“We Have A Choice With The Words We Use,
To Create The Life We Live.
Choose wisely.”
Will Bowen
(Author: A Complaint Free World)
A few years ago in a small American town, a movement started that has now spread around the world.
The incredible part is that it calls us to give up something that is so normal in our daily lives, that we do it unconsciously.
It’s woven into the fabric of most conversations we have everyday.
But it’s also an insidious reason why so many of us stay trapped feeling life is not much fun anymore.
The Unconscious Art Of Complaining
You and I know that complaining is not an admiral trait.
But this habit is so embedded into our culture, we almost never consider the personally damaging effect it’s having on our personal level of happiness, or on everyone experiencing us.
Hiding In Plain Sight
I intentionally focused on looking for the positive in life a long time ago for a very practical reason:
It’s a catalyst for bringing more positive results into being.
Dwelling on the negative interfered with the speed of creating successful results and prevented others from becoming enrolled in the mission to help create that success.
So, naively, I thought I was pretty low on the complaint scale.
But here’s the insidious part for me.
Because I knew how damaging complaining was to others, I didn’t often complain in public.
But when I was alone with me, myself and I, or worse, sometimes with my amazing wife, an emotionally frustrating moment would come up, and out would come a complaint.
It’s Really No Big Deal
I never really thought it mattered. Everybody does it, and it’s just a normal part of being human.
In fact, it’s probably good for me to get that frustration out that way. It makes me feel I’ve told the universe I’m upset and I’m posting my complaint. In fact, I’m actually helping change the world by letting it know what’s wrong so somebody else will fix it soon.
But The Universe Decided To Throw Me A Bone
I came across Will Bowen’s book “A Complaint Free World” and it sounded like a crazy idea, but interesting.
Since I’m always on the hunt for proven tools and resources for my readers, the curiosity got me started.
And soon I realized how damaging complaints, sarcasm and gossip were to living an energized, happy and productive life.
The “experience of life I want and am actively making it so.”
Will Bowen And His Radical Idea
This crazy idea of creating a Complaint Free World, started by Will Bowen, asks you to do something that seems on the surface, relatively easy (or so I thought):
Remove complaints, sarcasm and gossip from all your conversations for just 21 days.
If for no other reason but to give yourself a good laugh at yourself, take this on and see how “easy” this really is.
The Complaining Norm
When you start to consciously pay attention to how often this triad of downers show up in what you say out loud each day, it will likely stun you.
It’s just so “Normal.”
In fact, I began to realize that integrating a complaint or sarcasm into what I said, in often subtle ways, happened much more than I ever imagined.
For me anyway, it was a form of personal entertainment. I never thought of it as being a “complaint” or paid attention to how I felt immediately after saying it.
But it was.
And the more I recognized it for what it was, the more I started to notice how I felt after saying it.
Passing On The Poison
What I didn’t realize, until I began this fun experiment, was the suppressive effect I was experiencing from the underlying frustration created (and perpetuated) behind it.
Or that I was actually passing on that frustration to every person I expressed it in front of. And that included my most personal relationship. The one with my wife. Ouch.
Essentially, I was passing on the poison.
21 Days To An Experience Most Never Know
So I began the 21 day challenge.
Simply, put the purple band you can get from his website (very inexpensively and embossed with A Complaint Free World.org, or use your own version.
Put it on one wrist to begin.
Anytime you say a complaint, sarcastic remark or gossip, move the band to the other wrist.
Start the 21 day count again.
The Magic Of Living A Complaint Free Life
Let me start by saying I’m still on this journey to 21 days (the time it generally takes to establish a new habit in your subconscious).
But the more I experience the lightening effect that happens each time I don’t energize the triad of downers, the more committed I am to making this my new normal state of being.
And the closer I get to making 21 days in this zone, the more excited I am about the experience of the day to come.
It’s become a game to see where I will catch myself about to…… and then treat myself to the experience I get immediately from not going there.
It’s like an energizing shot of positive I get to self administer. No caffeine required.
“People Don’t Change…”
Maybe,
But You Change Others Experience Of Life Everyday.
If you want proof that what you say has an immediate effect on others, try this experiment:
First, in your next conversation, begin paying close attention to how people are reacting to you during the moments you’ve Not added a complaint, criticism, or sarcastic comment to the conversation.
Then, intentionally make one single complaint, and watch the expression on their face.
You just changed their experience of the moment… and brought it down a notch.
The power you have to effect others is real.
Use Your Presence To Raise The Bar Of Happiness
By purging complaints from your experience of life, watch how the people around you enjoy being around you more and like working with you more often.
Underneath the noise around us, we all hope a happy life will come to us.
But the world doesn’t anoint us with happiness, it gives us something much more valuable:
The ability to personally create it and reflect that feeling into the experience of others.
Cue The (wrist) Band. Game On!
I’m ask that you to be one of those crazy individuals that takes this on. Why?
Because if you remove even a small percentage of complaints from the world, you’ll be healing the world a little bit more.
What do you have to lose, except the time it takes to move the band from one wrist to another?
And maybe a bit of ego, as you move it more often at first, than you expected.
Here’s the book link to make getting started easy:
Click The Book To Learn More>
A natural channel for me is auditory, so I listened to the book through Audible. It also made it so I could jump in and listen on the fly, whenever I had a free moment.
But whatever learning mode best suits you, I highly recommend this incredible journey. Pick your version from the several available when you click the book image.
The founder and author Will Bowen will share his surprising journey, touch your heart with stories of struggle and transformation, and open your thoughts to what has become a beautiful mission with world changing ability.
Never stop moving forward.
Cheers,
Paul
Click The Book To Learn More
