Blame for the Recesssion

We live in a society that loves to blame others for our own ills. Can you believe that one of the most popular searches on Google is "blame for the recession."

Given the magnitude of the economic meltdown, there is plenty of blame to go around.

It is fashionable to blame "greedy wall streeters." But, greedy wall streeters could not have pulled this off were the rest of society not acting equally greedy.

Much of society was looking to be quick millionaires by leveraging up and hoping that asset values would rise quicker than debt costs. As a result, many were susceptible to all manner of scams, from outright frauds like Madoff to less benign investment schemes.

And, Washington politicians and bureaucrats did little if anything to stop us from our excesses. On either side of the aisle!

The better Google search might be "who doesn't share some of the blame for this economic meltdown."

But, what I can't figure out is why assigning blame is really important.

If you are fortunate enough to have a job, seems to make more sense to focus on saving your job.

If you have lost your job, seems to make the most sense to focus on finding a job.

How we got here is somewhat important so as to learn from the past. But, more important is for each person to quickly get on with self-rescue. Quickly!

Regular readers of this blog know that I believe that the sooner one embraces the recession, the sooner one will be on the road to prosperity.

Recession vs Depression

With the announcement each day of the latest bad news about the economy, it is only natural that many are beginning to wonder whether we are entering a depression.

I am not sure it makes a big difference what the economists want to call it. I get absolutely no comfort that some would emphatically suggest that we are not in a depression and that it is "only" a recession.

I am reminded of that very old sick "joke" about the difference between a recession and a depression. A recession is when your neighbor can't find a job. A depression is when you can't find a job.

As I travel the country serving my consulting clients, I am seeing a level of pain that I have not seen in my lifetime. And, my analysis of market factors for my clients has me convinced that this downturn will be long and deep, a belief I have stated here often since the inception of this blog last year.

Even the Fed, which is cautious about exacerbating the problem through negative talk, is now publicly reporting they expect this downturn to be a multi-year event.

Call it what you want. My bottom line is that I believe strongly that the sooner one repositions oneself to prosper in the downturn, the sooner one will experience prosperity.

Let the pundits debate whether it is a recession or a depression. Put your energy into crafting and then executing a plan for prospering in tough times.

Heck, it will be easy enough to go back to your good times plan when the good times eventually come.

Not Partcipating in the Recession

Regular readers of this blog, who don't otherwise know me, have likely concluded that I am someone with a very positive attitude. And as you might expect, one of the keys to such an attitude is too surround oneself with other can-do types.

As a result of the quality and nature of the people who are closest to me, I am frequently hearing the mantra that I am "not participating in the recession."

I love when I hear a friend, or for that matter anyone, express this attitude. But, I have grown leery about how some who express this view will do in the length and deep downturn I am on record as expecting.

I have come to recognize two types who are expressing this mantra. One type is espousing the mantra but doing little to adjust to meet changing circumstances. The other type has this correct attitude AND a solid action plan for adjusting to the changing times.

Reminds me of the Law of Attraction division. There are those that put their full faith in the concept, but expend little effort to make things happen. Then, there are those that have the faith and the right actions. For the latter types, the Law of Attraction does provide results.

Merely saying you are not participating in the recession is unlikely to lead to prosperity. Coupling that attitude with the right changes will lead to prosperity.

So, what about you? Are you participating in the recession? Or, have you decided to not participate? And if you have decided not to participate, do you have the action plan and requisite commitment to make the changes necessary to prosper in these tough times?

I am hoping that each of my friends are in the latter category. As I hope that you are!

Protect Job in Bad Times

With every new announcement of layoffs, it becomes ever more important that if you have a job, you should protect yourself...best that you can...from losing your job.

One of the most popular of my blog posts was a post on 5 Tips for Saving Your Job, published back in October of last year. Recently, I came across an excellent book on the subject by executive recruiter Stephen Viscusi. Bulletproof Your Job can make the difference between having a job and being a part of the tragic rising unemployment statistics.

I expect that some employers will be reading this thoughtful book with the thought of using it as a template for the higher expectations they can have of employees in this labor market. Which means this is book is a must read for anyone with a job.

What is fascinating to me is to think of the higher productivity that could be achieved in this country if Viscusi's recommendations became the norm for the behavior of employees.