In everyday life, I walk the streets, I hike the trails, I swim in the waters, but no matter where I am, I feel I always hear people complain. Complaining about something. My feet hurt, I have to pay bills, I have to do this, I have to do that, etc. People are even complaining as a way to start a conversation during an awkward silence. Like that’s really all you had to say?! It's like the weather, always a conversation starter.. Anyways, we're not going to complain. Not once. We don't want real complaints, fake complaints, funny complaints, anything. I want to completely eliminate complaining from my life and so should you.
Complaining doesn't provide anything productive or positive to conversations. It just gives out negativity; and who needs negativity in their life, no one. Now, I can see if you need to vent to just get somethings off your chest to your best friend. Everybody needs that and I'm not saying that’s not helpful because I know it is. A good complain vent sesh is sometimes just what you need. But it's not what you need this week. So get it out now, Sunday is your refresh day to get it out of your system because come tomorrow morning, we're done complaining and it's going to wait until next week. I have a few things that I want to come from this. I catch myself just talking to talk sometimes with no real meaning behind what I'm saying. Intelligent people speak because they want to say something or have some guidance to put out, an informative fact, whatever, right? They don't speak just to speak. I'll give you an example. You're buying a movie ticket from the concessions booth and the teller says, "enjoy your movie!" and what do you respond.. You speak because you think you have to, and don't pay attention. So you look like an idiot and respond with, "You too!" We've all done it. One thing I'm trying to get out of this is to be conscious of what you're saying. To have girth behind what information you're providing to the community and don't speak to speak or complain about the weather just to make conversation. Another thing I think we can get out of this week is just to live in the present time. Don't focus on the future all the time because you'll miss what is actually going on now. Be grateful of where you are, what you have, and who you're with. These moments may never come back. Slow down, step back and look through a different lens this week. All the "important" stuff you have to do you'll find its actually not that important. Tim Ferris is an advocate of this idea. If something is immediate, just do it happily, don't waste time complaining about it and it will be over soon. We are changing our outlook this week and we're going to be happy about it! So no complaining and I can't wait to hear how difficult it was, easy it was or what came from it! Good luck everyone!
BONUS CHALLENGE: We added those hand stand push ups as a late entry last time and I really liked what it did for the week. So to kind of continue the fitness aspect, we're tacking on 100 pushups every morning. Just like always, adjust to your fitness levels, whether up or down, and have fun with it. Remember, no complaining:)
REFLECTION: What a great challenge! I don't think I actually complained about something one time and it felt great. How did you guys feel? I went into things thinking I couldn't complain so I just… didn't. And anything from food, to exercise, to being the "yes man" was better. I had a better outlook and I enjoyed that about myself. I do have one negative. Not sure if you guys did this at all but I started to notice it around Tuesday. I would cynically say positive things. Almost like 'false motivation vocabulary.' Let me try to explain in this example. " Hey dude whats the workout today?" He would answer with this terrible workout of something like overhead squats, muscle ups and 200 doubleunders. "Oh sick, I can't wait. This is going to be so much fun!" I would say that in the most sarcastic way possible. Now I didn't mean to do that, it sort of came out naturally, but my buddy noticed it and couldn't help but laugh. He made me start to notice it however, and I tried to stop and would then just not really say anything after hearing the days workout. So in a way, I guess you can say I was complaining, but I don't see it that way. If you do its fine. But I think even if you say something positive in the middle of hell, its still positive. Even if your buddy's know you're talking out of your ass and being a sinister dick, you're still positive; which I think is extremely important. I felt this challenge benefited myself and the people around me doing difficult tasks. Another example were our morning chilly dips in the Norwegian Fjords. We didn't do it every single morning, but I hit a couple a week. The water was around 37 I think, but don't quote me. Either way, it didn't matter, it was freezing. Without failure, I would come out of the water completely red. I never complained though. I kept my breathing deep and constant, focusing on only my breath as I would walk barefoot through the snow with either just shorts on or my birthday suit. And just launch myself off the dock. It felt amazing. The best part was, I didn't complain. Not once, not even sarcastically for these ones. I think not being able to complain makes everything that much easier because you don't have a choice in the matter. You have to complete your weekly challenge and every obstacle you hit during the week is a part of that. I hope you guys have similar experiences, and I would love to hear them!
Now for the pushups, boy were those rough. I would wake up, drink at least half a hydroflask, and fall to the floor. I would usually get around 40, just trying to keep my breathing consistent and save myself for the 60 more. I would then do sets of 10, maybe 15 if I was feeling good. It was great because I felt I already accomplished something that morning, was able to get my lungs working a bit, my blood flowing and it would wake me up. I think I will take this on with me into next week, but cut the number to max reps without stopping. That way I still get the same effects but I can try and beat myself each morning. It will give me a gauge of how I feel in the morning. Compete against myself each day.
Overall, great week. I felt great and hope you did too!