Is It Possible To Profit In An Economic Downturn?
Monday, October 6th, 2008Is It Possible To Profit In An Economic Downturn?
“You define abundance. You decide whether or not to shrink or expand. You choose whether or not to participate in this line of thinking. This is wealth.”
Christine Kane
Recession? Seriously?
Okay, fine. The market is having some troubles. What do you do? Do you cower in fear, doubt, and uncertainly like the masses or do you…please forgive me for the cliché; do you make lemonade from lemons?
It’s true. Right now we’re living in some pretty uncertain times financially speaking. However, there’s always opportunity. The online world is still thriving. In fact, it’s growing. The self help and home based business is booming! The investment market is actually thriving – people are anxious to learn how to invest their money, protect their money, and still live the same quality of life they’re used to.
Warren Buffet just invested 5 billion into Goldman Sachs. Of course he had 5 billion to invest in the first place but this is a guy who isn’t casual with his money. And he just invested 5 billion in what many would consider the most unstable sector in the world.
Why?
He sees an opportunity.
It’s what successful entrepreneurs do.
Successful entrepreneurs are typically risk takers. Not blind risk takers who jump into a pool of hungry sharks without looking first.
Instead, they spend a bit of time evaluating the risk and then deciding whether it’s worth jumping in. That doesn’t mean that every single light is green and it’s 100% okay to make the jump, or investment. But it means they know what they’re getting into. They understand the risks.
Along with understanding the risks, successful entrepreneurs understand, and look for, opportunity.
Think about Amazon, Paypal, and even the folks over at MySpace. They saw a potential opportunity and took some very big risks – boy did they pay off.
Despite what the mainstream media will have you believe – those opportunities are still available. The only difference between five years ago and today is the collective consciousness – if the media is telling everyone that the economy is good and invest, invest, invest – the collective buys into it and boom – everyone and their brother are taking huge risks with the comfort that the financial guru they saw on CNN the other night said it was a good thing to do – the economy is great.
Now the same financial guru is telling everyone to buckle down. Save money, don’t spend. Hold tight to your investments. Don’t take any risks.
And the collective conscious believes it. They hold tight to their money.
The result…missed opportunity.
Assuming you do your homework, analyze the market, and understand the risks – the risks are the same as it was 5 years ago. The opportunities are the same.
What is required to recognize and take advantage of these opportunities?
A good attitude is a must.
A good attitude means you’ve established the desire to be wealthy. Now that may sound very simplistic. Everyone wants to be wealthy, right? No, not really. Some people are quite content at their current income level what ever it may be.
And many of those who do desire great riches let other desires, beliefs and myths about money get in the way. Napoleon Hill outlined six steps to achieving Desire as it relates to attaining wealth. They are:
#1 Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. (This is very much part of the visualization and goal setting process and is critical to success) At first you may think, “Oh okay, I want a million dollars.” Then you’ll think, “No, this is a visualization exercise, right? How about six million dollars?” Then the doubts will start to enter your mind and you may drop down to $100,000. The goal here is to let go of those limiting beliefs. If you want six million then fix that amount in your mind.
Perhaps you need to do a little bit of thinking, meditating, or even planning on how much money you want. That’s fine. Take your time. It’s important that you’re comfortable with the number you’re seeking.
#2 Determine exactly what you are willing to give in return for the money you desire. It’s the old you don’t get something for nothing philosophy. This is actually a great way to help let go of your limiting beliefs about money particularly if they relate to money being inherently bad. What would you do if you achieved the monetary goals you’ve set forth? Will you donate a specific amount to charity each year? Will you volunteer your time? Will you employ people and offer a great salary and benefits package? What are you willing to put out there?
#3 Establish a specific date for receiving or earning the money goal you’ve established. Tomorrow, right? You’d like that six million dollars tomorrow, please. Okay, now step back and consider what may be more reasonable. Not too reasonable mind you, you probably don’t want to set your goal 20 years in the future however 12 months isn’t unreasonable is it? Neither is six months, or even three.
#4 Carry out a plan to begin – Mr. Hill recommends taking action whether you are ready or not. You can’t spend your life planning, it’ll just pass you by. So how are you going to make this money? What’s going to happen or change in your life to make it happen? Are you going to write the next Harry Potter? Are you going to develop a software product or game that sells out all over the world? What skills, talents, and knowledge do you have, or you have access to, to make it happen?
#5 & #6 Create a written statement for the first four actions described above and then read it aloud twice a day. Once when you’ve just woken up and once before you go to bed.
This process as it was laid out by Napoleon Hill in 1937 and supported by wealth coaches, personal coaches, professional coaches and mentors all around the world, may seem a bit simplistic at first glance. However, upon implementing it you will see it has a very powerful effect on not only your attitude but your motivation as well.
Visualization is a technique that successful people in all walks of life utilize to improve and to achieve their desired results. It doesn’t matter if you’re a stay at home parent who aspires to build a six figure business or an Olympic athlete – visualization and establishing a desire to achieve are a necessary first step to real success and wealth.
An economic downturn matters. Of course it does. However, where there’s the desire to succeed, where there’s openness to success, wealth, and the power of opportunity, there’s a real chance to profit – desire is the first step.
What do you think about the current economic conditions? Leave your comments here
