Transcript Maintaining a Positive Mind Set

Maintaining a Positive Mind SetLessons from
The Little Engine That Could
Prepared by
Jim Messina, Ph.D.
What is the Can Do Attitude?
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Committing to the “Can Do” attitude of The
Little Engine that Could so you will be able to
help your organization change its culture and
climate
Committing to helping your organization to
become more connected and caring so that it
becomes legendary in its productivity,
profitability, and employee morale
Committing to extending yourself beyond your
current comfort zone so that you become more
than you ever expected yourself to become in
your current organization
So What is the Story About?
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We find a little Engine at the beginning of the
book chugging, puffing, and “ding donging”
along as a happy little train bringing good
things to kids on the other side of the
mountain
She was happy because she was carrying a
full load of things which were good for these
little girls and boys
She had cars filled with toy animals, dolls, toy
clowns, toy engines, airplanes, tops, jackknives, puzzles, and books
Our Engine Becomes
Down & Out
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She also was carrying cars filled with good
things for girls and boys to eat like oranges,
apples, creamy milk, fresh spinach,
peppermint drops and lollypops
Then ALL OF A SUDDEN she stopped with a
jerk and she could not get her wheels to turn
any longer she became Down & Out!
OH Boy! What were all the good little girls
and boys on the other side of the mountain
going to do without all these goodies the
engine was carrying?
Here she is: DOWN and OUT
What was the Mission of
Down and Out?
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Down & Out was doing a service for others. She
was not just delivering items. She was in the
process of enhancing and enriching the lives of
the girls and boys on the other side of the
mountain
Down & Out was not just doing a job, she was in
the process of making life better for others
Down & Out was being a Legend to those on the
other side of the mountain for the good she was
providing them
Down & Out did not feel like she was working a
j.o.b. She felt like she was on a mission!
But our little engine became Down & Out
Are you Down and Out?
Has your organization been experiencing:
 Low employee morale
 High employee turnover
 Low productivity
 Low profitability
 Poor customer retention
 Poor market share in your community
 If so then you need to become a NEW
ENGINE to pull the train of your Organization
to achieve its mission
First up was Shiny
the new passenger engine
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The first to appear after Down & Out broke
down was the Shiny New Engine
The toys on the train pleaded to Shiny to pull
their train over the mountain so that the girls
and boys on the other side of the mountain
would have toys to play with and food to eat
Shiny said: “I am a Passenger Engine entitled
to only carry the finest of cars and people
and there is no way I would pull the likes of
your train! Indeed not!”
SHINY
Are You a SHINY?
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Do you believe like Shiny that you are entitled to
be given good things without putting yourself out
to get them?
Are you not open to doing more than a j.o.b.?
Are you not at all committed to a mission of
caring for people?
Are you more focused on what you accomplish
and not on how others benefit from what you do?
Are you self-absorbed with your Brilliance”?
Are you a Shiny New Engine who can’t?
Well maybe BIGGIE
the Freight Engine will help!
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After Shiny went to the round house where
engines that are not busy go, along came
BIGGIE a Big Freight Engine
Again the toys and dolls asked him to bring
the train over to the other side of the
mountain to give the good little girls and boys
things to play with and food to eat
Well BIGGIE said he was a Freight Engine
who had just done major work of great
importance and that he would not pull the
likes of the children’s train and he puffed off
indignantly to the roundhouse
BIGGIE
Well are You a BIGGIE?
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Are you filled with self-importance and wait for
others to recognize your worth and value
without extending yourself to others?
Are you so full of yourself that you can only
think of your needs and not the needs of
others with whom you work and serve?
Are you always on the defense lest someone
ask you to do something that you feel is
beneath you?
Are you a BIGGIE who is a “little nobody who
thinks of self as being a big somebody” but is
one who can’t think outside of him or herself
for others?
Maybe Rusty,
the old engine will do it!
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As BIGGIE rolled into the roundhouse, the
toys and dolls waved to a dingy, rusty old
engine and asked for help
But Rusty sighed and said that he was
so tired that he had to rest his weary
wheels
Rusty went on to say: I cannot, I
cannot, I cannot!...
Rusty
So are You a Rusty?
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Are you so burned out and tired that you do
not have the energy or desire to change even
if the opportunity is great and rewarding in
the end?
Are you so blind by your being a “victim” that
you cannot see yourself being a “winner?”
Are you so worn out from the day to day
work you do that you have lost any vision or
imagination of how things could get better?
Are you Rusty who cannot, cannot,
cannot?
Along come Little Blue
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Little Blue was chugging along merrily when
asked by the toys and dolls to carry their
train over to the girls and boys on the other
side of the mountain
Little Blue was honest with them saying that
she was not very big and had never been
over the mountain and that she was only
used for switching trains
Little Blue
Little Blue has a
Heart for People
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Little Blue listened to the request of the
toys and dolls and she was moved when she
saw the tears in their eyes as they explained
how the children on the other side of the
mountain would not have any good things to
play with or good foods to eat!
Little Blue thought about the poor children
on the other side of the mountain who would
be going without and she…
Little Blue said
“I think I can!”
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Little Blue hitched herself to the little train and
tugged, pulled and slowly started off!
Puff, puff, chug, chug Little Blue started off
Little Blue was saying as she went: I think I
can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…
Up, up, faster and faster she climbed until she
reached the top of the mountain, down in the
valley was the city with the little girls and boys…
Little Blue proclaims
“I thought I could”
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“Hurray” cried the clowns and dolls at
the top of the mountain-the little girls
and boys in the city would be happy
because Little Blue helped the little
train achieve its goal!
Little Blue smiled and said I thought I
could, I thought I could, I thought I
could…
So are you like Little Blue?
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Do you have your mind and heart open to
“possibility thinking” rather than “impossibility
thinking?”
Do you allow yourself to put yourself out for
others knowing that you are extending
yourself well beyond your comfort zone?
Do you allow yourself to be optimistic in your
outlook and set aside the negatives in your
life which could hinder your attitude and
perspective on life?
So are you like Little Blue?
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Are you able to take risks to change the way
you think, feel, and act in situations like
Little Blue or are you stuck like Down & Out,
Shiny, BIGGIE, and Rusty?
Are you able to “step out of yourself” and
show concern for others in need?
Do you want rewards which are visible or can
you be as happy with knowing you are doing
good like Little Blue was feeling once she
came down the mountain to the city with the
train for the little girls and boys?
So are you like Little Blue?
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Are pay, benefits, and bonuses the only
way you feel rewarded at work or are
you like Little Blue who is rewarded by
knowing that you have done a good job
which benefits others?
So can you be like Little Blue and take
on the “can do attitude?”
Believe you Can Do like
Little Blue!
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You can help your organization grow into being
a connected and caring Team
You can help yourself to become more positive
and more optimistic in your outlook which will
spill over into all aspects of your life
You can become mission driven to be there for
others and just being there for yourself
You can change as long as YOU THINK YOU
CAN!
Additional Lessons to learn
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Love is why we are here
The most important day is today
If you always do your best, you will have no
regrets
Sometimes a wrong turn will bring you to
exactly the right place
For all your accomplishments, nothing will
bring you more happiness than the love you
find
Reference:
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The Little Engine that Could by Walter
Piper. Grosset & Dunlap 1978
The Website Home of The Little Engine
that Could:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packag
es/us/yreaders/littleenginetc/books.htm
References on Coping.us
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Power of Self-Affirmations:
http://coping.us/toolsforpersonalgrowth/selfaffirmationsthatwork.html
Handling Fear of Success:
http://coping.us/toolsforpersonalgrowth/handlingfearofsuccess.html
Accepting Personal Responsibility:
http://coping.us/toolsforpersonalgrowth/acceptingpersonalresponsibility
.html
Handling Pride:
http://coping.us/toolsforpersonalgrowth/handlingpride.html
Handling Need for Approval:
http://coping.us/toolsforrelationships/handlingneedforapproval.html
Overcoming Role of Victim and Martyr:
http://coping.us/toolsforrelationships/victimvsmartyr.html