That’s what myself and Monique Jordan-Cave were talking about today anyway.
Complaining gets a bad rep.
We tell ourselves we shouldn’t complain.
We tell others they shouldn’t complain.
‘Just be grateful for what you’ve got’.
But what if you want a bit more. Expect a bit more. Want things to change. Want to let people know you aren’t happy with that? We shouldn’t feel like we should just be quiet and grateful. That’s not where progress comes from.
So maybe having a Complaining Programme is what is needed.
Because complaining can send people away from you, take you further away from your desired outcome if it’s not done with a bit more intention.
We need to work on the Art of Complaining (and achieving what you want to achieve).
Because what you are complaining about clear matters to you. Otherwise why waste your energy on it? So maybe taking a bit of time to understand your complaint, why you feel that way, what you want, will help you get better results.
That sounds a bit too much hard work doesn’t it!
So there is the other complaining. The good old massive solid rant. And there is nothing wrong with that too. Rantics are often needed. Just to get it out of our system. To clear space. For us to feel better.
But the caution comes with how you do this.
Even this should be done with a bit of intention. Find the person who listens without judgement. Find the person who can just hold the space for you. Find the right moment when someone can be there with you.
Bad complaining happens when it hasn’t been acknowledged, when you haven’t given yourself enough time to process what is going, when you have been ignoring things and they have built up.
If you are a Bad Complainer, then that’s on you. No-one is making you have that reaction. Not the person who parked badly, on the person who keeps stealing your office chair, or the person you feel is taking advantage of you. They are just doing the doing. It is you reacting to it.
So.
A good old complain might be just what we need. If it’s done well.
Working on our Complaining Programme might just start helping things to change for us.
A Productive Complaint could be a gamechanger.
You might achieve something.
Change something.
Turn your complaint into action.
See - complaining could be good for a lot of souls!
eleanor