Archive for the ‘The economy’ Category

The many changes occurring in our economic foundation require a new focus and discipline for you to thrive and prosper. Here are five keys that I consider essential.

• Pay close attention to your finances. During difficult or transitional times knowing exactly where you stand financially and keeping up-to-date financial records are essential for strategizing and making rational financial decisions.
• Stay tuned to financial news. You will benefit from following stories and commentary about the financial sector and becoming more literate about the financial world. This requires knowing much more than just the movement of the stock market, which is a limited view of financial trends.
• Focus on the present, not the past or future. The future is entirely unknown, and during uncertain times people tend to project into the future from fear. Many people are thriving right now and there’s no reason why you can’t thrive and prosper too if you adjust your financial behavior and goals to fit current conditions.
• Be open to new ideas and opportunities. Holding onto the past often provides apparent safety when in fact it keeps you from moving forward. Have an open mind and carefully examine the potential of opportunities that are presented to you, even if they require moving out of your comfort zone.
• Take care of your physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Eat healthy foods, exercise regularly, connect to others, express yourself authentically, and meditate daily. This is not the time to withdraw and comfort yourself with unhealthy foods and inactivity.

Making changes to your focus and behavior requires ongoing attention and support. The Peace of Mind & Prosperity program can provide this for you. Read more about the program on ProsperityPlace.com.

Resourses: PBS.org and CSPAN have some excellent interviews about events leading up to the financial downturn and suggestions for the future. Highly recommended: (All can be downloaded from ITunes
The Warning: a Frontline program. http://bit.ly/ax6qdP
After Words Interviews on CSPAN’s Book TV
    Joseph Stiglitz: Author of FreeFall
    Naomi Prins: Author of It Takes a Pillage

With everything that is going on in the world, it sometimes feels to me as if the world is falling apart. The news stories often contain phrases such as “the biggest,” “the worst since,” and “never seen before.”

Yet despite what is going on in the world, each of us has to continue performing our day-to-day tasks for our business ventures or jobs. Few of us can just sit back and wait for it all to pass, especially since it would seem that it’s not going to pass.

Uncertainty prevails.

There are times when I just want to surf the Net, go for a nice long walk, or even hide under the covers. On some days, I find it hard to focus on the task at hand.

Read the rest of this entry »

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. 

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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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Because of what is going on in the world, last week I did a teleclass with my Peace of Mind & Prosperity group on adapting to change. Our society is going through major shifts and people who are adept at changing are the ones who will thrive and prosper.

But for most people, any kind of change threatens their concept of who they are and their place in the world. Resistance to change is universal because of fear of the unknown and the unintended consequences of change.

If you want to thrive and prosper, adapting to change is a skill you will need to develop. Not changing means you’re going to stay stuck where you are and the positive momentum of the new economy will pass you by.

Here are some suggestions for learning how to make change a positive force in your life. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently googled “new economy” looking to see what trends those in the know are seeing. One thing is for sure, our economic future is not going to be a repetition of the near past. The economy will slowly recover, but along with the recovery will be both a shift in priorities and a lot of downsizing.

In an article in the Christain Science Monitor, 10 ways the new economy will look different, value, savings, frugality, second-hand goods, and green jobs stand out as key ideas.

In a CNN series of short articles under the heading How to profit in the new economy  you find words such as downsizing, the rise of freelance nation, new regulations, and demise of the ‘ownership socieity.”

The whole mindset is changing as well, especially for Gen-Ys (16 to 19 year olds) who are our future. This group sees the importance of adopting changing the world as a primary value. They understand the need to work together for the common good, a shift from the rugged individualism that has caused some of our current societal ills. Read the rest of this entry »

When people feel uncomfortable — for any reason — they tend to keep things to themselves. Solopreneurs especially rarely share their financial pain or fear of the future with others.

In addition, with all of the positive-thinking propaganda that flies about these days, no one wants to admit that they aren’t super positive about what they expect for the future. Here again, people often hide their thoughts and feelings, often to the point of dropping out of group activities.

Consider these facts:
1. Keeping fears and concerns to yourself can be self-defeating. Connecting to trusted friends and allies and sharing from an authentic place allows you to feel less alone, which always helps to increase income. This doesn’t mean you have to tell all of your troubles, but you can be honest about having some concerns. .

2. If you share some of your thoughts with others who you trust, chances are that that either they share your concerns or they have a very different way of looking at the same situation and can help you see things from a more positive point of view. In either case, connecting to others allows you to feel less alone.

Why does connecting to others matter? Because feelings of aloneness stand behind most financial problems. From my point of view, you can’t run out of money, you can only run out of people because money is always attached to people. So the solution to a financial problem may seem to be more money, when in fact, it could well be more people. Read the rest of this entry »

The current financial crises is forcing many people to become more aware financially than ever before. Financial vagueness and poor financial management skills have caused serious problems on various levels and many are moving toward greater financial responsibility in order to recover–or survive–financially.

Difficult times such as we are in now, act as the catalyst for deep introspection and an examination of values. In order to move into financial stability, what matters has to be defined individually and used as a basis for future behaviors.

Clearly the uber-focus on money and it’s potential as a stimulus for personal happiness and stability has proven to be inadequate to keep society glued together. Money is necessary for our economic survival, but when money becomes the primary focus and goal of our lives, something is lost.

When asked about the financial crisis during a recent airing of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS, the Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary said, “It’s a crisis of value. We have misplaced, in deep ways, the ruler that we use to measure what matters most in life. And it has become completely exhausted by monetary value.” Read the rest of this entry »