4. Introduction
Welcome to a new chapter of life-college. To survive in a
college and excel in your studies, you need to kick off on the
right foot with the right attitude.
College life may be demanding and challenging. It is therefore
essential for you to have the right attitude to become a
successful college student.
Before we talk about that, let us first define the meaning of
attitude.
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5. What does “Attitude” mean ?
• Dato’ Lawrence Chan (1992) in An achiever’s guide for
students defines “attitude”, as the state of mind in which you
view something.
• In other words, it is the way you look at things mentally. As
such, your mental attitude is very powerful as it will determine
the success of what ever you do.
• While your talents and abilities are important, it is basically
your attitude that will determine how successful you are
• Attitudes is nothing but a point of view one holds for other
people, situations, event, object, places, phenomena, or beings.5
6. • It is essentially like an evaluative statement that is either
positive or negative depending on the degree of like or dislike
for the matter in question.
• An attitude reflects how one thinks, feels and behaves in a
given situation.
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7. Types of attitude
There are Generally three Types of attitude:
• Optimistic
• Indifferent
• Pessimistic
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8. Optimistic
An optimistic student looks at things positively.
He or she is always enthusiastic and motivated in what ever he
or she does.
Each task is accomplished with much enjoyment and
satisfaction.
An optimistic student is a winner.
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9. Indifferent
An Indifferent Student will not be bothered with what he or
she does.
Work is carried out in a mechanical and routine-like manner.
every day tasks seem to be mundane and uninteresting.
There is no sense of pride or achievement in what ever he or
she does.
A student with a Indifferent attitude is a follower
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10. Pessimistic
A pessimistic student looks at things negatively. Every task
will be viewed as difficult and impossible.
Studying is a torture for him or her. He or she sees every thing
as irrelevant and meaningless.
A pessimistic student is a loser.
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11. Some positive Qualities That Successful student Should possess
are:
1. Organization
2. Time Management
3. Active Participation
4. Determination
5. Self-Discipline
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12. Seven Qualities of an Achiever
1. They are Ambitious.
2. They are Courageous.
3. They are Committed.
4. They are Professional.
5. They are Prepared.
6. They are Continuous Learners.
7. They are Responsible.
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13. What does It take to achieve 100% in life ?
let us say each of the following alphabets “ A B C D E F G H I J
K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z “
Is represented as “ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26”.
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14. What is the Value of HARD WORK ?
++ + + + + + + =98
H A R D W O R K
And What about KNOWLEDGE ?
+ + + + + + + + +=93
K N O W L E D G E
However The Value of ATTITUDE is
+ + + + + + + +=100
A T T I T U D E 14
15. Thus, it can be said that while HARD WORK
and KNOWLEDGE are necessary to get you to
the top. It ultimately takes the right
ATTITUDE to get you there.
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16. Improving Our Attitude
There are Many ways to improve your attitude. While it is true
that it may be difficult to change your attitude. it is definitely
not impossible.
All it requires is time, discipline and most importantly
commitment.
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17. How Can we Improve our attitude ?
Look at The Following five Suggestions on how we can improve
our attitudes, and compare them with yours.
You may add your own suggestions. remember there is no right or
wrong answer.
As long as it helps you to develop a positive attitude it should be
practiced.
1. Have a Balanced Diet
2. Exercise regularly
3. Plan your time effectively
4. Think about your family
5. Be optimistic 17
18. 1. Have a Balanced Diet
Ensure That you have proper nutritional meals that include
vegetables, fish, fruits, etc. to keep your body strong.
2. Exercise regularly
Do some physical exercise every day such as jogging,
skipping, etc. to keep your body fit. Alternatively, you may
also take up some sports.
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19. 3. Plan your time effectively
organize your tasks effectively by prioritizing and carrying
them out. Ensure That you allocate time for studies and time
for relaxing.
Start revising earlier. Don’t procrastinate.
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20. 4. Think about your family
Dedicate your success to your loved ones such as your parents
and lecturers. When you think about them, you will not want
to disappoint them. Hence you will push yourself to work
hard. Believe in your self.
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21. 5. Be optimistic
Think positively. Always think “ I can do it” and be
enthusiastic in what ever you do. Speak positively. Listen to
upbeat and inspiring songs to stay motivated.
Also, Smile always. It makes a difference to your attitude.
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22. THE FIVE COMMANDMENTS OF AN ACHIEVER
• Nowadays college life is demanding and challenging some of
us may not able to cope with(deal with) it.
• It is too easy to therefore be distracted from our main
objectives and consequently throw in the towel.
• Nevertheless, we should not have a pessimistic view of college
life. All we need is to have a clear and focused direction that
will assist us to achieve great success.
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23. • Below is “the top five commandments of an achiever”.
• We may use these commandments as guiding principles to help
us stay focused on our goals and ultimately achieve success.
1. Be Optimistic
2. Just Do It
3. NeverGive up
4. If others can, so can I!
5. I must change first for things to change
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24. Be Optimistic
• Our attitude, i.e. the way we think and behave, is very
important as it will determine whether we are successful at
what we do.
• Most students view studying as something boring. That is why
they find everything difficult and impossible. However, if they
think that studying is fun, then things will be easier and
enjoyable. Therefore we need to be optimistic at all times.
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25. Just do it!
• When we do something we should not hesitate or procrastinate.
Just do it. It is often difficult to start in the beginning, but we
need to start somewhere.
• “ the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
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26. Never give up!
Nothing comes easy. We have to work hard to achieve
whatever we want in life. There will be a lot of challenges
and obstacles in life. So do not give up easily when you face
these hurdles. It is important that you view these as positive
challenges. When you cannot handle them, Stop for a while.
Have a sufficient rest and refresh yourself. Learn from your
mistakes. Most importantly, never give up without trying.
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27. Career Question
Would you take a job that pays you very well, but with less
satisfaction or a job you love heartily but with little payment?
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28. If others can, so can I!
• Everybody is equal. All of us are basically the same, i.e.
human. What makes you different from another person? If
others can do it, why can’t you? The key is conviction!
Believe that any thing is possible and that you can do
anything.
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29. I must change first for things to change
When problems arise, do not blame other people or make excuses
for yourself. You are responsible for your own actions. Accept
your mistakes and do something about them. Do not just sit
there and wait for the world to be better for you. Hence if you
first change yourself, then other things around you will also
change for the better.
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30. MANAGING CHANGE
It can be seen from your responses that there are clear
differences between studying in a college or university and a
school. Therefore, as you further your studies at a higher
institution, you may not be able to study or do things the way
you used to in a school. Things will change whether you like
it or not. Most students resist change because they are
stubborn or too comfortable with what they already used to .
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31. • If you resist change, your progress may stagnate and
you will not go far. Instead, more problems may occur,
and you will find college life getting more difficult.
• Change is inevitable, and the right thing to do is to
embrace change as we progress. We need to be
flexible in whatever we do.When the way we approach
something does not work, we need to act quickly and
think of another possible way of tackling it until we are
successful.
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32. One thing for sure though is that we have to start changing
ourselves first. Only then will things around us change.
Success will not come knocking on your door. You have to find
the right door yourself! Thus, an achiever knows that the key
to success is to be flexible and adaptable to new environments
and situations.
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