21 days of not complaining - how hard could it be?

"Tell him, Wash. It's incredibly hard," as Ron Washington's character replies to Billy Beane in Moneyball says about playing first base.

The same can be said for not complaining.

I first came across the no-complaint lifestyle reading about John Wooden's two sets of threes he got from his father Joshua:

-Don't whine.

-Don't complain.

-Don't make excuses

-Never lie.

-Never cheat.

-Never steal.

Seed planted.

Then, Tim Ferriss talked about "Real Mind Control" in 2007 in a blog post, highlighting a Kansas City minister named Will Bowen who started a movement that Tim described as "simple but effective metacognitive awareness training."

Tim Ferriss seeing around corners and for the win - AGAIN.

Fast forward to today, with John Wooden's pyramid of success, specifically the sixth pillar of self-control.

The time came to learn how to tame the tongue, control the thoughts, and curb the complaining.

It SOUNDS simple enough to do:

1. Begin to wear the bracelet on either wrist. You are now on Day 1 of your journey to 21 consecutive days.

2. When (not if) you catch yourself complaining, criticizing, gossiping, or being sarcastic, move the bracelet to the other wrist and start again. You are back on Day 1. 

3. Stay with it. It typically takes 4-8 months to reach 21 consecutive days.

Yet it's not.

As Billy Beane replies to Ron Washington's witty comeback, "Anything worth doing is, and we're going to teach you."

So if you're looking for how, as the book's subtitle suggests, "to stop complaining and start enjoying the life you always wanted," consider the resources linked in the comments below:

1. Complaint Free World - where you can get your own purple bracelet.

2. Tim's original blog post - for Tim's thought experiment thoughts.

3. Will Bowen's book - for a full deep dive like we did.

Be sure to follow for more takeaways on self-control and the book in the coming days as they apply to all things autotelic athletics.