During one of my recent live keynotes, someone asked me what the biggest time wasters are. I immediately thought of mindlessly scrolling through social media, but I thought of an even bigger time waster: complaining.
Too often, we complain about trivial things, like the weather, traffic, etc. These things are small and a waste of time. It won’t make your life any better.
I personally allow myself 45 seconds a day to complain. At some point, I noticed I was spending too much time complaining, and it never helped me get better or have better days, so I limited myself. You should limit your complaining, too. I encourage you to spend more time watering and less time complaining.
“Spending time complaining about yesterday won’t make tomorrow any better.”
There are many benefits to complaining less, such as being more grateful, present, having more energy, and spending more time watering your bamboo.
Complaining is energy draining and distracts you from reaping the rewards of watering. To complain less, follow these steps:
Become aware that you’re complaining, and see how it impacts your life.
Limit your complaining. Whether it’s an hour a day, or you set a timer for five minutes, limit complaining to only that time you set.
Have a challenging goal not to complain and evaluate how it made you feel.
Accept the fact that life is not perfect, and you are not perfect. Things will go wrong, so if we manage our expectations, we can continue to dream big, water our bamboo and reach our goals.
“A person can never complain their way to better health, wealth, or success.”
Nobody can complain their way to success. Instead of complaining, water your bamboo.
This post is based on a podcast episode by Greg Bell.
Listen below for the full episode: