Michelle LaBrosse Blogs

I’ve been in business since 1987 and have weathered wide fluctuations in both the external economy and my own internal economy. I realized about ten years ago that it really just doesn’t matter what is going on in the external economy – what matters far more is what is going on in my internal economy. I also realized that there was only one person responsible for what was happening with my internal economy – ME.

What I do do – look at the external environment and figure out how to capitalize on it with my internal environment (those things I control)- regardless of the label that is being placed on it at the time. I look at:

1. What are the right goals for me to be pursuing at this time? Running a thriving business requires that I know when to hold them and when to fold them. When the external environment changes, I change.
2. How can I help other people succeed in the current climate? The more I can help other people find success, the more success I find. And what people consider success is different in different times.
3. Are the financial commitments I have made still the right thing for me to be doing? This has far more to do with the lifestyle I want to lead than anything else. Yes, some decisions made a lot of sense at the time they were made – however as the winds of change blow through life, they may not make that much sense anymore.
4. Do my definitions for my own success still make sense for who I am and who I want to be now? As I move through life, what drives a feeling of success changes. It just doesn’t make sense for me to keep pushing to achieve a level of success that just doesn’t suit who I am anymore.
5. Am I using the money in my life in the best way that will generate more money? This requires that I am able to evaluate opportunities quickly for the best return on investment.
6. How can I best leverage my four key sources of capital – social (relationships), knowledge (skills), brand (reputation), and operating (my existing infrastructure)? I actually love tough economic times whether they are external or internal as it makes me much more creative and aggressive. I make the most money by leveraging these four sources of capital when it’s tough for everyone else to get money.
7. Where in my life are things working great? I learned a long time ago that whatever is meant to be happens easily. If something is just too hard for me to do, it means I’m not supposed to be doing it.

I created several free downloads that explain how to implement these concepts. Capitalize on Recession Downloads.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.