As I talk with clients and colleagues in Metro Detroit, it is common for the conversation to focus on how difficult the local economy is. With the erosion of manufacturing jobs and the ongoing downsizing of the automotive industry, virtually everyone here is feeling the pinch. For those who have been impacted directly by a lost job, they are forced to take bold steps to adapt.For those who are indirectly affected, they make more minor changes: they start eating at home more often or don't take the boat out as much as they did a few years ago. The difficulty starts when we start to shrink back from taking calculating risks, and start living in fear. I often hear "I'll never find a new job, because the economy sucks" or "no one will buy my services because no one has money." With these grand, sweeping statements, our options appear to shrink before our eyes. This perspective becomes so overwhelmingly powerful, that nothing seems possible.
People often ask me, "I bet it is tough to run your own business in this economy." Guess what, it isn't. There may be unique obstacles presented by it, but then isn't that true of anything worth having? There will always be obstacles, it is how we dodge, scale, or obliterate them that matters.
The reality is, most of us only need one job. And one life partner. And one home. We do not need the entire economy to be strong in order for us to have both what we need to get by and what we want to feel fulfilled.
And we are powerful. When locked in on scaling whatever obstacles inevitably pop up, we can accomplish great things in our lives. It is truly transcendent to see another human realize that "Wow, I can control my own life!" and to watch what that opens up for them.
