I hear a lot of complaints in the last many months of the economy. They say, "we're all affected by the economy." I know what they are trying to say, but they are trying to put a spin on it. They are trying to say that "business sucks, or business is way off, or business is terrible." They don't want to actually say that, so they say the economy is to blame and it is having an effect on their business.
What would be even more realistic would be to say, "I'm afraid. I don't know what is going on and I am afraid that my income is dropping and my job might even be affected." It would also be more realistic to say that it is not the economy (the news will use this to death), it is fear. Wall Street takes a plunge from fear. It's funny how emotional Wall Street is when you think about it.
So what are you going to do? "It's not my fault, it's the economy for crying out loud. What can I do about that? I have no control over the economy. I just want business to be like it was!" Okay, I get it. I'm not looking to point blame anywhere really, but if you are reacting in fear, it is your fault--at least to the degree that you affect the economy. Put millions of reacting-in-fear people together, and we can have a really good depression! You've always heard that in 1929 it was the stock market crash that created the depression, but it wasn't that, it was fear. Remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famous line: ". . . The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. . ."
I will say this again: turn off the news. Quit listening to that stuff over and over again. Start asking yourself some questions about what you can do. How can you improve your skills? How can you improve your knowledge? How can you improve your talent? How can you improve your communication skills? How can you improve your work efforts? How can you improve your presentations skills? How can you improve your own economy? How can you improve? Now would be a really good time to ask these questions.
I'll bet that list could be very long about what you can improve in your life, while the world is crashing around you. Focus on what you can do, not on what you cannot do. Focus on what you want, not on what you do not want. Focus on what you have control over, not on what you have no control over. Focus on where you want to go, not on where you don't want to go. Focus on what you want your sales to be, not on what they look like now and where you think they are going. You get what you focus on and you get to choose what you focus on. Make a good choice and choose control; choose looking at the glass as half full. You get to choose that. Is the world coming to an end, or is it still in the growing phase? You get to choose how you look at that. Choose growing. If nothing else, it will be much more satisfying.
I said that I have heard a lot of this for the last many months. It is true. I have. But, I only listen for a very, very short time and then I change the subject, and get them to focus on something different. You not only get to choose, but you have to choose. You are choosing now. You can choose differently. You can choose better. Go lift up a friend and create some joy. That will change them and you. Sing "jingle bells" in July and "Summer in the City" in December. Change it up. Be a little bit off center. It will do you good.
Next time someone asks, "how's business?" You will be able to say, "I'm getting better every day at taking better care of it." After a short while, you will mean it. That will change everything!
No comments:
Post a Comment