Three steps to help you stop complaining

Julie Murphy • August 31, 2011

When facing your financial reality, you have to take a good look at what you are doing that contributes to your current financial situation. If you aren’t where you want to be, chances are you’ve got some changes to make. But when a lot of us end up in a less-than-desirable financial situation, we hold off on change and go straight to judging ourselves. We feel angry and depressed.

And we complain.

But you know what? Complaining doesn’t change anything. But there is good news; you can take action and make changes, especially if the changes you want to make are financial. Here are three steps you can take to stop complaining and start do-ing.

Daily affirmations

Constantly remind yourself of the positive things happening in your life, especially financially. If you are working in an unfulfilling job and find yourself constantly complaining about your office life, stop and repeat an affirmation (“This job is helping me reach my ultimate goal” or “This is only temporary.”).

Replace those negative feelings with positive thoughts. Regular mental memos to yourself keep you in the right heart space to a financial reality you can truly be proud of.

Eliminating the negative influences

Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones is the first step. Your next step is to do that with the outside influences. Look at the people around you. If they are big complainers, chances are you are one too.

Is one of your friends always complaining about their relationship? Or maybe their insults are closer to home; they may find the negative aspect of your good news and throw it in your face. If the people around you are constantly downers, stop dealing with them.

Dealing with people that constantly complain is draining, and it brings you down. Limiting your contact with complainers means you have less reason to do the same. The less negativity (and more positive energy) you have around you will help you see what you can do, not what you can’t.

Positive action

The natural progression after distancing yourself from complainers is to start doing something positive. If your coworkers love to complain at lunch about how they never have any money or their home lives or how much they hate their jobs, stop having lunch with them and spend your lunch hour doing something that makes you feel great. Maybe it’s taking a yoga class or meeting up with a mentor.

A lot of people that complain are doing it because they don’t want to do anything to change it. If you’re really sick of complaining, then you’ll have to starting doing something positive. Always remember that action tops all. When you’re feeling a complaint coming on – especially one about your finances – the best way to curb that whine is through positive action.

Sign up for my weekly words of wisdom (in the top right-hand corner of your screen) for encouraging thoughts each Tuesday. And be sure to check out my book, Emotion Behind Money, for guidance and healing. You can take control of your finances, and I can help you.

Tags: personal finance, stop complaining, complaining, complaining about money, complaining about finances, financial reality, emotion behind money, Julie Murphy, chicago personal finance, chicago financial expert

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