Assessing Your Current Attitude

Assessing Your Current Attitude

Exercise 6: Assessing Your Current Attitude

The attitude that you usually express can have a profound impact on the progress you make in building a good business. The following exercise will help you explore your prevalent attitudes and the assumptions underlying them.

Procedure

1. Relax. (see the exercise entitled "Creating a Container for the Work" above).

2. From a calm, clear, centered state, read the following story and answer the associated questions. Make notes in your journal or here for later review.

The Tale of the Stone Cutters

Three medieval stone cutters working on a cathedral were each asked in turn, What are you doing?

"Alas you can see, I am cutting stones," replied one.

"I am earning a living for myself and family," a replied another.

"I am building a great cathedral," replied the third, "I am praising the glory of God."

All were engaged in the same physical task. Each is telling his own truth.

What attitude does each imply?
Which do you normally take?
There are more than three attitudes expressed here. Can you identify at least one more?
Apply the story to a recent experience in your life. Describe the circumstances.
How did you respond?
What was your attitude?
What other attitudes could you have taken?
What does this exercise tell you about your most prevalent way of looking at things?

Exercise 7: Making A Deeper Assessment Of Your Attitude

Procedure

1. Relax. (see the exercise entitled "Creating a Container for the Work" above).

2. From a calm, clear, centered place, ask yourself the following questions. Read each question and note the thoughts, sensations, and emotions that come up. Enter your notes here or in your learning journal for easy retrieval later.

What attitudes will be necessary for you to start and grow a good business?
What will you have to do to develop those attitudes?
Choose one attitude to work on. Describe it as it is now.
Describe it as you would like it to become.
Brainstorm some steps to changing it.

To make these changes, execute the following process:

3. Choose one step at a time to work on.
4. Find someone willing to actively listen as you report your plan of action.
5. Set a reasonable time frame for completion.
6. Do it! and report back to your active listener.
7. Give yourself a reward.

This work by Claude Whitmyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at

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