For those that don’t own a calendar, It (was) the first day of December and it felt like this entire year flew by in the blink of an eye. I’m not complaining… Because for the month of December I told my sister that I’d pay her $5 for every time I complain about anything (and I’ll probably make the deal with Taryn Elizabeth too because I complain to her the most). I enjoy my daily rant sessions that make me sound like one of those Sweet 16 girls who wanted the white Benz over the red.
This is an experiment to gain control of my negativity and also channel how grateful I should and can be everyday. With Christmas time approaching it’s so easy to find myself getting caught in these “I want” conversations and taking 5 minutes of dreaming before I realize I have enough shit already. In an effort to change these bad habits, I heard of this no-complaint challenge from the Tim Ferriss podcast on my drive home to New Jersey. So what is complaining? Let’s ask Tim.
I defined “complaining” for myself as follows: describing an event or person negatively without indicating next steps to fix the problem. I later added the usual 4-letter words and other common profanity as complaint qualifiers, which forced me to reword, thus forcing awareness and more precise thinking.
Tim Ferriss
I rarely offer next steps to fix my problem, I expect someone else to do that – Hence why I’m complaining. For me to stick through this challenge, I need more accountability, which is why I’m putting a monetary value behind it because I literally get excited picking up pennies off of the ground so $5 is an easy amount I don’t want to hand over.
Wish me luck while I force myself to think before I speak, I’ll keep a running tally of how much I donate -$
Has anyone else done anything like this? I know the swear jar was pretty popular back in the day. Until next time.
Jeff McSweeny