A few tips on how to deal with others' (and your own) complaints over the holidays: [originally recorded as a Facebook Live event]

Many personal development and leadership teachers include some variation on "stop complaining" as key to success and happiness. Recent discoveries have revealed that complaining will hurt you mentally and physically

Why do so many of us complain the moment we arrive somewhere? Whether it’s about the traffic or parking or weather or whatever, so often upon arrival we say hello and immediately launch into complaints.

Here's a question you may not have asked yourself: While you're deciding on a goal or making a resolution, what mood are you in? Resolutions and goals usually involve choices about which bad habits to break and which good ones you'll try to establish.

One of the most common NoCo questions I get is, "Is that a complaint?" It can be difficult to tell sometimes. And I've worked with several of you who are trying to eliminate all negativity from your conversations, but tough situations come up almost daily that put this resolve to the test.

When I get into my blacker moods, I spin into absolutist thinking. I start using terms like "always" and "never" about whatever situation I'm in or whoever I'm thinking about.

This morning I took a yoga class from the amazing and insightful Kimber Simpkins. Every class she brings in a theme, some thoughts to hold in your head while you're doing the poses. These are Big Thoughts, the kinds of Thoughts that work their way under your skin and stick around for a while.

When you fail at something you said you wanted to accomplish, what do you do?

Do you beat yourself up over it? Does your inner critic start insulting you? Do you think about giving up? Do you use it as further evidence of how you can't stick to anything?

Looks like the buzz about how complaining impacts productivity is getting farther into mainstream business! Check out these articles in Inc. Magazine and the Wall St. Journal to see what I mean.

Sometimes people say "I can't get too optimistic. I have to stay realistic." Is it true that optimists are always unrealistic?

Winter blues? In August?!? You may think that it's early (or even absurd) to think about winter at the beginning of August. But if you're someone who suffers from the blues during the winter (a.k.a., Seasonal Affective Disorder), this is exactly the right time to start preparing your defenses.