21 Days. No Complaints. No Excuses.
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A good blog is like a good book. Sometimes you want to go back and revisit posts that meant something to you. One such post by Tim Ferriss has been rattling around in my head A LOT lately. This post was called Real Mind Control: The 21 Day No-Complaint Experiment. In the post, Tim told us of Will Bowen, a Kansas City minister who decided to try an experiment. He would wear a purple bracelet to remind him not to complain for 21 days. If he did complain, he would switch his bracelet to the other wrist and start over at day 1. This is because scientists say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. If you don’t complain for 21 days straight, you’ve just formed a habit of not complaining!
There is now a great website started by Will Bowen called acomplaintfreeworld.org. There, you can order the purple bracelet, Will Bowen’s book and DVD, and even download a widget for your computer that will count the days for you. If you complain, you have to click ‘Start Over’.
Why would you want to do this?
I don’t know why you would want to do this, but I’ll tell you why I am going to do this, and why it took me this long to realize I should.
Reason #1
I’ve related in earlier posts how I may not be as happy with some aspects of my life as I could be. Sure, I have a wonderful family and my health, but I want more for my family and for myself. I find it too easy, however, to complain, or better yet, make excuses for why things don’t go as planned. That is why the title of this post includes ‘No Excuses’. More on that in a bit…
Reason #2
Complaining gets everyone down. Working in the retail industry, I can’t tell you how many times someone has commented on how they couldn’t do my job if they had to deal with the irate customers. I used to think the same way. What I do is think about what I would like to hear if I was upset. How does that fit in to what I can actually do?
So the no complaining piece is this: of course you identify the problems, but instead of seeing them as problems, make them in to opportunities to grow and improve the situation. Instead of just writing a situation off as something to complain about, isn’t there something you can do to improve or even remedy the situation? And if not, why sweat it? It’s out of your hands! Yelling at the Republican or Democrat on the television screen is just raising your blood pressure. The politician still sleeps at night, and won’t change his/her tune for you!
Why did it take me so long to decide to do this?
The answer is remarkably simple: Complaining is easy. There’s a certain release to cursing something that doesn’t go right. It releases you from the hassle of actually doing something about it. If you can blame something else, you’re not the responsible party, right? WRONG! If you don’t learn from those mistakes or incidents, you’ll just have more and more to complain about later on…
My dad always says that when you point a finger at someone (or something) three fingers are pointing back at you. This is why No Excuses is part of my 21 day experiment. If I’m not happy with something in my life, instead of making excuses (“It’s the economy!” “It’s the weather!” “I’m just following orders!”), I’ll find solutions and a way to take advantage of the opportunities.
I would like to invite you all to join me in this experiment. You don’t have to buy the bracelet, just throw a rubber band on your wrist, or download the widget like I did. The point is to stop complaining. And stop making excuses!
I will, of course, be blogging my progress, and in the name of honest blogging, will blog my failures as well.
If you are joining me in this experiment, please, let me know below. I will also start a discussion on my Facebook fan page, so you can chart your progress there as well!
Good luck!
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It is terribly easy to fall into a pattern of complaining. It solves nothing, but people get a joy out of doing it. I love this idea.
Like I said, it’s just too darn easy. And you get no where fast taking the easy way…
Good luck!
WeaselMomma´s last blog ..More Tuesday Tidbits
What if it’s righteous complaining???
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You know, I’ve heard of this 21 day rule as well. I’ve never thought of applying it to complaining though. That’s an excellent idea! I probably complain about something at least once a day, and you’re right; it is habit forming. This is an excellently motivational post. I’m reposting. Really great. made my morning so far
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This is a great thing to do. I am a highly motivated person and I wake up each day charged and ready to go and most every day I wake up with a great attitude.
I believe that our words carry a lot of weight and I really stress to my kids to use their words towards each other and those around them to build each other up.
I once was a very negative person and didn’t like being around people. That took a lot of time and energy, when I changed and looked at all the blessings in my life it transformed me.
Living in America we have so much to be thankful for and we are incredibly blessed.
We have choices in all that we do and we can choose to look at the positives and bright side to all of it.
Instead of complaining look for the good and be creative in how you handle the situations.
Stop thinking the world and others are out to get you!
Look at difficult circumstances as opportunities for growth.
I think we all would be happier if we made this a way of life.
Great post and I appreciate you sharing that.
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This is so great. I will have beingmichaelsdaddy.com read this too! Maybe we can get our teen girls to try this and see if we can all do it! I was just telling my daughter S about choices>
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I hope that in your company where you are working on, there’s no issue of complaining
Just a joke. Well, complaining is a practice which every people tends to do and I think they do it to feel how bossy they are.
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