This economic recession is a game- and life-changer. So was the so-called Great Depression. For many, that downturn shaped the character of what Tom Brokaw called The Greatest Generation. Others couldn’t cope.
How can we each use this recession to grow — so that the richness of the our lives grows even when our resources may be contracting?
There are two errors I see people making. One is obvious – being a victim of circumstances. ”The economy won’t let me do anything, you aren’t helping, there are no jobs, I’m giving up.”
But the flip side is also an error: ”I’m going to muscle through, this recession won’t stop me from succeeding on my own terms!” That aggressive courage sounds brave at first, but it doesn’t prepare you to adjust and adapt to the reality in front of you. You can end up burned out from bravado and positive thinking, and disappointed at your results.
We take to these extremes when our world shifts. It’s human to look for something to hang on to, but both positions see the recession as a crisis. I am arguing that it’s an opportunity.
That’s what I mean by recession-proof thinking – thinking that is not reacting defensively to external forces, but coming from the best of who we are. Thinking that makes us more, and better, and improves our families and the world around us.
How do you do this when you are scared about your future?
I’ve written elsewhere on this blog (and here too) (in the height of the financial crisis) on this subject. Like everyone else, my thinking has evolved. I have more to say.
First – make sure you actively increase your resources to cope with stress. Take care of yourself, reach out to others, and keep yourself productive no matter what. (See this blog post for more depth here).
But right now, I think is the ideal recession proof strategy is becoming your own boss.
There is nothing like becoming the CEO of your own destiny to grow as a person. I was astonished, when I started my first business nearly 20 years ago, at how much my world enlarged. I loved it so much that I became VP for Entreprenerial Programs at the National Women’s Business Center, an SBA-funded program, where I could help others (men and women) be successful and fulfilled.
I still get chills when I see women and men who came through our Center adding employees, writing books, creating new lines of business, winning awards — mastering the life of an entrepreneur.
And I don’t necessarily mean abandoning your job. Or putting all your eggs in one business. I really mean creating “multiple streams of income.”
In the 5 years since I left that position, Web 2.0 has exploded. The tools to run a small enterprise (and create a good life for yourself) are at your fingertips. And the model of “social business,” of using business to improve society, is flourishing. I get chills too when I read that Tata Motors in India has created a car (and financing) that the world’s poor can afford. It’s the same chills I got when I met Muhammad Yunus who started banking for the poor and has materially changed life for millions of his fellow Bangladeshis (and others around the world).
The world is full opportunity. Where you sit, with your background, skills, passions, and desire to grow – you can use entrepreneurship to create an expansive life while you bolster your finances. The Greatest Generation may be the one that is born of these challenging times. Are you game to make it so? 
{ 19 comments }
WONDERFUL!! Well said. No one ever makes it up to the top of the mountain by just dreaming about it!
Well said!! This is the same philosophy that we try and get our government contracting clients to embrace. Multiple revenue streams, adaptability, and most important –courage, which will help people and companies not only survive, but to thrive in these challenging economic times.
Looking forward to future insights.
Sue, Great article!
I agree that staying positive is so important especially during these challenging times. And its not always easy. And sometimes not even possible when faced with the fear of losing your job, your home and everything you’ve worked for. I am empathic to the plight of the people in Detroit and elsewhere faced with job layoffs, etc.
However those who do as you suggest have a much greater chance of coming out ahead in the long run. I still remember when Eastern Airlines went under. South Florida was in mourning as so many people were let go. Just last week I spoke with a former pilot who turned his life around, looked for what was needed in the community and started a plant rental and maintenance company (one of the first in the area). Today his business is thriving and because he knew how to deal with the first wave of adversity he has been able to plan for what we are again experiencing.
Thanks for a great article. Love reading your thoughts. Just tweeted about it too!
Warmest regards,
Heidi Richards Mooney, Publisher
WE magazine for Women – http://www.WEMagazineforWomen.com
I agree that becoming your own boss, in any of several ways, is the way to go right now. If you can’t actually quit your job (provided your lucky enough to still have one!), you can begin to think of yourself as an independent contractor in that position and perhaps begin to shift your workload toward areas you receive the greatest fulfillment from AND that best serve your employer. Thinking of yourself as your own boss, even if you directly report to someone else, can be a portal to taking more control of your career and thinking more creatively about the skills you want to use and the services you want to provide. And, as you suggest, technology is reducing the number of gatekeepers–we can now do for ourselves things we used to have to get permission to do (such as publish a book or produce a music CD)–and making it so that we can work from almost anywhere in the world any time of the day or night. We are at the front of a wave that will change the way we work, and live, forever. May as well get creative and enjoy the ride!
You make so many great points here. This one stands out for me in particular: “You can end up burned out from bravado and positive thinking, and disappointed at your results.” I agree that this is not a time to “muscle through”. It’s a time to question our thinking and get creative. We must think in new ways about our approach to life and to business if we want to be among the ones who thrive.
In the 90’s William Bridges wrote a book called Job Shift in which he talked about the “job” as an artifact of the industrial revolution. While jobs as we have defined them won’t go away anytime soon, I think you point to the need to change the context in which we relate to a “job” (and ourselves) whether we have one or are looking for one.
The decision to go it alone is not to be taken lightly. It takes a special breed to step beyond the edge of security and safety into the world of the unknown. How much have you invested in educating yourself is one of the first questions to ask. In any business situation there is risk, the antidote to risk is information. The more information you have, the less risk. Learn what you don’t know about starting a business before taking the step.
From one Susan to another – thank you for this post! I couldn’t agree more with what you are saying here. The way I see it, we are in the midst of a Renaissance, and just as the Renaissance period in history unleashed a bevy of new artists, thinkers and doers, this time, I believe will too.
I am a firm believer in the mindset that there has never been a better time for an entrepreneur to find their footing and not just because I help make it happen for them, but because I know from my own experiences that people are pulling together and are more open to new challenges, inspiration and ideas than in recent history. As you mention, web 2.0 philosophy is one fulfillment of our need to connect, to imagine new solutions for complex problems, to grow — and to do it all together.
I think a saying that I heard once sums it up best: “we cannot wait for the storm to pass, we must learn to work in the rain”…I think that is what all entrepreneurs or people who want to become entrepreneurs are doing – -learning to not only work in the rain, but thrive!
Great post, Susan!
Kristine, I agree. for many years I have been advising family, friends and colleagues that they are their own “corporation”. They need to conceive of their relationship with their employers (if they have one) as a business relationship between two business entities or two trading nations. It is only interesting if it is mutually beneficial, and it is prudent to understand the limits of what the other side can and will offer. It’s the individual’s responsibility to manage their career and their relationship with each employer.
This is not a pessimistic perspective (though some still living under the fantasy that companies take care of them may feel that it is), but a liberating one. You’re in charge to act in your own best interest and answer the call of your aspirations. Always been true, never been truer.
Great post, Susan! Love your thinking! I agree that this is a time of fertile opportunity… we have been given the invitation to create NEW structures that allow for more opportunity, creatvity and life! Keep up the great work
Gary, I couldn’t agree with you more when you say:
“Learn what you don’t know about starting a business before taking the step.”
If there ever was a time when it is important to learn about entrepreneurship, it is now. There are more resources — and easier access to them — than ever before.
That being said ….. there is a lot to learn. And much of the learning is very subtle. Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes 10,000 hours to truly master a skill…and documents time and again in Outliers that the kids who grow up to be entrepreneurs weren’t born knowing everything — they put in those hours learning their trade. (Part of my learning was going on sales calls with my dad when I was as young as 5 years old.)
Where to start? Read blogs, raise money for a charity, be an unpaid intern in a business, sell on eBay, read Inc., go to networking events — but start!
I think some people forgot how they once waited in cars with their parents for hours during an oil crisis. They emerged from it and went on to buy gas guzzling SUV’s. So this is yet another reality check that even ‘Super Powers’ are not immune from anything. Every now and again we all need a good detox so that we can let all the bad stuff out and make room for the good stuff to come in.
As for pursuing an entrepreneurial path. Micro businesses and self-employed individuals seeking a good living wage are going to rebuild this economy without a doubt. They will come up with smart niche businesses, not be greedy and not have a lot of overhead. Now more than ever is the time to start a business.
And regardless if you work for yourself or someone else having an entrepreneurial mindset is critical. That is what determines your ultimate quality of life or lack thereof. So even for those who opt not to start a business, just getting out there and going to some professional networking events will at least get you excited and teach you how to craft your ‘elevator pitch’, identify your unique talents and see what is happening out there in the marketplace.
Those who have business background and strong entrepreneurial skills are comfortable with operating with minimal resources. They are making it right now and they are hopeful. They know how to take what they have to build a bridge and get over it. It is when you have the bare necessities that you evolve out of your ‘comfort zone’ and come up with your most genius ideas. I think the ‘recession’ is good. It brings everyone back to a level playing field and the most determined will rise above and lead.
Indeed I am feeling somewhat relieved that I am leading the next group of SOCIALLY conscious thought leaders and entrepreneurs and hope to see their impact in forthcoming years on the other extreme.
@teenbizcoach
I just finished drinking a high octane caffeine drink. So I just noticed my last comment was all over the place, hah, hah.
I basically wanted to say that entrepreneurship is a lot like life in that everything comes down to 2 choices:
a proactive choice or a reactive one.
A proactive choice means you are in control of the situation (you reflect and think through the situation . You take the welfare and well-being of others into consideration).
A reactive choice means the situation is in control of you (you are in over your head and selfishly put yourself and others at risk of potential harm whether it be emotionally or physically). It is a lot more risk involved. It’s ok when it works in your favor…but most times it doesn’t.
The idea is to make a lot more proactive choices in your life so that you will not be living in a constant state of fear or worry. So the situation that each of us are in today, we are equally responsible for (given our naivety about certain things) as much as those who put us in the situation in the first place. In the future people need read the fine print, educate themselves and slow down to the speed of life.
Susan,
As usual, articulate and right to the heart of the matter! This post is important because it points us to action yet reminds us of potential mines in the minefield so that we can prepare and avoid or deal with them. “Muscling through” can work for a while but adopting a mindset to adjust, adapt, be flexible, open and creative….as well as using that ‘muscle’ when needed is great advice.
I also think one of the most important suggestions is “multiple streams of income”. It allows a person who is not ready for full entrepreneurship to start the process and learn very important things about running a business before leaving a job (assuming they have one).
Based on your experience, it seems to me that you could help a lot of people who want to take the plunge by teaching some of the entrepreneurial skills required to be successful. Many people don’t start because they “don’t know what they don’t know” and are, therefore, fearful. You can teach them (us!) many of these skills so that people can be successful and continue to grow and perhaps even become the next Great Generation.
Sorry this post response was so long but the more I thought about what you had written the more excited I got about the possibilities. Thanks again.
Susan,
Great post! In particular, I can relate to your references to the Great Depression and the Greatest Generation. We think we have a tough economy now, especially based on years of steady growth and the good life. But I am always so amazed when I read or hear about the real hardships that our elders endured.
I agree that this can be an excellent time to start our own businesses and be our own boss. What a great way to reap the benefits and have a ball at the same time. One suggestion for people who are having financial challenges now is to write about our experiences, such as how we got there, where we are going and how the situation has affected our lives and our self-esteem.
Our life experiences, both good and bad, help to make us who we are. It is important to capture that information for ourselves and our families. Hopefully, future generations will achieve an understanding of what we have gone through and learn from our trials and mistakes, just as we can learn from our ancestors.
Beth LaMie
http://www.bethlamie.com
Susan: for years I carried a Chinese greeting card in my briefcase to pull out when I was counseling my crisis management clients. It was wei ji, the ideogram for crisis, which combines the ones for danger — we’re all well aware of that in the current situation — and opportunity, which, as you point out, is there as well, but less obvious.
I read recently about a variety of innovations, including the DC-3 and rayon, that came out of the Depression, in part because innovators realized that a time of crisis allowed them to take bold steps that wouldn’t have been possible in more normal times.
I think you’ve hit it on the head in terms of smart strategies to avoid bravado on one hand and personal depression on the other, and capitalize on the uncertainty with new innovations that respond to past excesses with sustainable approaches for the future. Bravo!
– David Stephenson
Recession-proof for me means cutting out the unnecessary expenses while investing in things that benefit my business, my family, me, or the world at large in the long term.
Sue, great post!
I can say from my recent experience launching my own small temporary staffing firm that it is imperative that we think creatively about how best to use the current economic environment to our advantage. Not wanting (or able) to invest significant resources into the start-up phase of my business, I focused on reaching out to my personal network for everything from technical assistance to client development. What a rewarding (and INexpensive) experience it has been!
It’s important to, as you say, become “the CEO of your own destiny,” and there’s no better way to do this than making smart entrepreneurial moves that fit with your life vision. Recession or not, if you’re ready (that’s key), GO FOR IT!
-Anniki, Principal of DC SmartStaff, LLC
http://www.DCSmartStaff.com
Sue, Your thinking style and explanation of recession proof thinking are equally useful–thanks for sharing.
This post dovetails with a line of thought we’ve been blogging about professionals and entrepreneurs alike–thinking and acting like you’re a brand–no matter who you work for.
It also means taking advantage of technology to support your vision/mission–creating professional email accounts no matter who you work for ( http://bit.ly/19SRGX ) creating a web presence with twitter, linkedin & facebook–whether or not you’re ready to commit to a blog or website ( http://bit.ly/xE0Y8 )
If we start getting intentional about creating positive perceptions and take charge of how we promote ourselves, some of the uncertainty that comes with the times fades a bit.
Brands are about relationship, reputation, authenticity, and connection. In crazy economic times, it makes sense to pay attention to what really matters–the lives we’re living and our connections to one another.
Jo Golden PhD, Educator
http://www.chaostoclarity.com
Jo – hear hear! Connection and conversation is how we will find our way forward. Thankfully we have wonderful social media tools to enhance connection when we need it most.
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