It’s amazing to me that THE ECONOMY we all hear so much about is simply the sum total of the personal financial dealings, habits, issues, and realities of the estimated 6 billion people on this planet.
So often we are caught waiting for “something to happen” or for “someone to do something” that would help THE ECONOMY along. Some are wishing we had Reagan back, surely he would do some magic Jedi mind trick on the left and make them all right. Others (and I can’t believe I’m one of them) would take Bubba (Bill Clinton) back in a heart beat if it meant that Bama would stop promoting his socialist agenda.
All of us are waiting for the rates to go down to 0% and most believe that at some point they’ll go to 20%. And we can’t wait to see if the stock market hasn’t finally been killed for good.
We are all waiting. We’re looking to someone else or something else to “do something.” We spend a lot of our time looking around anxiously.
What a waste of time!
I have come up with several things each one of us could do to stimulate THE ECONOMY by stimulating our own economy. In fact, this is the only way it will happen. There has never been a better time.
Stocks, homes and rates are at all-time low prices. Invest!
The cost of living has declined in almost every area. Save more!
The unemployment numbers are higher now than they have been in a while. Give more!
Consider these other ideas as well:
1. Read a few books this year. Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. John Bogle’s Enough. Or Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind are three really good ones. They will give you practical help to see things that you can’t currently see and make changes that will add to your life and the lives of others.
2. Mentor someone, teach someone, counsel someone – a younger person or a colleague that is behind you in years. Make intentional efforts to use your talents to help others. Do this in humility and not with arrogance, and you will be blessed as will others.
3. Give money away. This is not a magic act. If you give, you are not sowing financial seeds that will bring you a 100-fold financial harvest. But it is a good reminder when we give that we are wealthy and that there are so many in the world that live without so much of what we take for granted. When we give regularly, we are more easily satisfied with what we have.
4. Change a work habit, activity, focus area, etc. This is easier for some than others. Ask for a new task. Ask to learn a new area or skill. Offer to help another department or division if you can help them over your lunch or after hours. My most recent new task has been to write regularly. I’ve been doing it off and on for a year, but recently I’ve decided to develop the skill and write every week. This has been a great challenge with even greater rewards. Oh, and don’t ask to be paid more for it. Just do it.
5. Sit down and set two new goals for your future. If you still have consumer debt, make one of them to pay off your credit cards, car loan, student loan, whatever. Decide to finally do it in the next 12 to 24 months. Live free of the attachment to the past by eliminating the payments associate with your past purchases.
What you do this year will make a difference in the Lansing area, Michigan, The Country and the World.
Be part of what we’re all looking for to turn this thing around.