Why Whining is Self-Destructive

When I opened my first coffee shop in California, I developed a  “No Whiners Allowed Rule” so I wouldn’t have to listen to all the cry babies who weren’t willing to put 100% into what they were doing and what our purpose was as new entrepreneurs in the ‘Relationship Development’  of selling coffee.

I drew up a big sign and hung it beside the time clock so each and every time one of my staff would begin work, they would be reminded where to set their minds and focus for the shift  ahead.

Setting the expectation with every new employee really helped prevent it from becoming a problem down the road.  It became such a game, that employees would remind their co-workers when they forgot and started whining.

Comical or not, I achieved what I set out to do which was prevent whining, prevent negativity from breeding in my coffee shops and through a constant staff of 65 this is imperative simply because I let everyone know that you never succeed by whining, complaining or making excuses. Instead, you succeed by saying to yourself, if I am to be successful its up to me, because we all know what we think about, what we focus on becomes our reality and our self-fulfilling prophecy.

The result: Our success more than tripled our income, employee turnover was at a minimum and the relationships we developed with our customers were amazing!

The reason I’m against whining is simple. Whenever you whine you’re giving power to circumstances and taking it away from yourself. You’re claiming that you can’t do anything because everything is outside of your
control.  And as a single mom of three now almost grown children I know this first hand and so do they.

Oh don’t get me wrong, tough times have come, but I personally hold myself to the same rules that I project out to my staff, friends and family.  No whining!  Obstacles will present themselves in all of our lives; its how you choose to deal with them shows the true ability to find success.

It’s also amazing how your circumstances change when you stop whining and begin adopting the belief that if I am going to be successful, it’s up to me.

For every person whining about how pathetic her life and circumstances are, you can find plenty of examples of those who had it worse, yet rose to even higher levels of greatness because of the adversity.

How have so many victors risen about the ‘poor me I’m a victim of my circumstances’ status.

By setting and focusing on a goal; by taking the time to ‘listen to their inner voice’; and by accepting that it’s okay to have fear, you just have to do it anyway.  Believing and truly living congruently with who you are and want to be will keep you on your path to success.

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