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There Is No Recession Where There Is Talent

Author

Wes Schaeffer
January 23, 2017

The best do not experience recessions. 

A couple of weeks ago (early April 2011) I was in San Francisco and stopped by to see my good friend (and Smartest IT Guy Ever), Steve Mays.

I was in his office the day his new company, Message Bus, announced $3m in Series A funding.

They were cool about it.

TechCrunch was saying good things about them.

A hot breakfast was being served in their office on Market Street.

Macs were booted up.

Shirts were untucked.

Pairing was happening to knock out some slick code.

Talk of recession was nowhere to be heard because…

There was abundant talent on this team.

You see, if the NBA decided to cut the league in half, Kobe Bryant (now retired, of course) and Lebron James would still be playing.

Ditto for Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers in the NFL.

When you’re a top performer… When you bring more to the table than everyone around you… When you have a better attitude and more curiosity and more drive and determination to succeed and excel and thrive and prosper and grow…

You don’t know the word recession.

Here we are almost six years later and

  • The Dow is flirting with 20,000,

  • Trump has been sworn in because since January 2009…

    • Real median household income declined 2.3%,

    • The number of Americans living in poverty increased 3.5%,

    • Home ownership dropped 5.6% and

    • The number of Americans using food stamps (the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) increased 39.5%.

    • The federal debt has increased from about $10 trillion, when it represented 65% of GDP, to nearly $20 trillion today—104% of GDP and climbing.

So while the Dow is making the news, many in America are not doing well.

Yesterday my wife informed me that last year—2016—my wife informed me that I invested $49,000 in continuing education and personal development. (She’s working on our books to prepare for our tax meeting with the best CPA in California. God bless her and him!)

While that is a high number historically speaking, since 2006 I’ve regularly invested at least $10,000 per year in personal development, sales training, marketing training, speaking and presentation development, and/or business coaching.

That’s why I’ve been able to grow my business despite the headwinds in any economy, despite the pigs and sharks, and regardless of who’s in the White House, who controls the House, or who controls the Senate.

I control me.

Heck, because I’ve invested in myself I’ve been able to find the opportunities the headwinds created!

(The weak “hunker down” during a storm, which makes the competitive landscape much less competitive.)

What new skills have you learned since 2011?

Are you still mad that Facebook doesn’t give you free exposure from your fan page?

Are you still buying email lists and blasting people with cold email and cheesy offers?

Do you think cute memes shared on Instagram will turn around your business?

Are you still afraid of the phone?

Are you still afraid of creating unique content?

Have you written a book?

Have you created a podcast?

Have you done a Facebook or Instagram Live?

Have you tried webinars?

Have you done paid ads on social media?

When’s the last time you sent out a piece of direct mail to your list…or even your clients?

Maybe we’re in a recession. Maybe we’re booming. Maybe Trump will make the economy boom. Maybe he’ll make it tank.

You and I have no control over what the fools in D.C. do so pay attention to them but don’t obsess over them.

Focus on what you can control and that’s your attitude, your sphere of influence, and your work ethic. 

If you need more help growing your sales, check out the following resources scattered around this site and a few others I operate, such as:

Good Selling,