What I did on my Recession

I had a meeting this week with someone who wanted consulting about how to set up the sales side of the new company she was launching with a partner. We got to talking about what people do when the economy isn’t what they wish it was…and how some either go back to school or they start a business. There are uncountable stories of companies that started in an economic downturn and have become some of the most successful in history.

She said starting her new business was what she was going to do in ‘her recession’…sort of like “what I did on my summer vacation”.

Yeah….Vacation! Recess! I like them both! As a matter of fact, recess was my favorite subject in school.

Remember what happened at recess time when you were a kid in grade school? All of the classes got out at the same time in the morning and afternoon and everyone ran outside. We got out of our desks (stillness – sort of), became VERY active, played collaborative games, made friends, touched, pushed, fought, made up, created teams, picked the best players to have us win (aka: A Team), won, lost, figured out a better plan, and the list goes on. Who couldn’t look forward to recess?!

I just checked to see what Webster’s New World Dictionary had to say about the technical difference or commonality between ‘recess’ and ‘recession’.

Recess: A temporary withdrawal from or halting of work, business, study, etc.

Recession: A temporary falling off of business activity during a period when such activity has been generally increasing.

Commonality: “Temporary”. What do you suppose is the reason we didn’t want recess to end and we can’t wait for recession to end? Could it be that we knew we only had 15 minutes for recess and had to pack all of our fun in….yet we have no idea when the end of the recession will be? What if we didn’t have any idea as kids when the end of recess would be, our teachers never called us in and we could play all day…do you think it would still have been as much fun?

That leads me to wonder: How about deciding on when the end of your recession is going to be? Being in the middle of the Baby Boom generation, I personally don’t know someone who hasn’t had a “recession” of their very own….at least once.

Just yesterday, one of my friends, Mr. Gloom, called to say that he’s not sure that the economy has tanked yet….it’s going to be much worse. I told him to just shut off the media. I explained that I don’t know a single person over the age of 40 that hasn’t had at least one “crisis” that hasn’t affected him or her financially in some way. Heck – 50% of marriages end up in divorce and for many of the (esp. moms) raising the kids, it’s much more than a financial hiccup. How many people have huge daycare expenses, medical bills, care for aging parents, had a job loss, an accident, a legal issue, a business concern or were forced to move for some reason? That’s almost everyone I know! Did their personal family circumstance make the news everyday? Come on!

I also informed Mr. Gloom that people I know recover because at times like that, they reinvent themselves and figure something else out. The difference in what is going on now is there are a number of people that may have not had their own personal recession before, or possibly didn’t recognized it if they had a safety net, or this one is being stacked on a previous one, or maybe now their illusion of a safety net is gone. I’ve been saying since the early 1990’s that everyone is self-employed, they just don’t know it – yet. Now more people are coming to that conclusion, which is very cool. Personal responsibility, compassion and collaborative ways to do things always shift at times like this.

Mr. Gloom understood agreed that he, like me, has had a share of recessions when the rest of the world didn’t. We’ve also made decent money when our country was having a recession. That is very common in my circles, and I don’t think my friends and colleagues are anomalies. Many of them simply think for themselves and don’t buy into the fear-based thinking of the masses. That’s why I like them.

The difference is they also know, that like recess, their personal recession is temporary. Why not decide when yours is going to be done? Be creative. Attract your A team. Decide what game you want to play, get some friends together and go win! Our country and world could use you to be inspired … and in turn, inspire!

Blessings….

Cindy

Comments

[Brooke]

Cindy - WOW! This is a good one. It really helps me to feel positive and not negative in all of this.

I appreciated your thoughts, ideas and wisdom! Keep 'em coming!