Growing Your Career: Complaint Free!

Here’s a different idea for growing your career (and your personal life) based on a book I’ve been reading – A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen.

The concept is that you must not complain, criticize, or gossip for 21 consecutive days (the length of time it takes for a new habit to take hold). He’s created a purple plastic bracelet you begin wearing on one wrist. As soon as you slip, you must move the bracelet to the other wrist and begin counting over again until you are successful in reaching 21 days without complaining, criticizing, or gossiping.

The author says that by changing your words, you change your thoughts, and begin creating the life you’ve dreamed of. He goes on to say that “good things will happen when you leave your grumbling behind and form this new positive habit.”

So how can this help you grow your career? Think about the time people around you spend complaining about family and coworkers, the company they work for, and the government. Is there any benefit to doing this? I don’t think so. It’s energy better spent on moving ahead with our lives, looking for opportunities to improve our situations, and make positive change in our lives and others’. We all know the attraction that people with positive attitudes and enthusiasm have. They are so busy living their lives in this manner, they have no time for anything to the contrary. They are happy, productive, and fun to be around, and probably very satisfied with their work life.

A friend of mine recently reminded me that while this is a good idea in theory, what about “venting” to clear the air and talk through issues out of our control? I do agree there is a need for healthy venting. Perhaps we take off the purple bracelet while we air our complaints, agree to move on from those negatives, not look back, and resume our count to day 21.

Give it a try this week. Notice what you talk about with others. Make some small changes and see the difference. For more information on this 21-day challenge, visit http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org/.





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