Okay, fair warning: Today’s email may sound like a rant, but I’m trying to stay calm…
See, we have got to stop complaining. All of us do it, including me. I’ll just say it: We need to stop complaining. And by “we,” I mean ALL of us. I included.
Sometimes you don't realize how ugly it is until you see somebody else doing it…
You know what I’m talking about… we’ve all seen that guy or gal at the restaurant who’s complaining to the waiter or someone’s at a store barking at the sales associate, and you're thinking, ‘Jeez, what an idiot! That guy looks like a complete doofus.’ No matter how right he/she is… there’s just no need to spew ugliness. Why would you want to act like that in public?
And then when we do it, we don't realize how nasty we’re being. :-/
So, I remember doing a podcast about this. It was called “Wag More, Bark Less.” I’d seen that on a bumper sticker. And it just really hit me — in a good way.
We all need to be doing that.
Here’s a simple way: When somebody says, “How are you doing?” I say with a smile, “I'm doing awesome, thanks.” And even if I don't feel like I'm doing awesome, I say it anyway… just saying I'm doing awesome is positive. It's uplifting, and I start to feel better.
I force myself to feel better and it also makes the other person feel better, too. It gives them some encouragement and a little bit of lightening up, a little bit of blessing.
You know I’m a man of faith, and I believe God has blessed us… some of us more than others maybe, and some of us recognize it more than others, but we are blessed. He blesses us to be a blessing to others.
So, I want to do my best to be a blessing to other people.
Okay, I recently got a complaint from somebody. I won't even say who it was from or what it was about, but I was getting in a funk. I was getting mad. I was like, ‘They’re complaining about that?! With all of the stuff that they’ve got and they're complaining about this one small thing!?’
I realized, if they complain about this tiny thing, they’re going to complain about anything. There's always gonna be people who complain… and because I’m in the information business with podcasts and these emails and products and coaching — I’m going to get a lot of complainers. And that's just the way it is.
I've come to accept it. Well, mostly. I actually wanted to call this person back and apologize AND I wanted to ask: How much marketing have you done in the past couple of weeks? How much in the past month since you bought this program? How much marketing have you done? How many offers have you made, and how many sellers have you talked to?
And, I may be wrong, but the chances are from 9 out of 10 people, the answer is none.
I just want to shout back: “What are you complaining about?! Get out there. I've given you the golden keys of the kingdom. I've given you everything you need to get out there and start making offers and talking to sellers. What are you waiting for? Why are you worried about these little things?”
But, I'm not going to do that.
Here's the thing, just the other day I was complaining to the air conditioning company. Then I tried to be super nice, but I just felt yucky and dirty. They ended up taking care of the problem a couple of days later… but, I could have and should have done it in a much nicer way. It may have been justified, but I can approach it in a better way.
I need to stop complaining, too. We all need to stop. It’s ugly. It's embarrassing. I’m sorry for complaining. 🙁
My wife is great about this. She really doesn’t complain, and she politely stops me from doing it too. I've learned a lot from her.
So, let's all wag more and bark less — stop complaining about the little stuff and start focusing on the big stuff: How can we be better people? How can we share more?
Let's not complain about somebody's course or product until we've actually implemented it… don't complain about the little things if you haven’t taken any action.
And, if you do the stuff that a coach teaches and it doesn't work, then you have a right to complain about it, but in an appropriate way.
Look, my courses and programs do work.
If you're at a restaurant and you're complaining about the poor service or the food… just picture a third-world country, where kids would love to have the food that you're complaining about. People there would love to have just 1/10th of the money that you have… that you are upset that you “wasted” on a certain thing.
So, I'm speaking to everybody. Let's take a step back, let's humble ourselves a little bit and let's stop complaining. Be mindful of it and train yourself to not be a complainer.
Start being more grateful and appreciative of what we have. We've been blessed to be a blessing. Force yourself to be positive. It’s catchy. You and those around you all benefit from positivity.
And, know that I appreciate you very much.
