“Watch yourself about complaining. What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.”
Maya Angelou
I love how this quote frames out there are only two paths forward from a complaint. Change it, or change yourself. That’s it. Once you have invested the energy (think about that for a minute…) into complaining about something you only have two action oriented choices. Of course you could continue to complain and wallow in misery but that’s your own choice if you decide to do so and generating a positive return from that energy is practically impossible.
I’ve found that approaching this with the perspective of an investor can be incredibly impactful. Ask yourself; “is this investment of my precious energy and time into complaining about something going to result in a positive action or outcome?” If the answer to this questions is “no”, then why would you continue to invest in something with a negative return? Change the situation or change yourself. If the answer is “yes,” then the automatic next question is “so what are you going to do about it?”
If you are going to use the finite energy you have in life to complain about something will you take the next step? Will you own the reason for the complaint and do something about it? Easier said than done of course. But most things worth doing are…
