How To Win In Today's Economy (And Tomorrow's)

In competitive sports, defense is important but offense wins the game! You can have the best defense in the world, but if the offense can't score any points you will never win.

The popular media continues to provide daily reminders of the economic woes, job losses, home foreclosures, stock crashes, etc., etc., etc. If you only listen to these stories, it's easy to fall into a defense mode. You scale back and hunker down for the inevitable crash. By doing this, you are essentially inviting failure and loss into your life. You lose focus on the opportunities and see only the problems. You have no momentum. You stagnate. You begin to feel helpless. Your perception shifts to continually seeing the evidence that supports the bad things that seem to be surrounding you. You no longer see the good and abundance that is everywhere.

How do you push past this? How can you switch to offense?

You need to change your mindset and change the input (what information you let in). You can't control the economy, but you can control how you view it. The following list provides tips that can help you move forward:

• Search for positive messages and examples of people who are thriving right now (or who have thrived in past economic downturns). Focus on opportunity, not problems. SUCCESS Magazine is a great place to read positive stories (online or in print).
• Quit listening to the mainstream media and start focusing on positive stories of success and achievement. Don't watch TV news and be careful what you read online or in newspapers.
• Don't cower and wait for things to get better; take positive action to find ways to make it better for you right now! Don't fall in the trap of thinking "I'll do it when..." or "As soon as xyz happens, then I'll ...".
• Be creative. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got. You need to change things. Start mixing up your routine to get out of a rut and start blazing a new trail. This will lead to new thinking and new ideas.
• If something you perceive as negative happens, say "that's good" and then write down all the reasons why. For example, if you lose your job think about the potential benefits...you didn't like the job, there was no advancement, it's an opportunity to learn new skills, you may be able to change careers to something you've always wanted to do, you can spend more time with your family, you have time to exercise and get in shape while you search for a new opportunity, etc. Yes, losing your job is typically not a great thing but focusing on the potential good will keep your in a better mindset to move forward.
• Realize that money is just a tool. Don't focus on a lack of money or a need for money. Focus on what you do that provides value. You are compensated for the value and service that you provide; therefore you should focus on what you can DO, not what you can GET.
• Forget about all the things you can't do and instead think about what you can do! Don't waste time making excuses.
• Learn new skills to make yourself more valuable in the marketplace. Be willing to do those things that other people avoid. Build a reputation as a "can do, will do, go to" person.
• Take full accountability and responsibility for everything that happens in your life. This will give you control over any situation and prevents wasting time and energy playing the blame game.

Information is free; but not applying what you learn can be very costly! Don't let fear stand in your way. You already know what you need to do to ensure a great future. Start playing offense today and guarantee yourself a winning life!

Scott Thomas

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