The Only Time Complaining Works

Let me be crystal clear:

Photo Credit: UnSplash

Let me be crystal clear:

Complaining is a failed attempt at processing what’s you’re going through.

Complaining is explaining the pain you’re feeling by ruminating.

THE BIG CAVEAT

Analysis is only helpful if you’re going to find a solution.

Complaining is never helpful if complaining itself is the end goal.

Catharsis is a fallacy. Don’t “get it out of your system.”

All this does is train your brain to get better at complaining. The more you do anything, the better you get at it. It’s called neuroplasticity and it’s your brain’s ONLY job. It’s good at this, too.

You’re always building habits.

Right now, you’re building a habit of reading posts about productivity on Medium. Just saying.

Unless you can verbalize the pain of your experience to reveal some nuanced truth that provides perspective or meaning, it’s a useless expenditure of energy.

There is a 0% ROI (return on investment) for complaining by itself.

(Thanks, Gary Vaynerchuk)

The only way to be the person you want to be is by training your brain to have the patterns of thinking that you want.

If you’re serious about your life and career, you’ll promise yourself you’ll stop yourself the next time you’re bitching to a co-worker or partner. Stop and choose to look for something positive you can do instead.

The only time complaining works is when you’re actually just analyzing your experience to do 2 things:

1 — Regulate your emotions. (AKA: calming down so you can think in the short term)

2 — Zoom out so you can see a long term solution

TAKE ACTION:

Right now. Stop reading. (Yes I just told you to put this down.)

Take 2 minutes and write down something you like about yourself.

Having trouble? What’s something your Mom would say she likes about you? What about your best friend? What would she say?

You can do this. Do it for 2 minutes every morning for a year and you might be surprised at what kind of thoughts start popping into your head.

Promise yourself you’ll start this habit of thought training.

We need you.