Using Financial Fear As a Positive Force
Last week, I was at a networking meeting attended by a number of consultants who work with high-level managers. One of the consultants, whose clients are mostly successful entrepreneurs, mentioned that fear was prevalent among his clients because of the current economic uncertainty. I was surprised to hear that this group shared the same kind of financial fear experienced by so many workers around the world.
A number of my high net worth friends have also shared with me that they have fears about their financial future. Wealth, it appears, is no barrier to emotional discomfort.
Is fear creeping into your thoughts about your financial position? Or perhaps it has become one of your main emotions.
Fear run amok is likely to lead you to make unsound decisions about your finances and other aspects of your life, such as taking on too much debt or arranging a high-risk mortgage.. It also has a detrimental effect on your health because of the ongoing adrenal responses stimulated by fear. Continue reading
Dealing with Current Events in a Healthy Way
There are those who say that it’s better to ignore the news. I disagree with this. Ignoring political and economic trends makes it difficult to strategize for the future.
For me, watching the news is a spiritual discipline because I learn how to detach from what I’m seeing. I can imagine that I’m climbing up a mountain and watching the drama from a much higher point of view – to be in the world but not of it.
From that elevated point of view, it’s easier to remove “good” or “bad” from what I’m seeing. Whatever is happening is just what’s happening, and how I deal with it on a physical, emotional, or spiritual level is my choice.
Years ago, I had a big AHA. I realized, it ALL depends on how you look at it. I can see current events as filled with pain and tragedy, or I can see a rapidly changing world where people have the opportunity to learn that when anger, fear, and selfishness are replaced with love, acceptance, and a social consciousness, everyone benefits. Continue reading
The Egyptian Crisis and Your Finances
There is no doubt that many factors such as income inequity between rich and poor, high unemployment, rising food prices, and suppression by autocratic governments are contributing to the growing unrest in the Middle East that is likely to spread from country to country.
Because the unrest may be far away from where you live, you may not think that it’s going to affect you, but it will. All countries are now connected, especially economically, and what happens in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and other countries will eventually affect the economies of seemingly stable countries.
I watched a program about the Middle East crisis on CNBC Sunday night and they talked a lot about the effect of the crisis on various currencies. What was really interesting, was the fact that at the time of the 2007 revolt in Myanmar, the value of their currency tanked and savvy investors put money into the country. With the return of some stability, these investors have now realized profits of about 400%. In other words revolutions are profitable.
Are You Ready for the Upturn?
There is no doubt about the fact that the global economy is going through a major upheaval and restructuring and no one really knows what the long-term outcome will be. The signs point to a slow recovery during the restructuring, and for business owners, this is a good time to prepare for an upturn.
Those of you who have been in the job market, especially older workers, need to consider how opportunities are changing, and in some cases disappearing. The question for you is whether you are going to stay in the job market or create a business opportunity by yourself or with others whose skills complement yours.
There are a number of emerging business models that reduce some of the risk of starting a new venture or reconfiguring the one you have now. For example, pop-up stores are literally popping up in many locations both online and off. (Google pop-up stores for more information.) Continue reading
Finding the Silver Lining
Each day, new data is released in the United States that deepens the gloom and doom surrounding the current “economic recovery.” In the past week we have learned:
- Job openings are at a record low — there are 50% fewer than in 2007
- More homeowners are struggling as option ARMs reset higher
- Approximately one-third of all mortgage holders have a loan balance that’s higher than the current value of their home
- Cities and states are still struggling to find ways to balance their budgets
- People are using far less credit and are saving more, which is great for them, but slows the economy which depends on consumer spending
- Although the unemployment rate is 10%, the number of people who are either unemployed, underemployed, or have given up looking reaches more than 17% of the working-age population
- Qualified people who are finding work are often accepting lower salaries than they earned before they were laid off.
Health Benefits of the Recession
A recent article in Fortune magazine http://bit.ly/6AXo0R indicated that there are fewer deaths during a recession because people apparently “adopt smarter lifestyles in recessions, especially those people with the worst health habits.”
One reason is that as work hours are cut back or people are laid off, they have more time to spend going to the gym, preparing meals, and getting more sleep.
There’s something else happening too. People are becoming much more conscious about how they spend their money. Consumer sales are decreasing because many are deciding against excess and for frugality. Instead of thinking, “It’s only $20!” and making an unnecessary purchase, often the decision is to not spend the $20 and save it instead. That’s good for a person’s economic health. Continue reading
Do the Hustle
I recently had a conversation with a successful business owner about surviving the current economy. We both agreed that there is business to be had, but in these times, a little hustling is in order.
Reaching out to potential clients through innovative marketing, increased networking, restructuring prices, cutting expenses, and other actions can increase profits even in a down market.
A local plastic surgeon, has cut his prices and told me that he had his best month ever in September. He was willing to compromise, and has benefited from his actions.
Financial Denial Blocks Prosperity
There’s an incredible disconnect between the movement of the stock market and the economic reality for much of the US population.
As I’m writing this, the headline on CNBC.com, just above the market chart, is “Stocks Gain 4% for Week Amid Earnings Optimism.” No doubt about it, the market has been going up, enabling those who are supposedly in the know to assure us that we are on the way to recovery.
At the same time, stories are dribbling out about the economic pressures faced by many people:
- There are over 1 million healthcare-related bankruptcies per year
- Over 47,000 people die each year in the US because they can’t afford health care
- 6.3 people are looking for every available job
- High level jobs are going unfilled because workers lack the necessary skills
- Foreclosure rates continue to rise in many areas
- Unregulated financial products are still in the pipeline
- States are cutting back on funding for education, safety, and other necessary services.
Searching for the New Normal
One word that can sum up the current state of world affairs is uncertainty. No one really knows what’s going on and all of the old predictive models aren’t working.
For example, this week, an AP article mentioned that economists had expected a cutback in consumer debt by about $4 billion in July. Instead, there was a $21.6 billion drop. Totally unexpected. Good for consumers, bad for the economy which depends on spending.
People seem to be waiting and hoping that the economy will get back to “normal.” Most people mean get back to what it was, and that just isn’t going to happen. Our economy depends on consumer spending and consumers are tapped out.
Also, because growth of wages leads to increased spending, that push for the economy has leveled off. With all of the job cuts and people finally learning to spend less and save more or pay down debt, no one knows for sure what will happen to our economy. Uncertainty prevails. If anyone predicts the future with certainty, don’t believe them. Continue reading
Life Beyond Fear & Sorrow
For many years, every time I did energy work with clients, two phrases came up:
- I release all pain and memory of pain
- I release all fear and sorrow
Fully aware that if I’m doing something with a client, it applies to me too, I was surprised that the fear and sorrow piece went on for so long. Over the years, all the physical and emotional pain I had lived with had disappeared, yet I was aware that try as I might, fear and a sense of loss persisted.
Because I believe that we create our life stories in order to express hidden emotions, as I observed the current economic downturn, it occurred to me that fear, or a feeling of vulnerability, and sorrow are the creative force behind the current situation. Certainly the daily talk of terrorism has emerged from our collective fear.
A few months ago, I did a teleclass on letting go of fear and sorrow, and followed that with a healing session that I recorded separately. Somehow, I was deeply affected by those two events and over the last two months have noticed that the fear and sorrow are really gone. In meditation, I’m aware of his sense of equanimity, as I understand it.
What does this look like on a day-to-day basis? I no longer have feeling that there’s something I have to do. At this point, I really do have the faith that whatever I’m doing is fine and that if I don’t push, I’ll get where I’m supposed to be, whatever that is. I don’t feel compelled to do affirmations, visualizations, set five-year goals or push in any way to try to make things happen. I am much more present in the moment.
I’ll admit that I have moments when I wonder if I am risking or missing something by being so laid back. However, I really like this state of being and am willing to wait and see where it goes. Without any effort, new opportunities are opening up.
Somewhat surprising is the fact that I am now doing more website development work, something I haven’t done since 2002. I see this as a way to provide real world opportunities for growth for people who are developing a strong financial consciousness. So it fits nicely with the financial work that I’ve been doing. And I do enjoy the work.
The bottom line: life beyond fear and sorrow is peaceful — and profitable. I just have to get used to the new feelings that I’m experiencing.
I haven’t made the recording of the teleclass available because the quality of the recording was so poor, but the fear and sorrow healing session is available. I received many positive comments about it.
I am the process of updating Prosperity Place with information about the affordable website building and consulting that I’m doing. There is some information about it now on this site.
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