Be It Resolved: Attitude Is the Key
So, how are those New Year’s resolutions going?
Is your resolve to (fill in the blank) still strong? Or have your 1999 resolutions already fizzled like the bubbles in a half-empty bottle of champagne that’s been left out overnight?
If so, you may have the wrong attitude. And attitude is everything, says Corona del Mar-based motivational speaker and executive consultant Tom Bay.
Having the right attitude not only greatly enhances your ability to achieve your goals for the new year, “It’s going to affect everything in your life--financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually,” said Bay, co-author, with business consultant David Macpherson, of “Change Your Attitude: Creating Success One Thought at a Time” (Career Press; $15.99).
Whether you resolve to lose weight or work on a relationship in the new year, Bay said, “If those [wrong] attitudes are still in place come Jan. 1, then your chances of conquering those goals or being successful in what you set out to do are dramatically minimized.”
A motivational speaker for 14 years, Bay has more than 4,000 speaking engagements under his belt and a client list that includes Nordstrom, L.A. Cellular and Universal Studios.
In chatting with employees over the years, he and Macpherson have discovered that whether employees have the right or wrong attitudes, they are always consistent.
Bay sums up those with the wrong attitudes with the acronym WRONG: “They Worry, they Rush to conclusions or judgments, they have a tendency to Overreact and they Neglect responsibility for their actions and Give up.”
Bay said people who consistently have the right attitudes share characteristics that can be summed up with the acronym RIGHT:
“They took Responsibility. They were involved and always looking to Improve themselves. They set Goals for themselves--even small goals, but they had goals. They have a sense of Humor--they’re willing to laugh at themselves and laugh things off and not take life so seriously. And, the last one, they were Trusting, and they trusted themselves first. You can’t trust somebody else if you don’t trust yourself and your own judgments. I think it’s really putting faith in themselves.”
And a little faith goes a long way when you’re trying to reduce your waistline and you hear that siren refrain, “You want fries with that?”
Bay will elaborate--and sign copies of “Change Your Attitude”--at 7 a.m. Friday at Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea, and at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in the Marketplace, 13712 Jamboree Road, Irvine.
Coming Up:
* Costa Mesa poet Patty Seyburn will read and sign her first volume of poetry, “Diasporadic,” at 7 p.m. Thursday at Barnes & Noble in Metro Pointe, 901 S. Coast Drive, Costa Mesa. Seyburn, who received a master’s degree in poetry at UC Irvine, won the 1997 Marianne Moore Poetry Prize for the poems in “Diasporadic.” Said judge Molly Peacock: “Her poems are created from an alluring willingness not to know all the answers, and thus to be able to interpret the world for us flexibly, in all its excitement and mystification.”
* Historical romance writer Jacquelyn Hanson, author of “Susan’s Quest,” will speak and sign at 7 tonight at Borders Books and Music, 25822 El Paseo, Mission Viejo.
* Barbara DeMarco Barrett will interview Martha C. Lawrence, author of “Aquarius Descending,” at 6 p.m. today on KUCI (88.9 FM) in Irvine.
* Poet Michael Kramer will read at 8 tonight at the Ugly Mug Cafe, 261 N. Glassell St., Orange.
* Joseph Kanon will sign “The Prodigal Spy” at 6 p.m. today at Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Ave., Orange.
* Joyce and Gene Daoust, authors of “40-30-30 Fat Burning Nutrition,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Thursday at Barnes & Noble, 791 S. Main St., Orange.
* “Gold Rush: A Literary Exploration,” a four-program reading and discussion series to be held on four consecutive Thursdays, begins this Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Newport Beach Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave. Admission is free, but registration is a must. To register, call (949) 717-3808.
* Barbara Seranella will sign “No Offense Intended” at 1 p.m. Saturday at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St., Westminster. She’ll also sign at 4 p.m. Saturday at Borders Books and Music, 1890 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Barnes & Noble in Fashion Island, 953 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.
* William Nolan will sign “Sharks Never Sleep” at 1 p.m. Saturday at Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Ave., Orange.
* Linda McCoy-Murray, widow of Los Angeles Times sports columnist Jim Murray, will read from “Jim Murray: The Last of the Best” at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in Metro Pointe, 901 S. Coast Drive, Costa Mesa.
* Jim Quinn, author of “Simple Techniques for Playing the Races,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Monday at Borders Books and Music, 1890 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa.
* Tickets are on sale for the Culinary Authors Luncheon with Jane Trittipo (“The Marvelous Microwave”) and Nancy Berkoff (“Vegan Quantity Cookbook”) at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 29 at the Huntington Beach Library, 7111 Talbert Ave. Cost: $12. Reservations must be made by Monday. For more information, call (714) 842-4481, Ext. 7.
Send information about book-related events at least 10 days before event to: Dennis McLellan, O.C. Books & Authors, Southern California Living, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.