My last entry opened the topic of how to respond purposefully (and not just from fear or survival instinct) to the current economic troubles.  This posting goes a little further down that path. 

One of the most effective ways of maintaining a balanced perspective
is being purposeful about what we focus our attention on. 

With today’s 24/7 media environment, 24-hour news channels, and electronic gadgets all around us, we are constantly bombarded with the (bad) news.  In fact, we’re given a lot more bad news than good news.  If this is most of what occupies your mental space, where do you think your emotional state will end up? 

Don’t get me wrong – I am not telling you to ignore what is happening around you by sticking your head in the sand.  I think it is useful and important to be informed.  BUT, there is a difference between being informed and being inundated.  Sadly, I think the norm for us these days (and we’re not even aware of it most of the time), is to be inundated.  Worse yet, we are not at all purposeful about what we allow ourselves to be inundated with.  So, the default is “what’s available”, which is predominantly bad news.   

Instead of hearing and reading over and over and over each day how terrible things are and how bad things are going to get, my suggestion is to balance some of that with at least SOME attention on positive things that are happening in your life and work.

“WHY?”  You might ask.  Because – as you will probably know by observing your own life – we often create the result we fear most, or at least the result we focus on most.  Said differently, we create a self-fulfilling prophesy.  Worse yet, once our fears are realized, we have proven ourselves right and the cycle gains power and validity.  It can be hard to break out of unless you hit a “pattern interrupt” button somewhere and decide to be more purposeful about what you focus on and what you put your energy toward.  I say this in part because there is widely held theory that what we focus on, we produce more of.  It is called the law of attraction.

Here’s to having a say about how your day goes.

This blog entry is overdue, given the wild ride of the financial markets over the past few weeks, and the unbelievable amount of press associated with it. 

It is obvious that fear has been the predominant emotion driving the behaviours of millions of people around the world during this period.  And unfortunately, because of modern technology they are able to act on their fear very easily and very quickly by selling anything and everything as quickly as they can.  Or, in the case of most of the world's banks, by stopping lending to each other.

What is the effect of all of this?  Massive value destruction.

Furthermore, fear's actions create the context for more of the same, and we keep proving ourselves right as we produce exactly the results we fear most.  For example, when we cut our spending and investing, the economy slows down.  Hearing that news, we cut our spending further, and the economy slows down further. 

It isn't until we reach some arbitrary level that we determine as "low enough" or "bad enough" that some of us start opening up the flow of money again and taking more risks.  That is when things start to turn around, and then more and more people start doing the same, in reaction to the data they hear.  BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO BE FIRST. 

So, how do we break this cycle?

Surely we can't completely ignore what is happening around us? 

No, we should not completely ignore it.  But we should not let it be the ONLY thing we are responding to either. My recommendation is as follows:

KEEP THE LONG TERM IN MIND, AND BALANCE THE NEGATIVE WITH THE POSITIVE. 

• If you've lost money in your investment portfolio (like most of us), keep in mind that in most cases you won't be needing that money for a loooong time anyway, so it isn't a "real" loss in that sense. 
• If you were thinking about taking a trip, I suggest still taking the trip – just make it a bit more modest. 
• If you were thinking about making home improvements, make them, but similarly, maybe you just make them a bit more modest. 
• If you were going to invest in a new business venture, weigh out the pros and cons, and if it still adds up, proceed.  Perhaps it's just a more modest business venture.

Remember, the economy doesn't grow (nor do plants) unless there is and exchange and flow of funds (or in the case of plants – nutrients).  

I will end this entry with a quote from Thomas Jefferson that is listed on our website: "In matters of style, swim with the current.  In matters of principle, stand like a rock."

To balance.