Q&A WITH AMY JOHNSON
Question:
How can you deal with many setbacks at once such as work stress, problems in my relationship, running a family and doing the household all the time?
30 DAYS OF NOT COMPLAINING - CHALLENGE
Oh how we all love to complain sometimes, it just feels good to get things off your chest. It can be so satisfying to vocalize your frustrations and circle around circumstances in your life with support from friends and colleagues. It could be about tiny things like the weather or the quality of your coffee to the bigger things like your own appearance and relationships. On the contrary, many of us also actively talk about everything we have to be thankful for in life. You might write down what you’re grateful for each day or share positive moments in your life with loved ones. So how unhealthy is it to complain (more than we realize)?
Venting frustrations can feel like brainstorming solutions for difficult situations. By sharing your positive and negative feelings with people close to us we’re seeking opinions from people we trust. This can be positive but at times it could also lead to unconscious complaining and gossip.
According to Eckhart Tolle complaining creates a spiral that puts you in the victim seat where you’re not accepting the present moment:
“See if you can catch yourself complaining, in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say, your surroundings, your life situation, even the weather. To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power. So change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness.”
If this rings a bell with you we would like to invite you for our 30-day challenge of optimism and assertiveness. We’re focussing on minimizing complaining and maximizing excitement about life and therefore decrease your stress levels and increase your overall satisfaction of life.
HOW TO START
BIGGER PICTURE
Will your complaint really matter tomorrow, next week or next year? If not, drop it. If it does, be assertive and change the situation you’re in.REFLECT
What is the real issue? Does your frustration represent a larger issue in your life that should be addressed? If so, address it and find a solution that will change the way you feel about the situation.
VISUALIZE YOUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS
Wear a rubber bracelet or band on one of your wrists. Every time you’re complaining or about to complain you have to change the bracelet to your other wrist. The challenge is to keep it on the same wrist as long as you can!
FIND A NEW WAY TO RELIEVE YOUR STRESS AND FRUSTRATION
Even though it can temporarily feel good to vent and let all the ‘negativity out’, you’re actually creating a habit of keeping the negativity around you or passing it over to others. Find a new way to get rid of these thoughts and feelings and relate back at point number 1.
We would love to hear your lessons! Send us a DM on Instagram @peoplesplacegym.
BACK TO TOP
MIND MAPPING:
HOW TO FIND YOUR FOCUS NOW
The power of living in the now comes with the benefit of finding your focus and experiencing a state of ‘flow’. You’re in control, present, you know what you’re doing and where you’re going. But what if you can’t find your way there at the moment? How can you preserve your brain power, improve your sharpness and find your presence again when you’re working on an important project or idea? Mind mapping is one strategy that could help you with this. It has the potential to boost creativity, help you think outside the box and create more depth in your thoughts and workflow.
The method helps you capture your thoughts in a structured way by letting you fully emerge in the now and your thoughts. It helps you analyze topics and ideas in-depth and makes you a better thinker. The key element is to not collect these thoughts in a ‘to-do list format’ or bullet point format. By making your thoughts visual you will notice that it changes your thinking, creativity and hopefully helps you find your focus in the presence.
HOW TO START YOUR MIND MAP JOURNEY
TOOLS: find a blank page and a piece of paper.
STARTING POINT: start in the middle of your paper by writing down your idea or topic in a few words in a bubble.
SUB TOPICS: develop subtopics that are related to your starting point, connecting each of them to the main topic with a line.
REPEAT: repeat the above process for the sub-topics, adding sub-subtopics to your page.
GET CREATIVE: use different colors or shapes for your topics to make them more attractive. These enhanced visual cues will help you digest the information easier.