A Complaint Free World and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
84 used & new from $2.09
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading A Complaint Free World on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: complaint free, conscious competence, unconscious incompetence, United States, The Universe (more...)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
List Price: $16.99
Price: $11.55 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $5.44 (32%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Wednesday, November 25? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
33 new from $6.89 48 used from $2.09 3 collectible from $16.00

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition, December 24, 2008 $9.99 -- --
  Hardcover, October 15, 2007 $11.55 $6.89 $2.09
  Audio, CD, Audiobook, Unabridged $17.12 $12.66 $10.65
  Audio, Download Offsite Link $11.53 or less with new Audible membership

Best Value

Buy A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted and get Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer at an additional 5% off Amazon.com's everyday low price.

A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted + Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer
Buy Together Today: $24.47

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation

Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation

by Mike Robbins
4.7 out of 5 stars (29)  $13.57
Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer

Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer

by Debbie Tenzer
4.6 out of 5 stars (13)  $13.60
The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance

The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance

by Edwene Gaines
4.9 out of 5 stars (31)  $13.57
A Complaint-free World: Experience the 21 Day Challenge That Will Change Your Life: The 21-day Challenge That Will Change Your Life

A Complaint-free World: Experience the 21 Day Challenge That Will Change Your Life: The 21-day Challenge That Will Change Your Life

by Will Bowen
5.0 out of 5 stars (1) 
NOW I GET IT! Totally Sensational Advice for Living and Loving

NOW I GET IT! Totally Sensational Advice for Living and Loving

by Dr Linda Sapadin
5.0 out of 5 stars (4)  $15.95
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bowen is a minister with a very simple message: quit complaining. If you do, you'll be happier and healthier. Hence his Complaint-Free World challenge; the goal is to stop for 21 consecutive days. Why 21? That's how long it takes to break a habit, according to Bowen, who has appeared on Oprah and The Today Show discussing his challenge. And while there's no scientific proof his program works, he includes testimonials from people who've stopped their chronic carping and now lead more positive lives. As for issues that might make you complain about not complaining-e.g., how do you enact social change without first finding fault with the present situation?-Bowen points to Martin Luther King Jr. and his I-have-a-dream speech. He "did not stand on the steps of the Lincoln memorial and say, "Isn't it terrible how we're being treated...." Not to be critical ("Criticism is complaining with a sharp edge") but how could Bowen forget King's great rousing line that day: "America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.' " (Oct. 16)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Review

“A Complaint Free World is an engaging, enjoyable, easy-to-read reminder that the only permanent, constructive changes you can make in the world are the changes that you make in yourself.”
—Gary Zukav, author of The Seat of the Soul and Soul to Soul 



From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday Religion (October 16, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385524587
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385524582
  • Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,053 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #19 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Self-Help > Spiritual
    #31 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Applied Psychology
    #83 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Self-Help > Motivational

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Will Bowen
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Will Bowen Page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
complaint free, conscious competence, unconscious incompetence, purple bracelets, eve ryone
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, The Universe
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted
96% buy the item featured on this page:
A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted 4.4 out of 5 stars (50)
$11.55
The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance
1% buy
The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance 4.9 out of 5 stars (31)
$13.57
Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation
1% buy
Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation 4.7 out of 5 stars (29)
$13.57
The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work
1% buy
The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work 4.7 out of 5 stars (16)
$12.97
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(27)
(9)
(9)
(5)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
Agree with these tags?
See all 33 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

50 Reviews
5 star:
 (30)
4 star:
 (15)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Assigned Reading, Very Worthwhile, November 20, 2007
By Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Edit of 28 May 08 to correct typo pointed out by a reader, and to add links.

My wife asked me to buy this book after hearing about it. I did, it is a worthy useful book, and I will take its challenge.

The author does a tremendous job of gently pointing out all the things about complaining that are both negative and futile:

+ complaining is about what you cannot have or get--get over it
+ avoid chronic complainers, the disease spreads
+ Takes 4-8 months to move from unconsciously incompetent to unconsciously competent.
+ Complaining traps you in a constante state of "something is wrong."
+ Complaining is a form of manipulation
+ Instead of complaining seek alternative language or BE SILENT
+ Silence is mature self-possession
+ Commit to what you want and go after it--WITHOUT COMPLAINT when stymied

The book is quite effective at an underlying theme, God will provide. In acceptance lies happenstance, coincidence (or not), and harmony. The church that started this movement has given out 125,000 free purple bracelets, and issues Certificates of Happiness when anyone can attest to going 21 days without a complaint. They are starting up spin-off programs such as a Complaint-Free Relationship, School, or Workplace.

The author touches briefly on the strategic game of nations, pointing out that instead of negotiating the negative (like nuclear proliferation) why not spend more time sharing information and strategizing the positive, like the end of poverty and disease? Amen.

The book concludes with a raft of first person accounts, roughly one per page, and they are all serious and meaningful, not at all trite of hokey. This is a serious book for serious people.

Entirely and absolutely by coincidence (or not--I really am starting to come back to God "in community"), reading this book coincided with my reading of one squishy and one leadership book, and all three of them center on the same point: be open, be accepting, visualize the good.

I am so taken with this book that I am adding it to my CEO List (Collective and Commercial Intelligence). I find it hard to imagine a CEO of a Fortune 500 company that could get through a day without complaining, but boy, would I like to be around someone like that, who can drive a Fortune 500 company without ever complaining. Now *that* is leadership.

The other two books:
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Pocketbook Guide to Fulfilling Your Dreams (One Hour of Wisdom)
The Source of Leadership: Eight Drivers of the High-impact Leader

The more I think about, the more I am impressed by this book out of Kansas City, Missouri. This book is the essence of what is good and great about America as a frontier Nation, enduring challenges, never mind the occasional genocide, slave trade, and unprovoked war. The heart of this country is still good, even if the corrupt politicians have lost their soul. We can change all that in this next election, and I am going to stop complaining and start working to elect someone who represents the young, the good, and the future.

Bless all those who brought us this treasure, this gift of calm.

Other great books along these lines:
The Complete Conversations with God (Boxed Set)
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
Left Hand of God, The: Healing America's Political and Spiritual Crisis
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents)
The Faiths of the Founding Fathers
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very few books are this Transformational, January 18, 2008
I just finished reading A Complaint Free World and I must say that I was floored with this guide on becoming a complaint free person. As a Christian I believed that i was a very positive person but after taking on this challenge I found out that contrary to what I believed, I complain quite often and i wonder if I will ever make it to 21 days, but I will continue to go forward and strive towards that goal.
This book is maybe one of the 5 best books I have ever read and I believe that this concept can change the world, because I believe that all of us are complainers and that complaining really doesn't do anyone any good.
As well as being a guide to a system that I believe could end complaining in our lives, this book also describes complaining, how it effects us and what it does to others.
This book is an absolute must to read and to practice, heres to a better world.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An irresistible meme, January 2, 2008
By Harriet M Welsch (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
  
This book provides a practical program for increasing happiness and satisfaction by becoming aware of one's unconscious complaints against life, then consciously giving up short-term griping and gloating in favor of long-term gratitude. It's a non-denominational approach that starts working when you merely hear about the idea!

If you think about complaining to others being like second-hand cigarette smoke, you can see how complaining poisons the common breathing space. The goal is to go 21 days without complaining, and when you catch yourself complaining, you switch an inexpensive plastic bracelet to the opposite wrist. When you don't have to switch the bracelet for 21 consecutive days, you've met the challenge.

The book is easy to read, encouraging, and addresses most of the objections our silly, fearful minds are so quick to raise. For me it is a support to the Buddhist value of "Right Speech." My husband and I have not yet received the purple reminder bracelets, but we joke about switching our imaginary bracelets to the other wrist whenever we catch ourselves complaining. It's a program worth trying.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A little book with a big message
This little book keeps the reader in the present moments. The bracelet is also a daily reminder to be aware of what you say, what you think, and to keep focused in the moments.
Published 1 month ago by Nancy Shoemaker

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Inspiring Book
A must-read book for everyone. As described by the author the life changing qualities gained through living a complaint-free life will be awesome. Read more
Published 1 month ago by B. Reese

1.0 out of 5 stars A waste of my money
I bought this book on Amazon. I find there is nothing new in this book. Just keep telling you "it's unhealthy to complain" "If you want a healthy life,you should stop complainning... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ting-lun Ao

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay Condition
I was somewhat disappointed that it did not arrive as pictured. The book was not encased in its original cover as pictured. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Amy R. Parker

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast read, practical & it works!
I've purchased self-help books in the past & noticed many of them had suggestions where you'd say "I'm not gonna do *that*." This book...so different. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pastry Chef

4.0 out of 5 stars A Complaint Free World
This book is worth a read. It offers up a perspective rich with insight, yet is simple in it's method. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jaye Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Christianity is more than a religion
Christians of all denominations and sects should embrace this theory of love not hate. We have been using the theory of wars and more wars is the answer for millenia and have... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Omowales Herb Garden

5.0 out of 5 stars Start this program!!!
Want to increase the quality of your life and those around you. Read this book and embrace the challenge. You will be glad you did.
Published 6 months ago by A. Kennedy

4.0 out of 5 stars idea is important - book is lacking a bit
this is an important idea and i have taken the complaint free challenge. the book on the other hand could use another edition and more depth. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Matt L. Walker

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful
This book had some good ideas and I did get the bracelets but...it is hard to conquer, I haven't made it 21 days yet!!
Published 8 months ago by Joy A. Kalbfleisch

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
What a Life Changing Book - A Complaint Free World 1 November 2007
› See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
   

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:













i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.