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The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important that the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.
- Charles W. Swindoll

• Do you struggle with feeling good about yourself?
• Do you spend time and energy regretting the past and worrying about the future?
• Do you believe you can never really be happy and successful?

You can feel better and live a happier more satisfied life, no matter what your circumstances. When you become aware of your current attitude and understand how your thoughts fuel it you then have the opportunity to consciously choose new thoughts that result in transforming your feelings and your life.
By following the specific technique outlined below you can learn to be the creative force in your life, rather than just reacting to life’s circumstances.

How Do We Know? We have transformed our lives by using the Awareness-Choice-Change Model and have coached thousands of others to live happier more satisfying lives by changing their attitude to change their lives.

• Awareness - waking up to your thoughts, feelings and behaviors that you want to change.
• Choice - consciously choosing the thoughts you think.
• Change - altering your thoughts, feelings and actions.

Awareness describes a state of consciousness in which you are alert, awake and conscious of your thoughts, feelings, words and actions. If you want to change your attitude – it is necessary to be aware of your thoughts and feelings.

When you notice that your habitual self-talk is judgmental about what you say and do; or critical regarding what you should have said or what you didn’t do then you are on your way to upgrading the software of your mind – your thoughts and ultimately your experience.

Choice is the act of making a decision. To consciously choose the thoughts that support a positive attitude, healthy self esteem, confidence and well-being you must be aware of both your thoughts and feelings that detract from your feeling good.

With this awareness you will notice when you are thinking thoughts that undermine your self esteem and happiness as well as be aware of the thoughts that boost your self esteem and well-being. A powerful question to consider in order to choose the thoughts that promote feelings of happiness is:
What do I want in this situation?

Whenever you notice you are being critical and judgmental of yourself you can make the choice to strengthen your brain pathways that affirms your positive self.

Change is where the rubber meets the road, where you put into practice the choices you have made, transforming your thoughts, attitude and feelings about yourself so you embody positive self esteem, confidence and happiness.

This does not mean there won't be times when you are confronted with your fears of failure or success, or that you won't, on occasion, question your ability. What it does mean is that as soon as you notice you are feeling less than or not enough you will:

1. Be awake to your feelings.
2. Identify the thoughts that result in your feelings of low self esteem and negative attitude.
3. Shift your attention to thoughts supporting your ever deepening experience of positive self esteem and happiness.

When you notice that your habitual self-talk is judgmental about what you say and do; or critical regarding what you should have said or what you didn’t do, then you are on your way to upgrading the software of your mind – your thoughts, your attitude and ultimately your experience.
By changing what you are thinking and doing you are automatically giving your brain a message that says, I am person who is in control of my life. I choose to change my attitude and change my life!
You can look at the present moment and view it with distaste, resistance and dissatisfaction or can use it as a gateway to make a different choice.

Self-Esteem-Experts.com offers the information, exercises, worksheets and expert coaching for you to implement the Awareness-Choice-Change Model. See The Self Esteem Experts Lesson Plan /a> for more information.

Author's Bio
First and foremost, Joan Breiner & Susyn Reeve have transformed their lives by using the tools and techniques presented on their website http://www.Self-Esteem-Experts.com.

They know that maintaining a positive attitude starts with making a conscious choice and then knowing what to do to shift your thinking.

The information, exercises, worksheets and Daily Inspirations on their site is designed to support you in developing and maintaining a positive attitude no matter what is going on in your life.

They have a wealth of experience starting with Masters Degrees in Counseling and Education and over 35 years of experience as SelfDevelopment & Training professionals.They have designed training curriculum, written books, taught in schools,universities, Fortune 500 corporations and have been featured on radio and TV.

Additionally, they are entrepreneurs. They co-founded www.CelebrateAHero.com. A website to help you celebrate the special people in your life by making personalized gift books. Great for retirements, birthdays, anniversaries or anytime you want to honor someone for being special.

Susyn is the co-creator of www.WithForgiveness.com, a site offering the information, tools and resources to embody, express and experience unconditional love, compassion and kindness through the practice of forgiveness.