This is definitely not a practical guide to technical financial choices.



This article is essentially about attitude.

Wherever I go now I hear the words "Credit Crunch" thrown around. Only recently an English politician was chastised for daring to suggest that there may be 'green shoots' of a recovery! Nobody wanted to know what the green shoots might be! It's too radical to even hint that we can still be positive.

And therein lays the problem.

Too many people seem to 'enjoy' feeling bad about the situation! Let's face it, we all know that news is pretty much always bad news and this reflects how many people see life.

So, I here are a few very simple but effective ways forward to survive the "Credit Crunch" with a smile!

In no particular order...

1 Ban the words "Credit Crunch" from your vocabulary!

The more you say it the more you'll feel it, experience it and see it.

2 Now turn off the TV news!

I'm not advocating ignorance. News is available online or from newspapers. What's the difference? Well, it's not the news itself which is a problem; it's how it's presented. Online, YOU have a much bigger say on how you take in the news - the tonality you give it. But TV news is powerful at setting the tone. The voices of authority telling the latest set of bad figures from industry have a vastly bigger impact than if you read those same statistics in writing. Think about the way presenters always pause to accentuate huge numbers... "Two point five...BILLLLION pounds" said with such emphatic length is much more powerful than "£2.5 bn"

Only recently I started a new business which launched successfully. Shortly after the launch I was watching the news and the doom and gloom brigade started their debates around how bad things were and how nothing could survive. For a brief moment I asked myself why on Earth I had launched a new business now! And then I remembered, "oh actually it's working fine"!

I turned the television off.

3 In business or your career, take action consistently and with purpose

If you really want to let the Credit Crunch beat you, then stop taking action! But if you want to come out of it with a smile then keep taking steps towards your goals and consistently take small but purposeful action every day.

If you're a business person then keep focused and keep at it. Set your goals and know how you are going to implement them. Now is not the time to hide away until it all blows over - now is the time that you need to be strong, active and determined.

Those who take action will be the ones who have powerful momentum when business is easier.

If you're employed then, whilst you don't have complete control of your security, you can do all that's in your power to make yourself an asset. The knock on benefit will be that almost certainly you will gain greater job satisfaction as you apply yourself with renewed energy and be in a much greater position for career progression when opportunities are available.

Every day ask yourself what you can achieve today and do it!

4 Start to enjoy the free and pleasant things in life

It's obvious really, isn't it, but enjoying the free things in life can work wonders to reduce your expenditure and, more importantly, keep the smile on your face.

Spring is on its way and as the winter makes way for blue skies, make sure you find time to take walks, feed the birds, go cycling, visit free museums, go running, have a picnic, chat and laugh with friends. That's real life! That's real pleasure!

5 Take time to learn, develop and grow

There's never a bad time to learn - we should continuously be growing and developing our knowledge and attitudes to make the most of ourselves. However, now, maybe more than ever, there is a opportunity to think what we want for ourselves and take action to get there.

Start to explore what interests you. Formal learning in a college, informal learning through groups or self-study? What area of learning? A skill such as photography or web design? New knowledge such as history or science? A language? Perhaps a new business opportunity such as coaching or training? The list is endless and once a mind expands it just wants to keep growing!

6 Smile!

Well, if you're going to survive the Credit Crunch with a smile then this is one thing you must do! Put it all in perspective - you're still here. You're on the greatest journey of all - your life. So smile and enjoy the ride!

Often, we place so much weight on the way organisations, governments and the economy affect us that we can end up thinking that these things control the way we feel. We might not control the interest rates but we control the impact that a rate change has on our emotions. We all have the ability to put these things in perspective and get on with what we have.

Given that we're here for one life let's not allow a few years of it to be ruined by Credit Crunch. Be happy, smile and remember that you are far more than the sum of your assets minus liabilities!