I hosted a Leadership Success Summit in January and the theme was "Standing Strong in Changing Times because times are changing. Open the paper or turn on the TV and you can't escape all of the messages of doom and gloom.

In order to thrive, we all need to think differently. However, this isn't anything new. The necessity for change has always prevented complacency and stagnation. When you're stuck in your comfort zone, you don't know you're there. Sadly, some people don't make the discovery that they're in a rut until the challenge of digging out becomes exceedingly painful.

If change is uncomfortable, what steps can one take to make changing a bit easier?

Well, there's no surprise that I believe it all starts with your upside attitude....whether you're able to see the unlimited possibilities in and around you at all times. Our thoughts become things. Possessing an upside attitude is important because you are what you think.

Our attitudes control how we feel about others and ourselves. We can actually change our personality and responses by altering our attitude. The words will slowly start to ooze out of our mouth with unabashed enthusiasm and joy. When you speak happy, you feel happy. When you speak with confidence, you are confident.

We color the world with our presence. Our words then become who we are - our character. And, our character becomes our destiny. I wrote Designing Your Destiny: Achieving Personal and Professional Success through Upside Thinking because the change that begins inside will expand to our physical being.

We are all made of energy and we touch people around us, for better or worse. The last question in the book asks, What difference do you want to make in the world?

If you consciously find the unlimited possibilites that lie around and within you, it will make all the difference to your future and and both you and the people around you will be the better for it.