Skip to main content

Magic Words

“It is our attitude toward life that determines life's attitude towards us.”

I must have been about nine when that quote first entered my subconscious, growing up in Cuba, Illinois. My family’s morning breakfast routine was to listen to Earl Nightingale’s daily five-minute radio program, “Our Changing World,” on the local radio station: “WBYS - AM and FM—Canton, Illinois.” That jingle vividly echoes in my mind.

Nightingale’s deep, resonant voice captivated my imagination. Little did I know that program would have such a profound impact on my thinking. Subsequently, Earl Nightingale shared many profound quotes that have influenced my life.

“Your attitudes and expectations are a merciless reflection of you.”

I’m proud to say that I’m a life-long learner. A student of the game of life.

Almost 50 years later I still start my day with this positive daily routine. Set aside time just to listen, read, and reflect. All these years I’ve read and listened to many authors and speakers with a twist on the same message.

“We become what we think about, but the thinking is up to us.” - Earl Nightingale

Another author that deeply influenced me was Zig Ziglar. He said.

“If there is hope in the future, there is power in the present.”

It’s been my experience that the message in a quote is not always clearly received. For example, did you know that a positive attitude won’t allow you to do everything. But it will allow you to do what you do better.

I love to play golf. Now I’m miles, no, more like light-years away from a professional career in the sport. It’s early Saturday morning, a cool pleasant clear southern California day ahead. With an enthusiastic attitude and hope I load up my golf clubs make my way to the golf course. Listen carefully, I want to let you in on a little secret. A golfer hopes and dreams to someday shoot their age. 

For you non-golfers let’s use an executive course, par 56, to illustrate my example.  In my world, if you can shoot par you’ve done extremely well. This course has 18 holes. Each hole is a par three, there are two par fours. This means it should take a competent golfer, on average, three shots to sink the ball per hole. Professionals in the game would call this a retirees’ course.

My positive approach to every game is this; watch the ole’ timers carefully. Relax, smooth easy swings, and let the club work for you. This game is bound to be better than my last. With a few lessons, I’ve now become a decent ball striker and can shoot my age almost every outing . . . within the first eleven holes. Yes, you’re allowed to laugh.

Now, I’m here to tell you that when I step up to that first tee the most positive attitude in the world doesn’t guarantee that I’ll shoot a 56. Golf is a game of practice, skill, patience, and luck.

Regardless of what you’ve heard, golf is a fun game. Do I get discouraged? Well, honestly, Yes. But there are two magic words that keep me coming back to play, I used them throughout this example. Did you catch them? They are attitude and hope.

Hope that my next round will produce a better score. A positive attitude and high expectation get’s me to the golf course. And the challenge of improving my skill level is the rationale for continuing to play this illusive game.

“Hope is the foundational quality of ALL change.” - Alfred Adler.

Yes, words have a powerful influence on your performance. And the two most magic words in the dictionary are attitude and hope. Ask yourself, how have these words affected your performance as a student in the game of life?

So you’re next question is; What can I do now to change my attitude? Begin to act as though you have a good, positive, expectant attitude. Zig says it so well, “You must be before you can do. And you must do before you can have.”

Comments

Most Popular of All Time

Beyond Facts-The Deep Dive

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . .   This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholÄ“ , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...

Retirement Talk

In this episode, Patrick & Huck: Retirement Talk . . .   We all get caught daydreaming sometimes, don’t we? Just like Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn might’ve done, lazyin’ by the river with a fishing pole in hand and the BIG wide world spinn’ in their heads. This morning, with coffee steaming and plans bubbling, I found myself driftin’ into a chat with none other than my imaginary friend–Huck Finn himself. Patrick: “Mornin’, Huck. Say, I’m mighty curious what you’d make of this retirement business.” Huck: “Well now, sit tight, ‘cause I’ve been thinkin’ on that too. Only thirty-one days 'til you're sixty-nine — whew! You're talkin’ ‘bout quittin’, hangin’ up your spurs, Givin’ the workin’ life its final good slurs. Ain’t got no debts, no mortgage, no fuss, Just clean livin’ and freedom waitin’ on the bus. Most folks’d throw hats in the air, cheerin’ loud and proud, But you? You’re starin’ out yonder, lost in some cloud. You're dreamin’ of cyclin' and books and guitar...

The Summer Surprise

In this special episode, The Summer Surprise . . .   Well, howdy there! It's me, Huck Finn, and lemme tell ya, somethin' special happened just the other day. We called it "The Summer Surprise.” Phew-wee! That ol' post box, it coughed up somethin' good! Wasn't no bills, nor them pesky ads, and thankfully, no regular ol' rocks neither. Nope, this here was a letter, folded up neat as a pin, looked a bit like one o' them school lockers, just sittin' there waitin' to be opened. It was from young Sierra, a mighty fine friend, and she'd gone and made some pure, honest-to-goodness artwork with her own two hands. My fingers they was all thumbs, just itching to see what kind of wild wonder she'd whipped up this time. I unfolded that paper, careful-like, you know, and bless my bare feet, there it was! A picture of a whole gymnasium and a mini-soccer field, all done up in colors that just popped. She'd used crayons and pencils, and you could tel...

Drifting with Purpose

In this episode,  Drifting with Purpose: What Huck Finn Teaches Us About Finding Your ‘Why’ . . .  Have you ever re-read a book and felt like it had changed while you weren’t looking? That’s exactly how it feels diving back into Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to be swept away again . It had been decades since I first met Huck and Jim. But here I am – older, hopefully wiser – and finding their journey down the Mississippi more powerful and more relevant than ever. This isn’t just another dusty classic. Twain's masterpiece is a living, breathing story – one that speaks through laughter, danger, awkward truth, and uncomfortable beauty. It’s a book that dares you to ask: “What kind of person am I willing to be?” Right now, I’m deep into Huck and Jim’s incredible journey, and what’s striking me the most isn’t just the plot or the river—it’s the voice. Twain’s masterful use of local dialect pulls you straight into the 19th-century Amer...