Good or bad, our attitudes direct the course of our lives. Children first learn this truth at home, where good parents strive to establish a place of smiles, laughter, and healthy energy, instilling this foundational lesson: we can’t always control what happens to us, but we can always control our attitude.

The Potential of a Positive Mental Attitude
A strong positive mental attitude can be the catalyst to… anything. Thomas Jefferson said, “Nothing on earth can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” A good attitude broadens our senses and opens our minds to new possibilities. Bad things happen all the time; frustration is a natural human emotion. Do we acknowledge challenges and work through them with good energy or do we cop a bad attitude and make excuses?

One Possible Story
Imagine Jonny, who wasn’t born with the greatest of abilities, but loved to learn! Jonny didn’t always fit in, but he always tried his best. Jonny’s father recognized his son’s love for learning, set up a children’s library at home, and even studied to strengthen his own tutoring skills to support Jonny’s growth. As they worked together over the years, the home library grew from hundreds of children’s classics to novels by William Shakespeare and Ernest Hemingway to guidance from personal development authors such as John Maxwell and Tony Robbins, and others. By the time Jonny reached high school, he was well-versed in classical literature, advanced mathematics, and carried a reputation for being a strong leader who gets things done.

How to Have a Positive Mental Attitude
First and foremost, stop using words that infer doubt. Intentional word choice can breathe positivity into the neutral and flip the script on the negative. Consider removing the word “can’t” from our family’s verbal repertoire, helping ourselves (and our children) reformulate sentences to promote not limitation, but possibility. Rather than focusing on difficulties, seek and appreciate the good—and its influence over our entire universe. When we are kind to others, we create feelings of optimism and inner peace.

Live inspired through proper nutrition, rest, and exercise. Healthy life choices design healthy lifestyles. We all have blessings; appreciate them. Take inventory of what we permit to rent space in our minds; we can rewire our brain circuitry with thoughts of mindfulness and purpose. As Confucius said, “Those who say they can, and those who say they can’t are both usually right.” With 100% commitment, proper direction, and a strong positive mental attitude, we can often create any reality we envision.

Human nature tends to overcomplicate things; keep watch for threads of simplicity and dissuade discord from our lives. Fathers can be the force of encouragement for the family, teaching children to overcome negative self-talk by helping them internalize positive affirmations such as “I am good.” “I am unique.” “I am more than enough.” While negative self-talk rips us apart from within, positive affirmations equip us with the powerful hard wiring of a good attitude, an essential resource for living our best life.

Summary
By wearing a good attitude like a badge of honor, fathers can establish a home and flow of family life to pass the torch of positive energy forward to our children and grandchildren. Surround them with good vibes and model the attitude we aspire to inspire in them. Be mindful of the words we choose; it is just as easy to frame situations with potential as it is to frame them with doubt. Our attitude is a product of our belief system. Therefore, believe. By consistently putting our best foot forward, we help others, ourselves, and our children. Remember the words of Oprah Winfrey, who said, “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about such things.” —Philippians 4:8 NASB