In the first article, I shared the first practice we can all adopt to help us through this time of chaos and turmoil. As mentioned, it is also a time of great opportunity. Today we move onto the second practice we can all adopt. Once again, not easy, but necessary.

Practice No 2 – Don’t complain

You can describe the reality of what is currently happening without complaining. You can vent and share and describe without the emotional toil that complaining brings. But your mind is listening to your mouth. When you go into that state of complaining, your body reacts to that. Your mind hears this and drops more cortisol.

Did you know that something as simple as the tone you use when you speak can determine if more dopamine, or serotonin or cortisol gets dropped into your system? Our tone and the way we speak about our circumstances can actually release good energy and good hormones. On the other hand, your tone can also release more of the stress hormones.

Really start paying attention from today how you describe things. Pay real attention to the energy you are putting into the way you are describing things. The current changes that the Coronavirus is causing in the world is affecting us all. No one can escape the reality. We are ALL talking about it, and all thinking about it, and all affected by it. What tone are you using when you talk about it? Are you even aware of your tone?

Start practicing awareness around your current tone. As GeniusU members, we cannot serve others if we are in the wrong energy, which will create the wrong tone.

I am sure we can all agree that if we choose to, there are MANY things we can complain about. And it is your right to complain, but is it serving you? Is it serving others? If you start paying attention to your complaining, you will probably be the only one among your peers. But this is how we stand out and become a role model for others. Start from today evaluating yourself every night. Give yourself a score on how much or how little you complained today. The more you do self-evaluation, the more you develop self-awareness. And real change starts with awareness.

New habit…Every night before you go to sleep, give yourself a score of 1 to 10 on the question “Did I complain today?” from 1: “Great job, no complaining today” to 10: “I was a little complainer all day long”.

Remember that this does not imply that you do not have reasons to complain, but rather that you choose not to complain. There is a difference between complaining and making an argument which moves the needle forward. If you are going to engage, then make an argument which moves the needle forward versus just talking to complain. You will know the difference, which is why you keep a scorecard.