1. The document discusses eight ways to develop a positive attitude to find joy in learning: having a good morning routine, being happy first, appreciating small pleasures, smiling, consuming positive media, taking responsibility for your life, developing resilience, and practicing gratitude. 2. Research shows that a positive attitude leads to greater happiness, better relationships, increased success, more creativity, better decision making, and even longer life. 3. Developing a growth mindset by believing in yourself and focusing on your strengths can help you find joy in learning and life.

1. Find JOY in learning!
DECEMBER 2016 CHARACTER EDUCATION LESSON #2

2. Learning Target
 I can find joy in my personal learning by:
 1. Doing my own work
 2. Having a good attitude & believing in myself
 3. Finding my strengths and interests
 4. Putting forth time and effort

3. Having a good attitude & believing in
myself…
 Do yourself a big favor this holiday season… give yourself the
gift of a good attitude and start believing in yourself!
 Having a good attitude is choosing to look at things from a positive perspective.
 Ask yourself… “Is my glass generally half empty or half full? Do I
tend to point out why I don’t want to come to school or hate doing
my homework? Or do I look at the positive things that happen at
school? Do I often blame other people for my school (and life) experiences
or do I take charge of my education and my life?”

4. Wake up and choose to have a good
attitude!
 Remember that YOU control your attitude.
 Adopt beliefs that frame events in a positive way.
 Create a "library" of positive thoughts. (Remember our precepts?)
 Avoid angry or negative media.
 Use a more positive vocabulary.

5. Do the Research…
 Research shows: A positive attitude makes you happier and more resilient, it
improves your relationships, and it even increases your chances of success in
any endeavor. In addition, having a positive attitude makes you more creative and
it can help you to make better decisions. To top it all off, there are studies that
show that people with a positive attitude live longer.
 https://daringtolivefully.com/positive-attitude

6. Struggling to find the positive?
 1. Have a Morning Routine. How you start your morning sets the tone for the
rest of the day. Make sure that you have an attitude-boosting morning routine that
puts you in a good mood so that you can start the day off right.
 For example… look in the mirror and tell yourself you are awesome and you are
going to do good things today. Put positive messages on your mirror if you
struggle to come up with your own statements!
 “I will conquer my math assignment today! I will have a great day! I can do this! I
am getting better every day! I deserve good things.”

7. Attitude of Happiness…
 2. Carry An Attitude of Happiness With You.
 Instead of waiting for external things to make you happy, be happy and then
watch how that influences the things that go on around you. That is, instead of
telling yourself that first something good has to happen, and then you’ll be happy,
be happy first. Happiness is an attitude, not a situation.

8. Appreciate the small things…
 3. Relish Small Pleasures.
 Big pleasures—graduation, getting married, being promoted, having your
book published—come too infrequently. Life is made up of tiny victories
and simple pleasures. With the right mental attitude, watching the sunset,
eating an ice cream cone, and walking barefoot on the grass are all you
need to be filled with joy.
 Train your brain to know that the little things truly are the best things in life.

9. Smile! It’s easy… it’s free… it’s fun 
 4. Smile.
 Smiling will give you an instantaneous attitude boost. Try smiling for a minute
while you think of a happy memory or the last thing that made you smile. Smiling
releases endorphins and serotonin, also known as the
feel good hormones. It’s a lot
easier to adopt a positive attitude when the
chemicals being released by
your body are conducive to well-being.

10. Time to Upload…
 5. Upload Positivity to Your Brain.
 Read books with a positive message, listen to music with uplifting lyrics, and
watch movies in which optimism helped overcome obstacles and win despite the
odds. Change your attitude for the better by uploading as much positivity into your
brain as you possibly can.

11. It’s YOUR responsibility…
 6. Take Responsibility. The sooner you learn this lesson… the better your life
will be!)
 At any moment your attitude can be that of a victim or of a creator. The first step
you need to take to shift from victim-mode to creator-mode is to take
responsibility. Here’s the attitude of a creator:
 I create my life.
 I am responsible for me.
 I’m in charge of my destiny.

12. Life is Hard… Be resilient!
 7. Stop Expecting Life to Be Easy.
 The truth is, life gets tough at times. For all of us. It can even be painful. But
you’re brave and resourceful. Know that sometimes things won’t be easy, and
adopt the attitude that you have what it takes to deal with anything that life throws
at you.
 Know that there are people to help you, listen to you, care about you, and want to
help you! You don’t have to do it alone.

13. An Attitude of Gratitude…
 8. Use Gratitude to Improve Your Attitude.
 When you find yourself focusing on what’s wrong in your life, what you
don’t have, or what you’re missing out on, adjust your attitude by feeling
gratitude.
 Studies show that having an attitude of gratitude is beneficial for every
aspect of your life: being grateful improves your health, your mood, your
relationships, your school satisfaction, and on, and on. If you need an
attitude lift simply think of all the things that you have to be grateful for.

14. When you change your attitude…
 You will naturally start to believe in yourself! You can do it. Not only will these
things help you find joy in learning… but joy in LIFE!
 https://daringtolivefully.com/positive-attitude