QUIT YER BITCHIN'! - The Two Week Experiment

The Leadership Blitz
October 6th, 2009

Have you ever been around someone who does nothing but complain? No matter what you say to them, their life is nothing more than doom-and-gloom.

Their life is comparable to the evening news' journalistic scheduling: "If it bleeds, it leads."

I'll be the first to admit that I used to live my life a similar way. I focused my attention on all the negatives first, then tried to work in the positives last.

It took time, but I finally realized how detrimental that sort of thinking was to my success. How could I ever expect to conquer a goal or achieve the things I was looking for if I was doing nothing to silence the little voice in my head that said, "Yeah, but what if this happens?" or "There's no way you can do that."

If anything, by putting the negatives before the positives, I was cranking up the volume to full decible level on that little voice. And what did it get me? Nothing more than I already had.

I got to a point where I had to tell that little voice to "SHUT UP" and start focusing on the positives in all situations.

Complaining does nothing but draw attention to you...in a negative way. Think about the last time you complained about something. It did nothing to change reality, and chances are you looked back and realized how much time you truly wasted. Plus, you project yourself as a personality that no one wants to be around.

Thankfully, we are all given the opportunity to change our ways. It doesn't happen overnight, but over time, properly training your mind to focus on the opportunity instead of the obstacles can lead to a significant improvement to your long-term results.


I am smack dab in the middle of a fantastic book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to build a fortune. You'll be very surprised to discover how pre-programming that dates back as early as your childhood can prevent you from accomplishing any level of wealth, be it financial, spiritual, emotional, or a combination of the three.

Within the pages of this book is an experiment that Eker said he took part in, and I am currently five days into.

The experiment is simple: Don't complain about ANYTHING for two weeks.

The object is to see how quickly your thoughts and views change when you stop complaining about the little things in life and focus more on the good that can come from everything you're presented.

I re-read the guidelines of this experiment and realized that, although I had taken on a far more positive outlook in my life, there was still little bouts of complaining that were accomplishing nothing except wasting the precious seconds I'm given on a daily basis.

I presented the experiment to my wife, and she agreed this could benefit her as well. And, we could catch each other mid-complaint and remind each other to "QUIT BITCHING!"

I won't lie and say we've been perfect, as we've both caught each other a couple times. But overall, there's been a drastic change in this household. We've been laughing more. We've been more open-minded. And, we are transforming ourselves not only into more positive individuals, but a more positive couple as well. The results aren't instant, but you can feel the positive affects in small doses.

Try it out. You'll be amazed how much more positive life can be if you don't have a complaint loaded in your gun, ready to fire. Life's too short to complain about it. Instead, embrace it and love every minute of it.

And if things "suck," don't complain. Stand up, take action, and do something about it!