Page 78 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

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You Have Fire in Your Belly

■ Set your goal.
■ Gut it out. Try hard. Try hard again. Try harder.
■ Avoid pessimistic people.

IT’S NOT A DEGREE ON YOUR WALL OR TITLE ON YOUR RÉSUMÉ,
it’s your attitudinal aura of choice. Life is difficult. Work can be a pain.
Family, friends, and coworkers will disappoint you. There is a lot of sad-
ness in the world. It’s your choice to succumb and give in to “futilitari-
anism” or not. Choose not to. Despite everything pushing you to
succumb, just don’t. Stubbornly refuse. Be different—be hopeful, rosy,
even buoyant—just for the fun of it. It’s totally an option. As with
integrity, to have it, you don’t have to have been born in the right family,
gone to the best schools, or worked for the best company. It’s a choice you
make today and remake every day you live.
There is one step to acquiring a more optimistic, passionate, enthu-
siastic, energy-for-life point of view. That one step is to choose your
perspective on things. Persistently take on a productive, constructive view

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