Motivation - A Certain Set of Attitudes

MOTIVATION – A Certain Set of Attitudes


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – August 2009

Hugh Dawns says “A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.”

I attended a Women’s month function at GIBS last week and what an inspiring bunch of women I met there.

One of the issues that came out of the interactions was the fact that here in South Africa, failure is viewed in a very negative light.  The reality of life however, shows failure very differently.

You see, if you look at the history books, really successful people have all at one time or another been failures.  Their one redeeming quality however is the manner in which they reacted to, or how they handled their failures.  They got back up and tried again, and again, and again.  If the truth be told they continued to try until they got it right.

They certainly did not lie there broken in heart and spirit, moaning about how the government, the tax man, the economy, the competition (insert any thing else that you would like here) have caused their downfall.  They have picked themselves up, dusted themselves down, taken what they have learnt from the experience and tried again.

Whatever the circumstances that they have found themselves in, their attitude to what they actually want to achieve has been their driving force and it is what has fueled their passion.

So use your energy differently.  Instead of blaming everyone and everything for what is happening to you – turn it around and look at the lessons that you can or have learnt.  Use those lessons wisely, get back up onto your feet and with your eyes fixed firmly on the future – and try again.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za