Craig T. Owens

How High Will You Climb? is an abridgment of Dr. John Maxwell’s amazing book The Winning Attitude. Truly, attitude will determine your success in life. I highly recommend either of these books (you can check out my review by clicking here). Below are some attitude quotes I highlighted and one helpful infographic.

“The attitude is an inward feeling expressed by behavior. That is why an attitude can be seen without a word being said.” 

“It is impossible to perform consistently in a manner that is inconsistent with the way we see ourselves. In other words, we usually act in direct response to our self-image. … We should also remember God’s unconditional love and acceptance. He thinks more of us than we do of ourselves. … This principle works in reverse too. How we see ourselves reflects how others see us. If we like ourselves, it increases the odds that others will like us.”

“Others can stop you temporarily, but you are the only one who can do it permanently.”

“Usually wrong decisions are made at the wrong time, and right decisions are made at the right time. The reason? We let our environment control our thinking, which controls our decisions. Therefore, the more decisions that are made in the calm of life, the fewer times storms can bring us down.”

“Failure—we hide it, deny it, fear it, ignore it, and hate it. We do everything but accept it. By acceptance, I don’t mean resignation and apathy. I mean understanding that failure is a necessary step to success. The person who never makes a mistake never does anything.”

“Fear of failure grips those who take themselves too seriously.”

“First, discouragement hurts our self-image. … Discouragement causes us to see ourselves as less than we really are. This fact becomes even more important when we realize that we cannot consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with the way we see ourselves. Second, discouragement causes us to evade our responsibilities. … Third, discouragement causes us to blame others for our predicaments. … Fourth, discouragement causes us to blur the facts.”

“When our attitude crashes, we have two alternatives. We can either alter the difficulty or alter ourselves. What can be changed for the best, we must change. When that is impossible, we must adjust to the circumstances in a positive way.”

“We are either the masters or the victims of our attitudes. It is a matter of personal choice. Who we are today is the result of choices we made yesterday. Tomorrow we will become what we choose today.” 

“It is a sad day for any person when he becomes so satisfied with his life, his thoughts, and his deeds that he ceases to be challenged to do greater things in life.”

“When an opportunity for growth is open to you, what do you tell yourself? Will you grasp the chance with a tingle of excitement and say, ‘I can make it work!’ or do you smother it by saying, ‘That’s impractical… too difficult… I don’t think it can be done’? In that moment, you choose between success and failure. You helped to form a habit of either positive or negative thinking by what you tell yourself. So give your ‘better’ self a chance to grow. Form the habit of positive reaction followed by positive action.”