Jack Canfield delivers a short self-help YouTube monologue explaining that habitual complaining rewires the brain—forming neural pathways that make complaining easier—and raises the stress hormone cortisol, which he links to multiple health risks. He cites a conversational-rate statistic (people complain about once a minute) and uses analogy (musician practicing) to explain neural patterning. Remedies offered: adopt an attitude of gratitude, surround yourself with positive people, use a $2-per-complaint jar (fund donated to charity) with others enforcing it, and replace complaints by asking what you want and taking specific actions. The video closes with audience prompts (comment, like, subscribe) and a link to Canfield's website for further resources.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Jack Canfield, and today I want to talk to you about what happens to your brain when you complain and how to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. As a reminder, before we start, please make sure you click the subscribe button and the Bell icon to get notifications for when I release new videos. You know, it's well understood that complaining never accomplishes anything positive. But did you know that complaining can have some very real negative consequences as well? Complaining can actually rewire your brain over time and set you up for failure time and time again without you even knowing it. Research has shown that on average, people complain about once a minute during a typical conversation. As with any task that we instruct our minds to repeat over and over again, it doesn't take long for your brain to pick up on the pattern and develop none. Neural pathways in your brain specifically dedicated to complaining, just like a musician will develop neural pathways dedicated to the specific movements and thoughts associated with playing their instrument, people who frequently complain will do the same for the act of complaining. After all, efficiency is a primary objective for the human brain, and it is built to make frequently repeated tasks easier to repeat again in the future. In most cases, this characteristic of the brain is beneficial, but when it comes to complaining and negative thoughts, it can be a real problem. Now, frequently complaining actually rewires your brain in a way that makes it even easier and more natural to complain in the future. Of course, this is typically followed by even more complaining, which in turn only strengthens those neural pathways. Again, it's kind of a downward vicious cycle, one that can quickly get out of hand, leaving you with a negative outlook, a pessimistic outlook on life that can be very difficult to shake. Now, of course, negativity is the enemy of happiness and success, meaning that these are neural pathways that you definitely don't want your brain to be building. It also affects your overall vibrations. If you're putting out negative thoughts into the world, you'll continue to attract more and more negativity. Unfortunately, this isn't the only ill effect that complaining can have. When you complain, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol. And this hormone is beneficial for situations where you actually need to go into a fight or flight mode. But it's not something that you want released into your body on a regular basis. Cortisol can cause high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and can even increase your chances of having a stroke. Now, it's safe to say that complaining is certainly something that does far more harm than good. And if you find yourself frequently complaining. It can be a difficult habit to break to some degree. Most of us already have neural pathways for complaining in place, and those pathways will not go away on their own. The good news is that there are things that you can do to nip complaining in the bud and develop a much more positive mindset. The first step to putting a stop to complaining is to realize that complaints don't have to be verbalized in order to be harmful. While keeping yourself from complaining out loud may be a good start, it's important to understand that the negative thoughts you keep to yourself can be just as damaging to your brain as those you say out loud. So to really fix the problem, you'll need to get to the root of the issue, which is your mindset. And a great place to begin developing a more positive mindset is to adopt an attitude of gratitude. Thankfulness is the direct opposite of complaining, and it's much easier to avoid complaining when you're genuinely thankful for all of life's blessings. No matter who you are or where you find yourself, there are always plenty of things to be grateful for. Those things can be as simple as the fresh air that you're breathing and the heartbeat you have in your chest. Anytime you feel yourself starting to dwell on a negative thought or a complaint, pause and look around you for things to be thankful for. Pick them out, reflect on them, and inwardly express your gratitude for them. If you do this, you'll find that the negative thoughts begin to dissolve away. Next, surround yourself with positive people. Human beings tend to mimic the thoughts and expressions of the other people around them. You may have noticed before that if one person in a social group begins complaining, it won't be long before everyone in the group is airing their own complaints. The same is true for positive thoughts. If you surround yourself with positive people, it will encourage you to exhibit a more positive attitude both when you're around them and when you're on your own. Now, lastly, there's an exercise to stop complaining that I found to be very effective. All you have to do is set aside a jar and put $2 in that jar every time you complain about something. Now, the money you put in that jar is to remind you that complaining has a cost. Make sure to enroll all the people at home and at work to catch you when you're complaining and remind you to put the $2 in the jar. Now, at the end of the month, take that money and contribute it to a charity you'd like to support. It forces you to consciously realize what you're doing, which makes it easier to correct your mindset. And one more thing about complaining. People only complain about things that they can change. For instance, you've never heard anyone complain about gravity because we can't change it. What do you hear people complain about is their job, their relationships, their friends, their weight, the clutter in their office and their home, their boredom and things like that. All those things are changeable. You can find a better job. You can find new friends, you can move to a new town, you can change your diet and your exercise program, and you can lose weight. You can ask for what you want. You can say no more often to people's requests and things like that. Now, most people find it easier to complain than to take the uncomfortable actions that will produce what they really want. However, when you find yourself complaining, stop and ask yourself, what would I rather have or what would I rather be experiencing and how can I create that? And then go about doing it and make sure not to beat yourself up if it takes you a while to stop your habit of complaining. You know, there's a pastor in Ohio that challenged his congregation to see if they could go 30 days without a complaint. It took everyone many, many months before they were able to go 30 days without a complaint. It takes a little time now. Okay, here's the deal. I'd like to hear your thoughts after watching this video. What have you been complaining about and what could you do instead to create more of what you really want? And if you feel inspired, please leave a comment below with your answer. I'd love to read what you have to say, so thanks for watching. And remember, nothing in your life will change for the better until you do. Now, if you found this video helpful, make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. And for some additional resources on positive thinking, make sure to visit my website at jackcampfield. Com. Thanks again for watching.
