eulogies on the dead…they will never hear you. Give eulogies to the living!

Join us next week as we continue this series…