Recession Schmession

I need to agree with Ivan Misner, writing in Entrepreneur magazine, who said,” I refuse to participate in a Recession, now more than ever.”

I am not advocating delusional denial of reality, but avoidance of fear, panic and self-fulfilling prophecies. The first two concepts are abundantly clear – and seem to fill our airwaves constantly.

Self-fulfilling prophecy is a psychological term for the “Sure-enough” principle: If you think you’re going to have a bad day, you probably will. If you believe there is no way out, you stop looking for one. If you think your perfromance is in a slump, you find you are correct when you take on the next challenge. Because beliefs are formed subconsciously over time, supported by our own internal dialogue (self-talk), we are often unaware of them. We don’t know that a belief such as, “I can’t do Mathematics!” may be underpinning our repeated failures in the subject.

Just so, we need to force our minds to focus on what is good, right, logical, provides value and will be seen as excellent. “We’re in a recession – sales are plummeting!” Not true. Some sectors are badly hit by the markets, yes. But doing nothing and waiting for the hammer to fall (on your insolvency) guarantees failure. At least give yourself a fighting chance: go back to why you got into this line of work. Remember the best performances. Now redefine your target market – niche – and market to them, in a relational, relevant way that aims at enhancing their business success.

There is life beyond the downturn, because we are resilient. What goes down must come up. Valleys do not continue forever. But let’s focus on what’s in our heads, hearts and hands to do. Let’s put in twice the effort we did in 2008, to remain purposeful in the face of contraction.

#Focus #SelffulfillingProphecy #Belief #Downturn #Recession #Hope