The Chicken Little Guide to Dealing with \\

Having trouble staying calm and centered in "this economy?" You're not the only one.

I was just chatting with a client last week who shared how upset with herself she was about getting sucked into the maelstrom of negative energy the banks, the media, the politicians, even her neighbors are spreading like a bad case of measles.

And, on top of that, she admitted feeling guilty for not attracting the positive results that her Law of Attraction beliefs promised, and that she saw others experiencing.

She didn't quite know what to do since not listening to all the negativity felt like burying her head in the sand and not staying positive felt like a betrayal of her principles. As I said to her, she couldn't win for losing!

So what's a spirit-minded small business owner to do when it seems like the whole world is preparing for the next Great Depression?

You're at a choice point here. You can either pick up your marbles and go home, giving up on your dream of building a successful business and touching people's lives with your services.

OR you can be like Chicken Little.

If you'll recall the story, Chicken Little got bumped in the head by a wayward nut and ran around telling everyone "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

Now, I'm actually not advocating jumping to hasty conclusions. What I find instructive in the story is that Chicken Little didn't allow herself to be swayed by public opinion. Sure, she had the wrong idea, but boy, she clung to that idea like a barnacle despite what anyone else told her. And she took action as a result of her theory.

That kind of tenacity is what's needed here. OK, the phone isn't ringing as much as it used to. Sure, potential clients are more often saying they need to "think about it." Agreed, some banks are going belly up. But that's the illusion of reality life offers. (Kind of like the sky falling.) Abundance is still the plan; success is still an option.

There will undoubtedly be some businesses that fall by the wayside. But that doesn't have to be your fate. What's called for, in addition to tenaciously hanging onto your belief in abundance, is the flexibility to get into action. As my business mentor put it, you're going to have to market your butt off. Maybe even come up with some new offerings. Certainly focus a lot more on the value your services deliver.

I just got off the phone with another client who lost her long-standing job with a family-owned company last Thursday and five days later was practically handed on a platter three new large-scale clients for her growing consulting business (we're talking thousands of dollars here).

Are you going to see that on tonight's news? Nope, because it's not as dramatic as the latest tumble in the stock market. But it's just as real.

Abundance happens, even in "this economy."