3133: How to Tell if You’re a Complainypants by Mr. Money Mustache on Shifting from Envy to Admiration

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[00:00:38] This is Optimal Living Daily, Episode 3133 How To Tell If You're A Complainy Pants

[00:00:45] by mrmoneymustache of mrmoneymustache.com and I'm your narrator Justin Malik reading

[00:00:50] you blogs every single day of the year including holidays.

[00:00:53] I'm ready to get right to today's post as we optimize your life.

[00:01:01] How To Tell If You're A Complainy Pants by mrmoneymustache of mrmoneymustache.com

[00:01:09] When I read an article about an Olympic athlete who can swim further and faster than I can

[00:01:15] even run, I don't immediately find his blog and write a complaint that he is

[00:01:20] training too hard and failed to take into account time for commuting, chronic illnesses or TV

[00:01:26] watching in his lifestyle.

[00:01:28] When I was a teenager sitting in the Max Convenience store reading bodybuilding magazines that described

[00:01:34] the mindset and methods that allowed Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lee Haney to each win

[00:01:39] seven consecutive Mr. Olympia titles, I didn't write to those muscular

[00:01:44] mustachions about why I couldn't accomplish those things either.

[00:01:48] When I read newspaper articles about the $50 billion that Warren Buffett has earned for

[00:01:52] his company by being the world's greatest investor for 50 straight years, I don't jump

[00:01:58] into the comments section along with the general woozy populace and complain that Warren

[00:02:03] has led an evil life and doesn't understand the plight of the common man.

[00:02:08] And when I read early retirement extreme where Jacob has for several years described

[00:02:13] the mindset and techniques that allow him to live a very fulfilling life on about $7,000

[00:02:19] per year, I don't angrily write him a comment about how he has failed to include certain

[00:02:25] mandatory expenses in American life and is therefore misleading his audience.

[00:02:31] And when there are saved by Superman, the people of Metropolis and the surrounding region

[00:02:36] don't get mad at him and say, well fine Superman it was easy for you to freeze

[00:02:42] that lake with your breath and then fly it over to the burning oil refinery where it

[00:02:47] melted to cause rain to extinguish the fire.

[00:02:50] But what about all this regular firemen?

[00:02:53] We have warm breath and are stuck with standard firefighting equipment.

[00:02:57] We're going to post complaints on your blog.

[00:03:00] No, when I hear about someone who is doing something better than me, even if the details

[00:03:05] of his choices or genetic abilities differ slightly from my own strategy, I bow the f*** down

[00:03:12] and respect his innovation and acknowledge that I have so far failed to achieve his level

[00:03:17] of bad a***** then I secretly try to learn from his success.

[00:03:23] Because of this tendency to want to learn from people who have unusual skills rather

[00:03:28] than try to talk them back down to my own level, I'm going to postulate that I'm

[00:03:33] not too much of a complaining pants.

[00:03:36] I already know that there are millions of people out there who are better than

[00:03:39] me in every measurable way.

[00:03:41] And I hope to continue to learn from them.

[00:03:43] And this ability to learn from rather than become frustrated with people who are good

[00:03:48] at various things brings an extra dollop satisfaction to my life every day.

[00:03:55] Many of the non-complainers in the audience surely feel the same way.

[00:03:59] So why the f*** do people like to write to Mr. Money Mustache every day and tell

[00:04:05] him that he has failed to take into account certain things in his lifestyle or retirement

[00:04:10] strategy and thus is writing this blog on fraudulent pretenses?

[00:04:15] No, I haven't failed to take anything into account.

[00:04:18] Yes, I am fully covered for inflation, education, health, fun, shelter, retirement, old age

[00:04:27] and everything else that is easily foreseeable in a standard middle-class life.

[00:04:32] And yes, situations change and I'm fully covered for changing situations as well

[00:04:37] because of the exact same thing that covered me for the things earlier.

[00:04:41] Adaptability.

[00:04:43] If your life situation changes, you can change your strategy.

[00:04:47] That's called solving a puzzle with your mind, which happens to be the most fun

[00:04:52] and useful thing you can do with your mind anyway.

[00:04:55] So why the f*** is everybody afraid of unknown situations and change?

[00:05:01] If anything, people should be afraid of lack of change.

[00:05:05] I've solved a relatively simple puzzle of reaching early retirement in a capitalist system

[00:05:09] so early that I actually have a shortage of puzzles right now.

[00:05:13] I'm struggling, just a tiny bit with a lack of challenge in life and as a result I'm

[00:05:18] sitting here on a sunny weekday morning in my basement office with no shirt on like

[00:05:23] a lazy slob typing to you procrastinating on doing the second half of my workout.

[00:05:28] I should be out accomplishing something bigger right now.

[00:05:32] There's not enough change in my life, not enough puzzles to solve and I'm about to get

[00:05:36] off my then find some new ones to tackle.

[00:05:40] So to get back to the original point of this article if you heard all this and chuckled

[00:05:45] and said, yeah, listen to Mr. Money Mustache telling it like it is again,

[00:05:50] I'm going to go solve a few of my own puzzles right now so I can wake up tomorrow even

[00:05:54] further ahead.

[00:05:56] Then congratulations, you're a mustachian, not a complainee pants.

[00:06:01] On the other hand, you heard the paragraphs and stuck out your lower lip and said, oh listen

[00:06:07] to that self aggrandizing 30 something who has led a privileged life and doesn't understand

[00:06:12] real hardship like I do because of the following reasons I have it harder than him.

[00:06:18] Well then guess what?

[00:06:20] You're still a complainee pants.

[00:06:22] Keep working on it.

[00:06:24] A complainee pants looks only at results seeing the external trappings or the successes

[00:06:29] of a particular role models life and justifies why he can't have those things and then makes

[00:06:35] himself unhappy because of not having those results.

[00:06:39] Instead, the complainee pants needs to think about the reward of puzzle solving.

[00:06:44] It's not the results that make you happy.

[00:06:47] It's the using of your own mind and skills to advance your own cause.

[00:06:52] You won't get any further telling me that I have failed to account for your particular

[00:06:56] life situation in my blog.

[00:07:03] You just listened to the post titled How to Tell If You're a Complainee Pants by Mr. Money

[00:07:08] Mustache of mrmoneymustache.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:12] Thank you to Mr. Money Mustache, he's typically narrated over on optimal finance daily

[00:07:18] and generally also with this snarky kind of tone so if you like his style and want

[00:07:23] to hear more you can listen to Diana narrating his work over on optimal finance daily.

[00:07:29] You should be able to find that show wherever you're listening to this.

[00:07:32] You brought up Arnold Schwarzenegger and whether you're a fan or not, Arnold has accomplished

[00:07:38] a ridiculous amount of wins from bodybuilding to movies to even becoming governor of California.

[00:07:46] There's a documentary where he's interviewed on Netflix called Arnold that you can check

[00:07:51] out if you want to learn more about his life and mindset.

[00:07:54] A complaining is definitely something that's come up before on this show and something I

[00:08:00] could work on.

[00:08:01] I don't do it online on people's blogs or videos or forums but I can catch myself

[00:08:07] complaining to someone personally about something without realizing what a waste of time and

[00:08:12] energy it is and it can affect the other person as well.

[00:08:16] I'm pretty sure when we complain to someone about something that doesn't involve them

[00:08:21] we're not actively trying to make them feel bad but it can happen and cause a vicious

[00:08:27] cycle so it's something to look out for.

[00:08:30] And with that thank you for being here and not complaining about this podcast.

[00:08:34] Wishing you a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow as usual where

[00:08:38] your optimal life awaits.