This may come as a surprise.

Just how critical is attitude to achievement? Well, take a look at one of the greatest inventors of the last two hundred years - Thomas Edison. Every time you turn on a light switch, you experience the result of his persistence in the face of continuous failure.

Edison tried 10,000 times to get his light bulb invention to work, but failed each time. However, he had this to say about his lack of success. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

You can learn to have this kind of outlook on life, but it needs to be purposefully installed into your daily living.

You probably know it takes about 21 days to break a habit by replacing it with a new one. If you are plagued with persistent negative thoughts toward life, you can replace this mindset with a new positive-attitude habit!

Here is a 21-day five-step program to change a negative attitude to a positive one.

1. Take charge of what you're thinking.

This is a moment-by-moment decision that doesn't happen overnight. It's a habit that will take some time to build. How can you do this? Choose to think uplifting thoughts instead of discouraging ones.

You get to decide what you think, which in turn determines how you feel. Become aware of this and dwell on positive ideas throughout the day.

At first you may have to force yourself to find something positive. Consider keeping a journal and write down at least one good thing in your life each day for three weeks. Then think about these blessings instead of discouraging thoughts.

2. Read inspirational material.

During this 21-day training period, fill your mind with good thoughts. The best book of all to read is that priceless diamond of world literature - the Bible. You'll never know what wonderful results from reading it are around the corner until you open its covers!

3. Focus on others.

For the next 21 days make an extra effort to help other people. Concentrating on assisting others will help you more than you realize. If you succeed in becoming wealthy but are poor in respect to your relationships, you will not be truly prosperous at all!

So make a special effort of focusing on others during your 21 days of building your new positive-attitude habit. This will free you up to allow the butterfly of happiness to land on your shoulder when you least expect it.

4. Take care of your health needs.

It's hard to maintain a positive mindset if you've neglected your physical needs. So during the 21 days of your attitude retraining make an extra effort to eat nutritious balanced meals.

Not getting enough sleep will also be a tremendous hindrance, so make sure you're getting adequate rest. And don't forget to get enough exercise. When you feel down, try to take a brisk 30-minute walk. You'll feel revived!

5. Learn contentment

For the next 21 days focus on what you have and not on what you don't have. Live in the present and enjoy your blessings.

Try to forget acquiring stuff for the purpose of keeping up with others. That only leads to more anxiety. Be thankful for what you do have instead.

When going through difficult experiences - remember that adversity can be a blessing in disguise. You might learn some important lessons during those tough times - like Thomas Edison did. (I know I have.)

These lessons can turn into credentials that will enable you to help others when they're going through tough times.

So don't let negativity ruin your present and future. Instead, build a new habit of having a positive attitude. It will take about 21 days to start seeing consistent changes in the way you think, but it will be worth it!

Now choose the starting date for your attitude-renewal adventure and go for it!

How about today?

(c) Copyright 2004 by Patricia Wagner

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Thomas Edison said it and I believe it: "Many of life's failures

There are more losers than winners in the game of life because losers many times are people who tried something with all their effort and failed. Because they failed rather than succeeded, they became reluctant to try again. Thomas Edison was not one of those people.

One of the first lessons athletes are taught in competition is that when you give your full effort and are knocked down, you must get up and try again, and again, and again until you succeed. Once you are successful one time, you can hone your talents and use your skills to succeed again and again.

One of the critical areas of life where people fail at an amazing rate is in their relationships. Once involved in a relationship, when faced with challenges and hardships, many more people decide to move on to another partner rather than work through the problems and hardships with the partner they have. There are reasons why marriages fail and giving up too soon is one of them.

Thomas Edison is arguably one of the greatest inventors in the history of the world. He is certainly one of the most prolific, holding 1,093 United States patents in his name as well as patents in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

Edison would be dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" for the impact of his inventions, which included originating the concept and implementation of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses and factories, a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. He would create the first industrial research laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ.

Edison, who was home schooled by his mother, spent only 3 months in formal schooling before his teacher declared him "addled" and unfit for learning. His schoolteacher would go on to no great acclaim. Edison would patent the stock ticker, phonograph, fluoroscope (x-ray machine), and the first commercially practical incandescent light (light bulb) among his 1,093 patents, and form 14 companies (including General Electric, one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world). Edison virtually created the electric industry.

One account claims that Edison and his associates tried 5,000+ different elements before using a lower current electricity, a small carbonized filament and an improved vacuum inside a globe to produce the light bulb, the first reliable, long-lasting source of light that would literally light up the world.

The business world is littered with entrepreneurs who started and bankrupted 1, 2 and even 3 companies before starting a 4th company and succeeding beyond their wildest dreams. These entrepreneurs got knocked down, got back up, did not repeat their mistakes and moved on.

Thomas Edison also said this: "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." Consistent, persistent effort combined with learning from mistakes is a big factor in overcoming failure. To Edison's credit, failure was not a word used in his vocabulary.

As Mark Twain said, Edison "never allowed schooling to interfere with his education."

Copyright 2009 Ed Bagley