TED Talks Give Succinct Info about Complaining

When learning something new, do you prefer to get that information via the written word or through video?

Typically I prefer written words. But sometimes life gets extra busy and there just isn’t enough time to read all I want to read.

That’s when I go to TED – TED Talks that is. 

TED stands for Technology,Entertainment, and Design (TED). Years ago my sister introduced these video talks to me and I go through spurts of scrolling through the topics to watch what interests me.

I like to watch them because  . . .

• They are no more that 18 minutes (great to watch during lunch break and short enough to not over load my brain or emotions with information).
• The speakers usually have a well-crafted, well-delivered message that educates and inspires change of thought or action.
• I like the media that is typically used by the speaker (slides and/or video clips).

So far I have found three TED Talks. I have listed them below with my notes.

TED TALKS . . . 

ONE. 5 Rules For Making an Impact  – Don’t Complain, Create by Tina Roth Eisenberg

Each one of these ideas is something we can start doing TODAY.

1. Embrace your superpower. What is your superpower? Mine is that I keep on coming back to God when life gets hard.
2. Don’t complain make things better. “I have a rule: If I keep complaining about something, I either do something about it or let it go,” Tina Roth.
3. Choose wisely who you hang out with. If you surround yourself with negative people, you will become negative. The opposite is TRUE, too.
4. Don’t forget to play. We need to have a proper perspective and balance in life. Play helps with both.
5. Push to be better. Changing our natural mindset is hard. And doing something (instead of complaining) or accepting the situation with grace are HARD, we can do it. Push to be better, to be a leader.

TWO. Getting Stuck in the Negatives (and How to Get Unstuck) by Alison Ledgerwood

Experiments have shown it is mentally harder to go from negative to positive. When we initially think about something as a loss, it is much harder to then think about it as a gain.

You have to work to see the upside. Try the following to grow more “positive” strong . . .

• Write a few minutes each day about good news
• Rehearse good news and share it with others
• Answer, “What happened today that was good?”
• Focus on the upside – when someone is negative towards us, respond with kindness

THREE. You Think Complaining Helps? by McKennah Watson

It doesn’t. Instead complaining does the following . . .

• Actually makes you more depressed and anxious. Brain neurons are cut off in the understanding and problem solving part of brain. The more you complain, the more your brain can’t do anything about it.
• Makes others upset too.
• Reinforces the small fears and the fears became more pronounced.

Update on the No Complaining Challenge: I am on Day 3.

Your Turn . . . 

• Which of the above points made you think?
• I was surprised that it is actually harder to be positive than negative. That tidbit did make me feel a little better about myself. I want to include some of Alison Ledgerwood’s positive action ideas. I will talk about that on Day 7. What would you like to do to become more positive?

Related Resources . . .

• 31 Days of Finishing (2014 #Write31Days series)
• Finding Laughter (2015 #Write31Days series)

Today is Day 5 of the #Write31Days online October writing challenge. My topic is 31 Days of Fruitful Words INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING. I know I will be challenged in more ways than writing every day. If you’d like to have more fruitful words coming from your mouth, please join me from October 1-31, 2016.

Go here for the landing page which has all the posts from this series.

Go here to see what #Write31Days is all about, the categories and the bloggers who are participating.