I would argue that "this sucks and needs to be better" is actually not included in Ferriss's definition of a complaint. By saying that it needs to be better you are 90 percent of the way to also stating the steps you'll actually take to improve it.
I like this concept not because of its "negativity-fighting" aspects, but because it tries to cultivate a problem-solving mindset. That, at least, should be near and dear to most of us.
OK, so how about the example at the beginning of the article when the author was complaining about how difficult it was to resize photos on his Mac? Do you suppose it's enough that the "this needs to be better" was implied, or do you think he should have added something else?
Like it or not, a lot of the time the things that suck can't feasibly be improved by yourself.
I like this concept not because of its "negativity-fighting" aspects, but because it tries to cultivate a problem-solving mindset. That, at least, should be near and dear to most of us.