I promote my business through intense networking with people who can potentially refer business to me. I have about 20 to 25 of these a month with a mix of new people I'm meeting but most with people I know already.
On Friday I was meeting a new contact, a person a little younger than myself but certainly experienced enough to have lived through plenty of tough times. I was surprised at how 'freaked out' he was concerning the economy. I hear a lot of this these days. Earlier the same week it was with a lawyer from Chicago. But at least he has the excuse of being young. If you started your career after 1987, this is probably the first time you've experienced any major economic disruption.
Getting back to the first person, after he had gone on and on about the national and world economic order, he asked me what I thought. I told him I didn't really care what was going to happen in the economy. I had options, strategies and tactics for all scenarios except the total collapse of the world order. He acted quite surprised. But I told him that I had lived through plenty of economic and personal crises in the past and I had every intention of not only making it through this one but prospering through it as well.
Which gets me to the point of this post.
In working both personally in crises and with many, many clients going through crises, I have noticed one universal truth. Those that stay calm, that focus on what they need to get done, that acknowledge their fears but don't let themselves be overwhelmed or enslaved by their fears, are the ones that usually end up coming out OK.
If you are finding yourself caught up in all the news generated noise and hysteria, I'd like to make a suggestion. Stop paying attention to the media. It's not helping you to cope with whatever you need to cope with. You're not going to change what is going on in the macro-economy or the world political system. Know that it is the nature of the world for good and bad times to follow each other. Yes you have stuff to worry about and think about in your daily life but you will be best served by being able to deal with it in the calmest way possible. Don't let all the hysteria mongers detract from the steady hand you need to captain your fate.
9 comments:
Amen brother!
Good advice. If you're in the habit of freaking out, then learning to do otherwise is hard, but worth it. I think I end up rationing my media exposure all the time because (although I want to know what's going on in the world) too much makes me feel hopeless.
(And an unrelated comment.) When I'm posting on Shawn's blog, if I've already logged into the gmail/blogger account I use for blogging (aka my code name) then I can just choose "google account" and it posts the comment with my code name. Have you tried that?
Excellent post. These people who watch the news and freak out crack me up. There are good times and bad times; suck it up and deal with it. Worrying about it isn't going to change anything.
I am much familiar with that through studying PR in college. The media portrays what they want you to hear. "Always question what you hear, even from me" is what one professor told me. "Research it yourself and don't just take someone's word for it".
Fear mongers are everywhere! Media. Emails. Unbelievable. You're right in the approach: if you feel out of control and hysterical, just keep you head down and take control of the little things.
I fluctuate between worry and going with the flow. I'm back to going with the flow. I'm going to ride it out with my company and hope for the best while keeping my options open.
preachin' to the choir :)
Outstanding.
You speak the truth, though it's one many people overlook because they're too busy fretting.
After graduate school, I began my journey into New York theatre. Next stop, Broadway!......not exactly.
Next stop, being broke.
But you know what, it was the greatest lesson I've ever had.
I remember only too well nights of having virtually no money...for a long time. Nights living in the heart of Greenwich Village, sitting on a bench at the corner of 6th Avenue and West 3rd Street watching people enjoying their evenings going in and out of the steak house across the avenue or an ice cream shop up 6th.
But for whatever reason, it never got me down. It was what it was. I was happy. I was living the life I wanted to lead and doing it where I wanted to be.
A quarter-century later, there have been other lean times...other setbacks. But they, too, have been ok.
I've always viewed down cycles in life like disagreeable Chicago weather: Wait a little bit...it'll change. And because it'll change, there's no need to curse at it.
Post a Comment