Attitude—The Difference Maker #5: The Limitations of Attitude

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

One of the most inspiring stories of a person with a great attitude was that of Rudy Ruettiger. Rudy’s dream was to place football at Notre Dame. He went through numerous struggles to even get accepted at Notre Dame and eventually onto their football team. Beyond those struggles, Rudy was not built like a football player at 5’6” and 165 lbs. Yet Rudy’s heart and attitude made up for many of his inadequacies. The coaches loved him. He made his teammates rise to the occasion as they went out onto the football field. However, on account of his lack of physical abilities and size, he only ended up playing in three plays in the last game of the season of his senior year. Again, Rudy’s heart, and attitude were extraordinary, yet that can only take you so far.

John Maxwell said, “You cannot disconnect attitude from reality and expect success.” Thus, it is my prayer that you are successful in life. And attitude will play a huge part in that, yet attitude does not undermine the need for other things.

There are five keys for success. First is competence. If you think you can do something, that’s confidence. If you can do it, that’s competence. Both are needed for success.

Second, to be successful, you need experience. Attaining experience is not always easy especially if you are applying for a job that requires it, yet you need the job in order to gain the experience. Besides that, experience is often painful. Yet it requires this pain in order to prepare you for the success that you are searching for.

Third, a positive attitude cannot change the facts. This can be seen in Rudy’s life. He simply did not have the physical stature or athletic abilities necessary to be a college football player.

Fourth, attitude is no substitute for personal growth. If you want to succeed, you must make the conscious effort to grow. Musician Bruce Springsteen said, “A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be.”

Lastly, your attitude will not stay good automatically. Life has a way of knocking us down at times, compounded with living in a society that tends to be very negative is a recipe for a bad attitude. Therefore, maintaining a good attitude will require great effort, yet looking to the Lord, His strength, example, and promises can make all the difference.

More of Him, less of me,

Matt

(Portions from John Maxwell, The Difference Maker)