So if you think you've got attitude, you might just want to cop this! "Copping an attitude" ranks right up there on the continuum of cool phrases. Although it tends to carry a bad rap, I sense your desire to fully leverage our language and move this concept into an opportunity for positive action. Before copping anything, however, and randomly integrating adages into our everyday dialogue, let's work through some wordage considerations.

First, the phrase itself suggests a temporary state: copping - to catch, grab hold of, take on. Interestingly though, Attitudes (our feelings or outlooks) hold an air of stability and permanence. As we move to our Personality, we are describing the outer expression of our inner attitudes. This is what others respond to, define, and often judge (the nerve!). "She has a wonderful personality" or "Quite the lack of personality in that chap!" Stick with me.

The missing link in this linguistic loop will be found. It might help to think of Personality as your Personal I-dentity T-racking Y-ardstick. It encompasses WHO you are and measures HOW you are perceived by others. The popular quote "Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying" captures the essence beautifully.

If we step back to attitudes for a moment and accept the idea that attitudes are really your Habits of Thought, we begin to close the gap. Think about it! Touche you say. Habits, we recall, are "recurrent, often unconscious patterns of behavior that are acquired through frequent repetition." So, if you develop new Habits of thought (through repetition), you'll create new Attitudes and what will follow? Yes!! A change in your behaviors and consequently your Personality.

So go ahead! Cop a few new attitudes - of generosity, respect, optimism, health, wealth, humor! Make them routine. If it's safe, gently encourage others to cop a new one too! Already have a stunning personality? Fabulous. Perhaps you will reach out to touch an audience on a broader scale. William James of Harvard wrote in 1905, "The greatest revolution of my generation is the discovery that individuals, by changing their inner attitudes of mind, can change the outer aspects of their lives." Nicely put... and it works for this generation too!

Time's a Tickin': Trade busy-ness for substance. Focus on 1-3 priorities every day. Write them down, start with the most difficult (or aggravating) and stick with it until it is completed. Then move onto the next. You might be surprised and impressed with what you accomplish. "The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time" (Joe Girard) Sometimes you speed up results by slowing down.