Benefits Of Economic Recession

Is there something in the air that’s getting people down lately? My guess is that with all the news about the drop in home prices, stock prices, and consumer confidence a lot of people are starting to feel pretty bad about themselves and their future. 

Some of the emails I’ve been getting recently accuse me of making people feel worse by pointing out that we’re in an economic recession instead of doing what all the motivational gurus are espousing, which is just to “not participate in the recession”.

Give me a break. It’s real. It affects us. Deal with it.

It need not affect us negatively though:

• Many fortunes are made in recessions.

• Many families are brought together during tough times.

• Many faiths are renewed.

The recession is real. How you respond to it is up to you.

Many people are responding by becoming reactive instead of proactive and letting negative emotions limit their thinking and rule their behaviors. All I have to do is look through my email to see that happening. I’ve been receiving a lot of negative emails this past week or so. I just opened one that started with “Joshua you pompous ass!”

The woman who wrote it took me to task because I mentioned in one of my weekly tip of the week emails that I’d just came back from a cruise in Italy. I even had the gaul to post a review of the various ports of call for the benefit of people who may travel there one day or who would like to start manifesting that into their lives now. Anyway, this woman was pissed off because she thinks she can’t afford to go on a cruise and doesn’t want to hear that I just came back from yet another one.

Well guess what… I decided I wanted to go on cruises for free (and get paid for them too), so I went out and found the people and information that would show me how to do it and then I made it happen. Simple as that. 

That’s how I became a voice over celebrity in Hollywood right out of college. That’s how I wrote and published a book. That’s how I’ve launched all of my business and creative endeavors. That’s how life works.

Don’t begrudge people their success, seek to emulate it. 

Notice that the woman who wrote that nasty email didn’t ask me how she can go on cruises for free too. She probably didn’t even think in those terms. The truth is, lots of people cruise for free and there are many different ways to do it. But you have to be open to that reality or you will never even see it pass you by.

Look for opportunities and you will find them, yes even in a recession.  Trust me, they are there. If you see someone being, having, or doing something you’d like to have in your life then recognize that you can be, have, or do that too. 

In my weight loss book I talk about “skinny chick syndrome”. This is when people whisper snarky things about the skinny chick who eats whatever she wants without gaining weight rather than observing her behaviors and attitudes about food so as to model her success.

There are things that skinny people do and think which fat people don’t. Just like there are things that financially independant people do and think which poor people don’t. And things that people who live lives full of fun and adventure think and do which people who are stuck in a rut don’t.

Opportunities to improve your life exist all around you, whether you see them or not depends on your mindset, focus, and expectations. I could’ve shown this woman several ways to take free cruises if she had asked, but instead of seeking to model success she allowed negative emotions to control her thoughts and limit her possibilities.

Ask and you shall receive…

Bitch and whine and you’ll just annoy people and remain exactly where you are. Or to put it a bit more eloquently: stop reacting to every little thing around you that comprises your presumed “reality” and start proactively influencing your own thoughts and emotional responses so you can live your dreams. 

Whatever you want in life, there is someone out there you can help you get it. But before you can sell anyone else on your ideas, your cause, your dreams, your desires, or your products and services, you’ve first got to sell yourself. Use the power of your mind to look for opportunity and move toward success in every area of your life and you will live in a state of abundance and possibility.

Use this time of economic recession to circle the wagons, focus on what is really important to you, sharpen your saw, and look for ways to give back to society. You will be richer for it and when we rebound (as we surely will) you will have the strength of character that can only be forged in the fire of adversity.

Comments are now closed. Here is what was submitted:

Popularity: 19% [?]