More Forecasts of Recessions and Gloom

The media is full of doom and gloom again. They talk of a double dip recession, public spending cuts and the like. I am noticing (again) an increase in negativity and despair among business people. For sure there will be tough times ahead, but when was that ever not so? We all have a choice. We can either focus on our circle of concern, i.e that which concerns us, but over which we have no control; or we can choose to focus on our circle of influence; In other words those things that we can control. Focussing on the circle of concern will cause us worry, frustration and anxiety. Things in this area are things like, the rate of inflation, the government, the weather, the strength of the pound, interest rates, my competitors actions and the pundits forecasts. Thankfully, all of us have an area of influence, which includes things like our attitude, our skills, our knowledge, (all about who we are), the service we provide our clients, our value proposition, our selling skills and our ability to build relationships (what we do). I guarantee that by focussing on our area of influence we will assume more and more influence over the results we have and build an immunity to the those things we can’t control.

Action Steps

List the top 5 things about who you are right now that you can influence and commit to doing something about them.

List the top 5 things that you and your business are doing (or not doing) right now that you can influence and commit to doing something about them.

As someone once said “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. Life is about learning to dance in the rain”