Coping Successfully with a Downturn – Personal Considerations


Con Hurley Portugal 2009


Six areas to focus on.

- Mental Attitude
- Mental Health
- Physical Health
- Personal Finance
- Life Plan
- Happiness

Mental Attitude


Focus on Solutions.

This is a critically important mindset. Most people focus on the problems associated with this downturn. It’s easy to dwell on the collapse in share prices, the wet weather and low profits and incomes, issues which are all outside of our control. Yet many people spend time and energy moaning and groaning about them.

Far better to:
Acknowledge these facts and manage the consequences they have on your lives and businesses.
Focus on solutions. A great question to ask in any situation is: ‘What is my ideal outcome?’ This will lead to goals, solutions and positive actions.

Seek Positivity – Avoid Negativity

The aim here is to take control over what enters our heads, mainly from other people and the media. The objective is to place barriers against negative inputs and actively seek and cultivate positive inputs. The contrast is like having a rotting apple emitting ethylene gas that causes other apples to rot as against sitting in a bath with relaxing aromas coming from the Radox. So, turn off the ethylene and pour in the Radox!

Avoid Negativity

People – you are in constant contact with other people through work, social and family occasions. As a general rule, ignore and avoid people who are moaners, groaners and knockers. They emit the negative ethylene gas that rots your mind and thoughts.
It is easy to deal with strangers and casual acquaintances – just walk away and avoid them. It is more difficult when in conversation with friends. The trick here is to subtly re-direct the conversation to positive matters. This is a skill worth learning.
It is much more difficult with very close friends and family members. Again, try to steer the conversation to more positive matters. More than that …. Well, I’m open to experiences and suggestions!

Media – newspapers, radio news and TV have become peddlers of negativity on a huge scale. And, many people have become addicted to the constant need for news – or what passes for news.
However, you have a choice as to what you take in from the media. Choose what you want to watch, hear and read. Do you need to watch the news three times a day? Do you need to read a paper from cover to cover? In fact, do you need to read a paper every day? Do you need to overdose on a surfeit of negative news?
Make decisions. Decide what you will watch, listen to and read in order to keep tabs on what you need to know and understand about what is happening. Decide how much and how often. Make this decision and these choices on how much ‘news’ you need to take in. Put your self in control over what enters your head!

Seek Positivity

People – actively seek the company and conversation of positive people. Seek out people who emit the life enhancing ‘Radox’ signals. This includes people who are realistic about the negative consequences of what happens – but focus on solutions and ideal outcomes instead of dwelling on the problems.
Network with family members, buddies, friends and groups that are positive. Go to group meetings, get on the ‘phone, meet for coffee etc etc. Create the opportunities for positive interaction.

Media – select uplifting and inspiring films, documentaries and stories from TV, DVD and cinema. Read similar books both fiction and non-fiction.

Humour – laugh often and long. Do so with friends. Watch funny films like Father Ted and Fawlty Towers – what are your favourites? Go to plays and comedy presentations.

This too shall pass!

Life and business consists of a recurring series of cycles. In business, boom follows bust and bears chase the bulls on Wall Street. In nature, there are the seasons – winter, spring, summer and autumn following naturally, predictably but not always cleanly after each other.
Economically, we are currently in a sort of winter, which we know will pass, and spring will follow. So, think of the downturn as a ‘winter’ that will pass. There are better times ahead!
Chinese version of a crisis.

The Chinese symbol for crisis is in two parts – which I can’t write properly - but here is an artistic impression – actually they are Arabic symbols:

ξ ڮ

where

ξ = danger

and

ڮ = opportunity

The Chinese recognise that there is both opportunity and danger in any crisis. The important point is that if you focus on the negative consequences of a downturn (danger) then that’s most likely what you will experience. However, while dealing with the negative consequences under your control, you can choose to focus on opportunities that may arise. And, they will!
(I’d be very grateful if anyone could send me in Word format the real Chinese symbols)

Reframe.
'
This means looking at the situation from another perspective. Mary Ann O'Brien put it well when she said we are in the‘pre-boom' period. Try saying this instead of recession or downturn and experience how you feel and think. Then think of other ways to reframe the word downturn.

Mental Health

Separate the downturn from your ‘self’. Never, never describe yourself as ‘I am a failure’ because of what is happening. The share market may have collapsed, house prices reduced and farm/business profits under pressure but these are the consequences of many factors – not just your decisions and actions. And, when you took these decisions and actions, your intentions were for the best – to make good investments and increase profits. You did not set out to fail – in fact nobody ever does.
So what you see happening, what you are experiencing are the results and consequences of many factors. Instead of self-blame or guilt the better mental approach is to:

- accept the current situation as it is
- manage what is under your control
- set new goals

Ask Great Questions. The answers we get depend on the questions we ask. Much of the time you do not verbalise or consciously experience asking questions. But your mind is always asking questions, which you experience as feelings and self talk in your head. In the present situation, great questions include:

- What can I learn from this?
- What would I do differently the next time?
- What is good about this?
- What am I grateful for?

Think of some other great questions you could ask.

Feeling down, depressing?

Despite all the advice and efforts to be positive, you may still feel down and may start depressing. Note, I said depressing, not depressed or ‘my depression’. This distinction is a bit controversial, but, from what I have read and learnt, I believe that it is natural for people to depress in order to cope with crisis situations. You may be feeling down, lacking in energy, irritable or not sleeping well. These are signs that you may be depressing.
OK, that’s nothing to be ashamed of – just do something about it.

Share your problems with someone you can talk openly with. This could be your spouse, sibling, friend or someone else. Importantly, it must be someone who will:

- Listen sympathetically
- Be non-judgemental
- Help you find your solutions – not theirs.
- Not wallow in the problem with you!

Ask someone you know well and trust to keep an eye on you, to watch out for signs of mental health symptoms.
Take time out. Take a holiday, even a short one such as a weekend away in pleasant surroundings.
Seek professional help – doctor, psychotherapist, life coach. Be careful before going down the medication route. Some doctors are too ready to prescribe anti-depressants. They may well be appropriate in some situations. But before you go ‘on the pill’ get a professional that will talk with you, especially a psychologist or counsellor that uses positive psychology or a life coach, whose job it is to focus on solutions.


Grow
A downturn – or is it a pre-boom period –presents a marvellous opportunity for personal growth. Set a personal goal to come through it a stronger person. Some options:

Learn lessons from what has and is happening. This is valuable information for being in far better shape mentally, physically and financially for the next downturn.
Record these learnings and other thoughts and plans in a Personal Learning Journal. This is an A5 size hard cover book – see Chapter 4, Yes I Can.
Read books that focus on personal growth and development. There is a list on your WCC notes and also in my book.
Get your discussion group to focus on personal development in at least one of your meetings. Perhaps they could also review a good personal development book.
Sign up for some courses that interest you. Learn a language, study archaeology, whatever. Courses will broaden your interests and, very importantly, you will meet new people.
Get back to some of your hobbies – adventure, woodwork, gardening, surfing, cooking, building model railways – whatever. Hobbies are a great way for taking time for yourself doing something that you love doing.


Physical Health

Stay fit

Exercise

Eat sensibly

Beware of overindulgence in alcohol and other addictive habits. These are a form of escapism from problems that will still be there when the hangover is gone. Alcohol, drugs and gambling are the road to hell!

Personal Finance

While the following is all about personal finance – bread and butter on the table and so on – it will help you develop a mindset that will give you courage and confidence when dealing with your business financial affairs.

Many self-employed people – businessmen, professionals and farmers – have no clear-cut distinction between business and personal finances. In my view this is wrong! And, in my experience, it really hits home when the business comes under pressure and the home runs short of money.
So, if you have not already done so, set up a completely separate system to manage your personal finance from your business/professional finances. This means setting up a household current account, chequebook, cards etc.

Cut spending on non-essentials. Do this by:

Defining what are your needs (essential) and wants/luxuries (non-essentials. Your needs are what are essential for you and your family to live on. You can live without the wants and luxuries.
Ask this question every time you put your hand in your pocket or reach for the credit card: ‘Do I really need this?’ Make this a habit.
Construct an annual personal spending budget based on your needs – OK, with maybe a few wants put in! Break this budget down to monthly and weekly spends.
Get a small notebook and record all your spending. Keep it in your pocket so that you can enter your spending as you spend on newspapers, coffees, food etc. Itemise each spend. Add up every week and compare with your budget.

Shop around. There are plenty of cut-price offers and bargains.

Set up a completely separate deposit account for emergencies and fluctuations in income. Call this the Comfort Kitty or Security Account. Aim to have enough money to cover 6 – 12 months’ living costs in this account. This will give you great peace of mind.

Calculate your total net worth. You may get a pleasant surprise!

Personal Life Plan

Do you have a life plan? Not necessarily something set in stone but a set of goals that reflect your values and what is really important to you in life. If you don’t have one then get a copy of ‘Yes I Can’ and develop one in your Personal Learning Journal.

If you do have a Life Plan, re-evaluate it in light of your present circumstances. Look at your definition of success in life and challenge it. You may need to redefine it or it may stand up.

Define what is really important for you in life – your important areas of life. Set goals in each area and get the balance right.

Spend some time thinking about your career and work. Irrespective of the downturn, do you really love what you are doing? If the answer is yes, great, just keep at it. If the answer is no or in doubt, you need to discover what you life passion and purpose is. A life coach will be very helpful here as will reading some books that cover these topics.

LifeTime Management. How am I spending my time? Am I giving time to things that really matter and give me encouragement and inspiration? Or am I spending time on things that pull me down and matter a lot less?

Happiness

At the end of the day – downturn or pre-boom – we all seek happiness as our highest goal. Here are three questions worth asking and thinking deeply about.

What is my definition of happiness? Write it down in your Personal Learning Journal.

Does my happiness depend on the external circumstances of my life?

Is there another definition of happiness, an internal one that is virtually independent of life’s circumstances?

Here are some good books to help you explore these questions:

Happiness for No Reason – Marci Shimoff
Be happy and Happiness Now – Robert Holden
Happiness – Mathieu Ricard
Yes I Can - Con Hurley