Attitude

Each of us has a mental framework which we use to frame our view of life, to give events and experiences a consistent meaning. This is a part of the personality known as the Attitude. It enables us to interpret reality in a consistent way.

Attitude means perspective or viewpoint.

Just to clarify, we are not talking about specific attitudes such as your attitudes to art, religion or Justin Bieber – although such attitudes could reflect your underlying Attitude. Nor are we talking about having ‘attitude’ in the sense of acting tough.

We are talking about Attitude as a major component of personality — the overall orientation of the mind, a fundamental mindset that is with you for life.

Think of it as the lens through which you see your life unfolding.

Your Attitude sits alongside your other major personality components or ‘Overleaves’ — the Goal and the Mode.

• Your Goal is what you want most deeply out of life, both in general and in any given situation. Dominance and Acceptance are examples.

• Your Mode is how you go about getting that — cautiously, for example, or perhaps aggressively.
• Your Attitude is how you interpret your life experiences — your individual take on life in general — how you make sense of reality