The-Slight-Edge

The 7 Slight Edge Principles 81
And with as much traveling and speaking as I do, I’ve developed this
uncanny ability to spot givers and the takers when it comes to attitude. Givers
are those people who brighten the room with their positive vibe and excitement
for life. Takers are those who immediately seem to dim the room with their lack
of excitement and depressing outlook on life.
I can feel a “dimmer” coming toward me from far away. There could be
50 people in the room and I could spot the one who is sucking the life out of
the room. I just run from these kinds of people. I’m looking for people with an
infectious positive attitude, who bring energy, vitality and who brighten the
room, not dim the room with their nagging and negativity.
Beware of the Cuckoos
It’s hard to have a good attitude with all that is going on in society. Negativity
can show up at your doorstep every single day, seven days a week, with or without
your permission. We are constantly bombarded by negative messages from the
media and other sources that can impact the way we look at life.
Why do you think publishers put magazines and newspapers where they
do in grocery and convenience stores? Because that’s where they have the best
chance of selling you their fish wrap, to put it bluntly. But I will tell you right
now, there’s not one thing in those magazines that you need to know—not one
thing that is going to help you lead a better life. Those magazines are “cuckoo.”
Cuckoos are not limited to magazines and other news media outlets. They
are people we work and associate with on a daily basis. Now let me tell you
something right up front. I have worked with a lot of different people from all
walks of life in my career. Many have been hard workers, committed-to-a-cause
kind of people who have an incredible ability to get things done. On the flipside,
I have also worked with those who are just plain cuckoo. They are professionals
in the art of distraction, who take people’s attention away from the task at hand.
They will drive you crazy if you let them.
You have people just like this in your office. They congregate at the water
cooler and dish out the latest gossip on who’s doing what, complain about how
much they hate their job, and even make fun of people who are trying to improve
the workplace morale by being beacons of positivity. Again, there are people who
brighten the room, and there are the cuckoos at the water cooler, folks who dim
the room with their negativity.
When I was in my 20s and building my solar company in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, there was a lady named Carol Cooke, an industry icon who knew
everything and anything about the solar business. She had some sage advice for