What If There’s A Silver Lining To This Economic Cloud
August 27, 2009 by Jen Groover
Filed under Career
That’s right. According to many independent studies conducted by some of the world’s most influential and progressive nations, it’s our personal relationships (not overall financial prosperity) that have the most profound effect on our happiness. This, however, is not a case of spreading a mountain of sweet-butter on a horribly burned roll so as to create the illusion of edibility. This is what I truly believe.
I believe that this recession can and will be a needed catalyst to help return us to sane and sustainable lifestyles while reintroducing us to ourselves and our core values. Many in this nation have lost their true identity in a drunken haze of irresponsibility and excessive material gratification, stemming from our ever increasingly embraced mantras of “more” and “now”.
The party had to end. And the sooner we get the hangover over-with, the sooner we can recover, reorganize, reprioritize, and reestablish our economy and our place in the global market. My heart breaks for those who will lose lifelong jobs and suffer severe financial hardships in the wake of this collapse for they are the real victims of this mess. But I also can’t help but feel that the more time we will now be spending with friends and family will build us back into more centered, more rational, and more appreciative people. And from a business perspective, just as some markets die or dwindle, others will be created or grow. As entrepreneurs we not only know but we embrace the fact that one door never closes without another opening. There will still be money to be spent. It will just be spent in other channels. Throughout history, from recession has come growth.
What excites me the most about this time is that innovation and ingenuity will again take center stage as those who can create products and services that can entertain and be used and enjoyed inexpensively by the whole family, will build strong and profitable businesses (have board game manufacturers ever been so excited?). Innovation and ingenuity should always be pillars of our culture, celebrated and embraced more than a pair of Jimmy Choos.
As we stand on the cusp of this great new unknown, we have a choice. Do we see it as a challenge and evolve or as a curse and wither? I know what my answer is as well as what most other entrepreneurs’ answer is. And I’m moving my chips to the center of the table on the bet that the rest of America is ready too.
Why Not…
Why not approach this new reality with a fresh set of eyes and ideas? Success (and survival for that matter) is a mindset. If you think of yourself as defeated, you surely will be.
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