Today’s career advice comes from the US Open tennis tournament.  It ended last night. Novak Djokovic beat Rafa Nadal in a grueling four set match to win the men’s championship.  On Sunday Samantha (Sam) Stosur beat Serena Williams to win the women’s championship.

But this post isn’t about the players it’s about a ball girl. Denise Castelli was on the court as a ball girl throughout the tournament.  There are about 75 ball girls and ball boys who work the Open.  Over 500 tried out.  Denise’s story is special because she is an amputee.  She had her left leg amputated in November 2009 after breaking her leg in a softball game in April 2008.  She had over 30 surgeries to repair the leg, but it had to be amputated.

Denise had this to say about becoming a US Open ball girl…

“I knew it would mean a lot for the amputee community and the community of people with disabilities to show everyone that we’re more than capable of doing things, even though we might be a little bit different.”

She showed a lot of people last Saturday.  During  the CBS broadcast of the women’s semifinals, Dick Enberg featured Denise and the cameras followed her as she grabbed a few balls.

Good for Denise.  I was happy to hear her story.  It reminded me of tweet 37 in my career advice book Success Tweets.  “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it.  Don’t dwell on the negative, use it as a springboard to action and creativity.”

Denise sprung into action in the US Open ball kid tryouts.  She was a softball player at the University of New Haven.  Tina Taps, the US Open Director of Ball Persons said that Denise has “a shotgun of an arm.  She’s fully capable of throwing the ball the full length of the tennis court.”  This makes her perfect for working behind the baseline at the Open.

Successful people, like Denise Castelli, have a habit of focusing on the positive and putting the negative out of their minds.  Positive habits like this are an important key to career success.  Habits are like muscles.  The more you use them, the stronger they get.  Dan Robey is the King of Positive Habits.  His eBook, “The Power of Positive Habits,” is one of my go-to books when I need to give myself a little boost.  You can get a copy at www.ThePowerOfPositiveHabits.com.

As I heard Denise’s story, I thought about another book by Evelyn Brooks, called Forget Your Troubles: Enjoy Your Life Today.
Evelyn suggests that you get S.M.A.R.T. about managing stress and difficult situations…

• S Smash the negative.
• M Maximize the positive.
• A Act.
• R Relax.
• T Target your next action.

Sounds as if Denise took this advice to heart.  She maximized the positive — her great arm.  She smashed the negative — her lost leg.  She acted — by trying out to be a ball girl.  She seemed very relaxed and confident when I saw her on TV.  I bet she is already targeting her next challenge.

Stuff happens as you go through life; positive stuff, negative stuff, happy stuff, sad stuff, frustrating stuff.  The important thing is not what happens, but how you react to it.  In other words, smash your negative thoughts; replace them with positive ones.  Don’t dwell on negative things, use them as a springboard to achieving your goals.  Denise certainly did.  She smashed the negative of going from a collegiate softball player to an amputee.

She maximized the positive by doing something that would show the world that amputees can do a lot more than some people might think.  Take a lesson from Denise, maximize the positive in your life by creating positive habits and routines.  When something goes well, take the time to celebrate.  You deserve it.  And, small celebrations when you succeed are a positive habit that will put you in a positive frame of mind, which in turn, will help you create more life and career success.

I have given away over 2,500 copies of the eBook version of Success Tweets.  I mention this because I’m celebrating.  I want to get the positive career advice in Success Tweets into the hands of as many people as I can.  I’m maximizing the positive.  You might say that 2,500 people choosing to receive a free eBook is not a reason for a huge celebration; but I do – and I’m following my own career success advice by creating a habit of celebrating small successes.  Celebrating small wins is a great positive habit for me.  It helps me manage my stress and not get overwhelmed by the negatives that occasionally  creep into my life.  I’m sticking to it.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people follow the advice in Tweet 37 in Success Tweets.  “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it.  Don’t dwell on the negative, use it as a springboard to action and creativity.”  Denise Castelli did.  Even though she lost her leg due to a softball injury, she became a ball girl at the US Open.  Follow her lead.  Use positive habits to get competent; create positive personal impact; become an outstanding performer and a dynamic communicator.  Build strong relationships with the important people in your life.  Smash the negatives in your life and focus on positive thoughts, habits and routines.  Use the negatives that come your way as learning experiences, and positive thoughts, habits and routines to create small victories.  Treat these small victories as a reason for celebration.  Celebrating small victories is a good way to keep things in perspective and build the resilience necessary for dealing with the tough times.  Take it from a career success coach, positive habits are powerful and will help you become the life and career success you deserve to be.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my new membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get your free copy of I Want YOU by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

Today’s career advice comes from the US Open tennis tournament.  It ended last night. Novak Djokovic beat Rafa Nadal in a grueling four set match to win the men’s championship.  On Sunday Samantha (Sam) Stosur beat Serena Williams to win the women’s championship.

But this post isn’t about the players it’s about a ball girl. Denise Castelli was on the court as a ball girl throughout the tournament.  There are about 75 ball girls and ball boys who work the Open.  Over 500 tried out.  Denise’s story is special because she is an amputee.  She had her left leg amputated in November 2009 after breaking her leg in a softball game in April 2008.  She had over 30 surgeries to repair the leg, but it had to be amputated.

Denise had this to say about becoming a US Open ball girl…

“I knew it would mean a lot for the amputee community and the community of people with disabilities to show everyone that we’re more than capable of doing things, even though we might be a little bit different.”

She showed a lot of people last Saturday.  During  the CBS broadcast of the women’s semifinals, Dick Enberg featured Denise and the cameras followed her as she grabbed a few balls.

Good for Denise.  I was happy to hear her story.  It reminded me of tweet 37 in my career advice book Success Tweets.  “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it.  Don’t dwell on the negative, use it as a springboard to action and creativity.”

Denise sprung into action in the US Open ball kid tryouts.  She was a softball player at the University of New Haven.  Tina Taps, the US Open Director of Ball Persons said that Denise has “a shotgun of an arm.  She’s fully capable of throwing the ball the full length of the tennis court.”  This makes her perfect for working behind the baseline at the Open.

Successful people, like Denise Castelli, have a habit of focusing on the positive and putting the negative out of their minds.  Positive habits like this are an important key to career success.  Habits are like muscles.  The more you use them, the stronger they get.  Dan Robey is the King of Positive Habits.  His eBook, “The Power of Positive Habits,” is one of my go-to books when I need to give myself a little boost.  You can get a copy at www.ThePowerOfPositiveHabits.com.

As I heard Denise’s story, I thought about another book by Evelyn Brooks, called Forget Your Troubles: Enjoy Your Life Today.
Evelyn suggests that you get S.M.A.R.T. about managing stress and difficult situations…

• S Smash the negative.
• M Maximize the positive.
• A Act.
• R Relax.
• T Target your next action.

Sounds as if Denise took this advice to heart.  She maximized the positive — her great arm.  She smashed the negative — her lost leg.  She acted — by trying out to be a ball girl.  She seemed very relaxed and confident when I saw her on TV.  I bet she is already targeting her next challenge.

Stuff happens as you go through life; positive stuff, negative stuff, happy stuff, sad stuff, frustrating stuff.  The important thing is not what happens, but how you react to it.  In other words, smash your negative thoughts; replace them with positive ones.  Don’t dwell on negative things, use them as a springboard to achieving your goals.  Denise certainly did.  She smashed the negative of going from a collegiate softball player to an amputee.

She maximized the positive by doing something that would show the world that amputees can do a lot more than some people might think.  Take a lesson from Denise, maximize the positive in your life by creating positive habits and routines.  When something goes well, take the time to celebrate.  You deserve it.  And, small celebrations when you succeed are a positive habit that will put you in a positive frame of mind, which in turn, will help you create more life and career success.

I have given away over 2,500 copies of the eBook version of Success Tweets.  I mention this because I’m celebrating.  I want to get the positive career advice in Success Tweets into the hands of as many people as I can.  I’m maximizing the positive.  You might say that 2,500 people choosing to receive a free eBook is not a reason for a huge celebration; but I do – and I’m following my own career success advice by creating a habit of celebrating small successes.  Celebrating small wins is a great positive habit for me.  It helps me manage my stress and not get overwhelmed by the negatives that occasionally  creep into my life.  I’m sticking to it.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people follow the advice in Tweet 37 in Success Tweets.  “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it.  Don’t dwell on the negative, use it as a springboard to action and creativity.”  Denise Castelli did.  Even though she lost her leg due to a softball injury, she became a ball girl at the US Open.  Follow her lead.  Use positive habits to get competent; create positive personal impact; become an outstanding performer and a dynamic communicator.  Build strong relationships with the important people in your life.  Smash the negatives in your life and focus on positive thoughts, habits and routines.  Use the negatives that come your way as learning experiences, and positive thoughts, habits and routines to create small victories.  Treat these small victories as a reason for celebration.  Celebrating small victories is a good way to keep things in perspective and build the resilience necessary for dealing with the tough times.  Take it from a career success coach, positive habits are powerful and will help you become the life and career success you deserve to be.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my new membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get your free copy of I Want YOU by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

My latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less is now available on Amazon.com and in bookstores.  I am in the process of blogging about each of the tweets in it. You can get a free copy of Success Tweets at www.SuccessTweets.com.  If you like it, I’d appreciate a positive review on Amazon.com.

Today’s career success coach post is on Tweet 39…

While other people and events have an impact on our life, they don’t shape it.  You get to choose how you react to people and events.

As I was getting ready to write this post, an email from my friends at Heart Math popped up in my in box.  It had a quote from Viktor Frankl…

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”

Victor Frankl survived the Nazi death camps in WWII.  He lost his wife, mother and father in those camps.  His experience with the Nazis led him to conclude that even in the most absurd, painful and dehumanized situation, life has potential meaning. 

He chronicled his experiences in the camps and what he learned from them in his famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning.  In 1991, the US Library of Congress designated it as one of the ten most influential books in the United States.  It as sold over 10 million copies and been translated into 24 languages.

One of his famous quotes always brings tears to my eyes…

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Speaking of attitude, the June 2010 issue of SUCCESS Magazine has a great article by John Maxwell called “Attitude Is the Difference Maker.”  If you’re not already a subscirber, I suggest you go to www.success.com and become one.  The career advice in SUCCESS is invaluable.  WhatJohn has to say about attitude is a great example. .. 

“Attitude isn’t everything, but it’s the main difference maker.”

As you can see from the Viktor Frankl quote above, choosing your attitude is choosing your own way.   As a human being, you get to choose how you respond to the people and events in your life.  You can choose to have a positive, optimistic attitude and respond to difficult people and events in a constructive manner.  Or, you can choose to have a negative attitude and respond to difficult people and events in a self destructive manner.  Your attitude is the difference maker between a successful, rewarding life and career and an unsuccessful and unfulfilling life and career.

Take it from a career success coach.  You get to choose how you respond to every person you meet and everything that happens that happens to you.  Your moment of choice comes in between the stimulus and your response.  This can be a small space, but it is a real space that exists.  Your attitude has a big impact on what you choose in these moments of choice.

Writing in SUCCESS, John Maxwell says, “Your attitude makes a difference in how you face challenges.  Successful people don’t have fewer problems than unsuccessful people – they just have a different mindset.”  That bares repeating – “Successful people don’t have fewer problems than unsuccessful people – they just have a different mindset.”

We all have our problems and challenges.  The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is simple.  Successful people choose to respond to problems in a positive manner.  They choose a positive, proactive approach.  They choose to take personal responsibility for themselves, their actions and their life and career success.  They choose to see problems as challenges – and they meet the challenges they encounter. 

Choose is the important word here.  We human beings have free will.  We can choose how we respond to the things that happen to us.  We can choose our attitude.  Successful people choose to respond positively to the negative people and events in their lives.  Successful people choose to have a positive attitude.

The SUCCESS article has a quote from Chuck Swindoll on the “Power of Attitude”…

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than education, than money, than circumstance, than failures, than successes, then what other people think, say or do.  It is more important that appearance, giftedness or scale.  It will make or break a company, a church, a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.  We cannot change the past.  We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90 % how I react to it; and so it is with you.  We are in charge of our attitude.”

Or as Viktor Frankl says…

“Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Your attitude is the difference maker.  A positive attitude leads to positive results and career success.  A negative attitude leads to negative results.  The good thing is that you can choose your attitude.  Remember the career advice and wisdom in Tweet 39 in Success Tweets.  “While other people and events have an impact on our life, they don’t shape it.  You get to choose how you react to people and events.”  Use the free will that God has given you to create your life and career success.  Choose a positive attitude.  Choose to respond positively to the negative people and events in your life.  Remember what Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor teaches us, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”  Empower yourself to make the right choices, the positive choices, when you encounter negative people and events.

That’s my take on the career advice in Tweet 39 in Success Tweets – and the advice of Viktor Frankl, John Maxwell and Chuck Swindoll.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thank for reading.  I have an attitude of gratitude when it comes to my readers.  I really appreciate you.

Bud

My latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less is now available on Amazon.com and in bookstores.  I am in the process of blogging about each of the tweets in it. You can get a free copy of Success Tweets at www.SuccessTweets.com.  If you like it, I’d appreciate a positive review on Amazon.com.

Today’s career success coach post is on Tweet 39…

While other people and events have an impact on our life, they don’t shape it.  You get to choose how you react to people and events.

As I was getting ready to write this post, an email from my friends at Heart Math popped up in my in box.  It had a quote from Viktor Frankl…

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”

Victor Frankl survived the Nazi death camps in WWII.  He lost his wife, mother and father in those camps.  His experience with the Nazis led him to conclude that even in the most absurd, painful and dehumanized situation, life has potential meaning. 

He chronicled his experiences in the camps and what he learned from them in his famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning.  In 1991, the US Library of Congress designated it as one of the ten most influential books in the United States.  It as sold over 10 million copies and been translated into 24 languages.

One of his famous quotes always brings tears to my eyes…

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Speaking of attitude, the June 2010 issue of SUCCESS Magazine has a great article by John Maxwell called “Attitude Is the Difference Maker.”  If you’re not already a subscirber, I suggest you go to www.success.com and become one.  The career advice in SUCCESS is invaluable.  WhatJohn has to say about attitude is a great example. .. 

“Attitude isn’t everything, but it’s the main difference maker.”

As you can see from the Viktor Frankl quote above, choosing your attitude is choosing your own way.   As a human being, you get to choose how you respond to the people and events in your life.  You can choose to have a positive, optimistic attitude and respond to difficult people and events in a constructive manner.  Or, you can choose to have a negative attitude and respond to difficult people and events in a self destructive manner.  Your attitude is the difference maker between a successful, rewarding life and career and an unsuccessful and unfulfilling life and career.

Take it from a career success coach.  You get to choose how you respond to every person you meet and everything that happens that happens to you.  Your moment of choice comes in between the stimulus and your response.  This can be a small space, but it is a real space that exists.  Your attitude has a big impact on what you choose in these moments of choice.

Writing in SUCCESS, John Maxwell says, “Your attitude makes a difference in how you face challenges.  Successful people don’t have fewer problems than unsuccessful people – they just have a different mindset.”  That bares repeating – “Successful people don’t have fewer problems than unsuccessful people – they just have a different mindset.”

We all have our problems and challenges.  The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is simple.  Successful people choose to respond to problems in a positive manner.  They choose a positive, proactive approach.  They choose to take personal responsibility for themselves, their actions and their life and career success.  They choose to see problems as challenges – and they meet the challenges they encounter. 

Choose is the important word here.  We human beings have free will.  We can choose how we respond to the things that happen to us.  We can choose our attitude.  Successful people choose to respond positively to the negative people and events in their lives.  Successful people choose to have a positive attitude.

The SUCCESS article has a quote from Chuck Swindoll on the “Power of Attitude”…

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than education, than money, than circumstance, than failures, than successes, then what other people think, say or do.  It is more important that appearance, giftedness or scale.  It will make or break a company, a church, a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.  We cannot change the past.  We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90 % how I react to it; and so it is with you.  We are in charge of our attitude.”

Or as Viktor Frankl says…

“Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Your attitude is the difference maker.  A positive attitude leads to positive results and career success.  A negative attitude leads to negative results.  The good thing is that you can choose your attitude.  Remember the career advice and wisdom in Tweet 39 in Success Tweets.  “While other people and events have an impact on our life, they don’t shape it.  You get to choose how you react to people and events.”  Use the free will that God has given you to create your life and career success.  Choose a positive attitude.  Choose to respond positively to the negative people and events in your life.  Remember what Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor teaches us, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”  Empower yourself to make the right choices, the positive choices, when you encounter negative people and events.

That’s my take on the career advice in Tweet 39 in Success Tweets – and the advice of Viktor Frankl, John Maxwell and Chuck Swindoll.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thank for reading.  I have an attitude of gratitude when it comes to my readers.  I really appreciate you.

Bud