The Worst Habit You Don’t Even Know You Have

Sign Up For Weekly Tips! Get Trevor’s Weekly Tips Straight To Your Inbox!

If you’ve ever attended one of my events, or done a team day with me, you know that I often end the day with ‘gratitude.’

Complaining is the enemy of gratitude.

When you complain, you confess with your mouth that your ‘rightful’ entitlements have not been met.

My beautiful wife and I share the belief that we aren’t entitled to anything.  We believe it intellectually, but out actual entitlement list is pretty long.

Your worst habit

Speaking for myself now, I feel entitled to all sorts of things including:

  • Good food
  • People being nice to me
  • A quiet environment when I want it
  • The money to do the things I want to do
  • Travel
  • My needs being met in 100 ways

And whenever one of those entitlements isn’t met, I complain.  I hate it in myself, but I hear it coming out of my mouth, and I think, “Am I really that big a whiner?”

When my wife Jenn’s entitlements get triggered, she actually says out loud,

I am not entitled to a

  • quiet house
  • great cup of coffee
  • sunny day
  • easy life

Gratitude Challenge

So today I have a simple challenge for you that will help you beak your worst habit.  To participate, you need to be wearing a watch or bracelet on your wrist.  The challenge is best done in a group setting.

Whenever you complain about anything, take your watch or bracelet off, and put it on your other wrist.  Then say two positive remarks about the same situation.

If you’re like me, you’ll find you complain a lot more than you think you do.

As a wise lady once told me (and that I subsequently stole and repeated a thousand times – thanks Shelaine!)  ‘it’s all in the framing.’

If you frame a tough situation as threatening or awful, you’re right.  And if you frame it as an opportunity to grow and learn, you’re also right.

So let’s start the week by putting an end to complaining.

Reframe the situation you find yourself in, and you’ll find yourself feeling better quickly.

 

 “If you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack. And if you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have.” Grant McKeown

 

pic hero trevor

Trevor Throness is a speaker, consultant, and author of “The Power of People Skills.”  He is also co-founder and senior instructor at www.professionalleadershipinstitute.com https://www.professionalleadershipinstitute.com/

Find more about “The Power of People Skills” here: https://www.amazon.com/Power-People-Skills-Dramatically-Performance/dp/1632651068

Recommended Resources:
 

Uncover your strengths and weaknesses with our complimentary assessment. Boost your effectiveness at work and with your team.

Free Resource Library: Access our extensive collection of valuable resources for instant support in your personal and professional growth.

Explore Our Course Library:

Enhance your leadership skills with our diverse selection of courses. Take your abilities to the next level and become a more effective leader and team player.
Written by Trevor Throness
Trevor is a veteran coach, keynote speaker, and the author of the book “The Power of People Skills” released by Career Press NY in 2017. He’s also written for or been featured in places like Forbes, Inc, The NY Post, The Globe and Mail, Entrepreneur, CEO Magazine, and numerous podcasts and interviews.

Testimonials

Our Clients Love the Professional Leadership Institute

Your team will, too! Check out some reviews from our students.
The PLI program was invaluable to our network.
The range of topics delivered, the open dialogue, experience, and examples that PLI brought to each session were outstanding and provided a path for our Franchisees and Managers to look at leadership, coaching, and connecting with their teams in a new light. Many have implemented these strategies in their bakeries and have seen immediate results.
Michelle C.
COBS Bread
Highly recommend to help your team move forward
We have locations around BC and Alberta, so getting people on the same page can be very difficult... Until now. Our entire management team and location managers take the same great courses and then meet monthly online with our coach to apply it to our situation. People are engaged, the courses are excellent, we love our coach, and we are all learning together!
Jason Fawcett
President, Kelson Group
The result has been a transformation of our culture. 
We decided to implement PLI's strategies across the country in over 150 locations and over 3500 employees.  The result has been a transformation of our culture.  People's lives have been positively impacted - professionally and personally.  Morale is high and sales and profits are up as a result.
Daryl Verbeek
Daryl Verbeek
We’ve learned how to fix ongoing personnel issues once and for all
The roadmap laid out set our business up to quintuple in sales.  We've learned how to fix ongoing personnel issues once and for all, attract top talent, and spend our time focused on results, not internal staffing problems.  I highly recommend PLI to you - it's worked for us!
John DeJong
Satisfied Client
I had no idea that running a business could be this fun!
In less than 18 months of working with Trevor, he has transformed my business from being average to exceptional, where mediocrity is not acceptable, where being great is standard.  Working with PLI has allowed me to realize my dream of not simply owning a job, but owning a business.
Justin Bontkes
Principal, Caliber Projects
Our culture has taken major steps forward this year
Our culture has taken major steps forward this year with Trevor’s help.  He is funny, relatable, and his tools are very very practical and have helped us focus and upgrade our teams throughout our retail network. Trevor recently spoke to an employee group, and one person remarked, “I could listen to Trevor all day.”   We would highly recommend Trevor.
Stan Pridham
Founder, KMS Tools
The results have been remarkable
At first, we resisted, “This just won’t work with a law firm.” But we persisted and the results have been remarkable: our client base and profits have steadily improved, and staff engagement and morale is the healthiest its ever been.
Doug Lester
Partner, RDM Lawyers
Helped our fast-growing business become what it is today
I've experienced PLI's approach first hand and it's been crucial to sustaining our growth.  I can't imagine a business that wouldn't benefit greatly from his help.
Brian Antenbring
Founder, TEEMA
Provided practical ways to make positive changes
Trevor was incredibly well-received by the entire organization. He was able to articulate people issues that many of our franchisees were experiencing and provided them with practical ways to make positive changes. We have implemented the Star Chart tool across the organization and see it as vital to building happy, effective teams.
Aaron Gillespie
President, COBS Bread
Scroll to Top

Start Learning Today

For Individuals

Unlock your potential and accelerate your career with sought-after management and leadership skills.

 

Transform Your Organization

For Teams

Book a consultation to discuss your challenges and discover how we can help you build a winning team.

 

Sign Up For Weekly Tips!

Get Weekly Coaching Tips Straight To Your Inbox Every Monday.