Lately the majority of the media and some politicians have talked over and over about how bad the economy is.  They feed on each other’s comments and replay the same negative quotes repeatedly.  It also feeds people’s fears and focuses our attention on the negative and what’s bad about the economy until it’s all people are talking about – what’s wrong, the threats, and what is not possible.

I’d like to offer a different perspective:

The U. S. Department of Labor reported that in April 2009 the unemployment rate was 8.9 percent.  The combined unemployment and underemployment rate for that month was reported as 15.8 percent.

During the depression of last century the unemployment rate was 25 percent.  We don’t know what the combined unemployment and underemployment rate was – they weren’t measuring underemployment back then.

So let’s look at these statistics from another perspective:  The employment rate during the depression was 75 percent, meaning 75 percent of people who could work were working at some job.

In April 2009, the comparable statistic was 91 percent.  Considering the unemployed and underemployed together, the number of people working in the U.S. in April was 84 percent.  This number represented our potential to achieve, which is still promising.

The economy runs, to a great extent, on the confidence of individuals that if they invest their money in themselves, their property, their business and their savings, their wealth will grow.  It is when people like you and I become gripped by fear and withdraw – our energy, our enthusiasm, our brain power, our hope and our resources – that the economy continues to contract.  If we continually focus on what’s wrong with the situation, we don’t leave much time and energy for creating new possibilities for economic success.

Get Into Action 
You can leverage what you know and do in new, creative ways:

• Connect with fellow entrepreneurs in ways that spark new approaches to what you offer.
• Affiliate with entrepreneurs who are not direct competitors.  Refer business to each other for a small affiliate fee.  As long as you are doing this for a colleague whose work you know and trust, this is ethical and helpful to the customer, as well.
• Joint venture with another business to bring fresh products or innovative services to the public. 

All these strategies are win-win-win – good for you, good for your fellow entrepreneur, and good for the greater community.  Keep your mind focused on the abundance you do enjoy – remember that what you focus on expands and when you write down your goals you are more likely to achieve them.  Brainstorm it, envision it and do it!

If you would like more information on how this leveraging works, contact my team at info@RobustLifeCoaching.com.