7 Day Challenge to Be Happier Today

So, what is this challenge that can make you happier in just 7 days?

NO complaining for 7 days!

Of course the goal is to keep it up after 7 days. :-)

I’m not talking about just the big complaints… like “oh my gosh, the dog had another accident on the rug!” but also the little complaints like, “traffic is so slow this morning,” “it’s so cold outside, winter stinks, why won’t the kids pick up their toys, I hate these shoes, my co-worker is a jerk,” etc. We all do it, often without even realizing that we’re complaining. I’ve even tried the reasoning… “I’m not complaining, it’s just a fact – my computer is running really slow today.” But for seven days, I challenge you to get rid of the reasoning, the excuses, the little nagging complaints that can fill our day! Can you do it? Are you willing to try?

I repeat the challenge to myself regularly and am excited to catch myself when I start to complain. Sometimes I make it intor a game if anyone catches me complaining, they can stop me and I will change the complaint into a compliment for them! You can do something similar at home, at the office, or just for yourself. So, maybe at home, when anyone catches another complaining, the have to say a compliment, or mark it on a chart and at the end of the week there is a prize for whoever has the least marks, or each person pays a quarter for each mark to donate to a charity.

Create a fun challenge at work and notice the improvement in attitude. People may also begin to work together better, towards a goal of supporting each other, rather than workload complaints, water cooler gossip, complaining about customers, etc. If you never hear complaints at work or home… congratulations, you don’t need this challenge. But, if like most of us, even if we have a happy home and positive work environment, there are probably little complaints that after building up, sometimes create unpleasant experiences. What has also worked for me is wearing a rubber band on my wrist, then lightly snapping it each time I complain!

The goal of the challenge is to raise our awareness about the power of our thoughts and words, even in the smallest detail of saying “ughh, I hate winter.” It’s to remind us that there are things beyond our control, but those things don’t have to lead to a negative response from us. We can choose something different. I could change the “I hate winter” to “I’m going to stay warm this winter, maybe a warm cup of cocoa, tea, coffee will be perfect on this winter day” or even “mmm, can’t wait until my vacation next month to the beach” or “spring is my favorite season and it’s coming soon!” The idea is to change our thought about the circumstance and if we can do it with all the little things that come up, we’ll be developing habits that help us better handle the big things that happen.