Energy, the effect of others and positivity have been on my mind so much lately. I would consider myself a positive person, but that doesn’t mean I don’t go through negative stages. It’s no secret to any of you that the last 6 months of being in this transition have been particularly hard for me. I haven’t quite found my rhythm here or returned to my good habits, and as a result, I feel a little outside of myself. Recently, I’ve found myself complaining. A lot.
A sweet new friend of mine loaned me the book The No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon. It’s filled with little reminders on what negativity and complaining do to people and organizations as well as ways to change. You see, complaining is a habit, more than anything else. And you know, as well as I do, that the more we complain, the more we want to complain. We feed that cycle of negativity and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. But we have a choice.
The habits we have in our lives are not the drivers, we are. At all times, we have a choice to do things differently. We can effect change in our lives. We do not have to continue down the road we are on, we can turn left or right at any time. So, I’m implementing new rules in my life and working to create new habits. One of those rules is no more mindless complaining. Negative thoughts can be voiced only to state the issue, work towards a solution or a resolution and find ways to see the good in all of it. Solution based complaining is very different than mindless complaining. Don’t complain just to complain, turn the frustration into action. Focus on what can be done about it rather than the frustration of it. Ask yourself, “how can we change this?”
That kind of thinking takes power away from the situation and places it in the solution. Remember that where our attention goes, our power goes. Let’s be solution focused, not problem focused. Empower yourself and those around you to be a part of the solution. Break the cycle of mindless complaining and lean into the solution. Much love and new, healthy habits sweet friends.
