Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life by Trevor G Blake Page B

We can all think of someone who seems incapable of speaking without complaining. The good news is that by controlling mentality, the damage does not have to be permanent. Even better news is that in the second part of this book, we will spend time on rewiring our neurons to the way we want them to be and completely reversing the damage already done.
    The tendency for Americans to complain comes partly from a chronic sense of disappointment. Americans are naturally outgoing and optimistic. Expectations are generally high. If you have been to the United Kingdom, you’ll understand the contrast with British pessimism.
    Americans are the only people who are genuinely surprised and disappointed when politicians do not keep their promises. In other countries, people are just relieved if their leaders get through their terms of office without being mired in a sadomasochistic sex scandal. Americans expect the economy always to be growing, house prices to rise continuously, and everyone to be better off in the future than they are now. Because life is a series of peaks and valleys, it sets up a rollercoaster of feeling excited and let down. It is important to recognize this because the trip to success is more undulating than linear.
    As an Englishman who moved to America, however, I have a different perspective and find little to complain about. I havelived in five states, each one a different cultural experience. If I don’t like the weather, I can simply move to a place with a better climate instead of complaining all the time about the one I inhabit. No one dictates where I have to reside. I need no visa to move.
    Education is available to all. Everyone can get a degree, even if it is in hamburger technology. Those with degrees in hamburger technology become professional servers. This is the only nation that has waiters who smile when they serve food. Go to England or France and then complain to the waiter that your food is a little cold and see what happens. Go to Spain and tell the maître d’ that you are tired of waiting for service. You’ll be seated at your table a year from now. Americans have service down to a fine art.
    Restaurants deliver quality food to your front door at night and on a Sunday! Stores are open when people need them, like after office hours. Grocery stores burst with a mind-boggling variety of foods. The checkout people are friendly, and someone packs your groceries into bags for you. On top of that, sales tax is less than 20 percent, which is the rate in more than thirty-six countries around the globe!
    When I left England, not only did I have to pay 18 percent sales tax on everything, but my income tax was at a rate of 48 percent with 8 percent compulsory national insurance. For every £100 I earned, I could only purchase £26 worth of groceries with the disposable income I had left. Now, that is reason to complain. In America, however, I live in a state with no income tax and a sales tax under 9 percent, but everyone I know complains about their taxes.
    When I go to a public place in America, no one is allowed to attempt to kill me with cigarette smoke. I can walk on the sidewalk without being ankle deep in litter, or having to dodge presents left by dogs. Cursing is practically a capital offence,and nudity is not allowed at the beach. (Okay, so not everything in America is better.)
    Gasoline is a fraction of what it costs in European countries, and Americans can have a car for each foot. I can drive almost anywhere. I can effectively live my whole life in a car, never starve, and end it at a drive-through funeral parlor.
    Best of all, an immigrant like me, one with no identifiable skill, can come up with an idea to start a business. I can succeed simply because I have control of my mentality. No one cares from which class of society I came. No one minds if I had the right schooling or family connections, which are so vital in other countries. In America, absolutely anyone can do and be anything