But What Do You Like - Positive Intention Technique - How To Stop Complaining

It's easy to get caught up in life focusing on what you don't like. In fact for many of us it can be downright addicting. Several of us can relate to the opinion that complaining is sometimes satisfying whether it's something or somebody you're talking about. Sometimes you can even be forced to listen to other peoples negative judgements, even if your have none of your own!

If you think about it for just a moment though, life is really too short to focus on negativity and what you don't like. Whether the thought is external or internal, it doesn't matter, your mind deserves to be occupied by thoughts that help your grow, not hold you back. You owe it to yourself.

You can use an amazingly simple positivity life hack that I like to call "But What Do You Like" to combat negative thinking or ranting both from yourself and from others.

Example time!

Bob: "I can't stand that chair! It's the ugliest shade of yellow, who in their right mind would have designed a chair like that. They must have been an idiot!" (bad vibes)

Luke: "but what do you like about the chair?

Bob: "Well, I guess I did get a really good deal on it, and it's actually really comfy"

Now you might be thinking to yourself, that's a pretty cheesy example...I'm not going to disagree haha. It's just a way to share the principle of the technique.

The thing that makes this technique extremely effective is that it really catches people off guard and more often times than not, derails their negative thinking train. In a way, it's almost a very polite way of asking someone to stop complaining (a massively awesome thing to know how to do).

Doing this once is not going to dramatically change your life. This technique is no different than several other positive and healthy habits. It benefits from consistent usage and so does yourself and those around you. Making it a habit will be essential to fully benefiting from it.

If you continue to use this tip, you will really notice over time that anytime you start to complain about something, you'll catch yourself and derail your own negative thought train with a personal invitation to think about things positively.

If you have any doubts, just try it out a few times! We're literally talking about saying a few words, either in your head to yourself or potentially out loud to others (or both!). It's not a massive commitment, it's a minimal (and surprisingly impactful) one.

I've been using it personally for a few weeks now and I've been shocked at how helpful it can be for derailing both my own complaints, and those of others around me. 

Enough about me though! I would absolutely love to hear how it goes for you. After reading this article, you have an opportunity! Try it out and write a quick comment sharing your results below. You can also easily share it using the share icons on the left side of the page (on desktop) or at the bottom of your screen (on mobile).

Much love.

- Robert O'Kruk 

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