During a time when we are still plagued by unemployment and an under performing housing market, is it practical to believe in a world of financial abundance? I sure hope so, as the positive mindset is a key factor for achieving significant wealth.
Don’t Lose Hope
This could be difficult, but do not allow a fear-mongering media to determine your economic outlook. A thousand planes will land safely, but only the one that doesn’t will make the news. News programs are in the business of sensationalism because that’s what sells. But just because a topic is garnering mass media attention doesn’t make the viewpoints shared correct, even if there are economic pundits doing the speaking. Consider how late the media was to catch on to the fact that we were in recession. In fact, brilliant and controversial economist Art Laffer was emphatic that we were not in a recession and later apologized for getting such a significant call wrong. By the time we officially declared that the economy was in a recession, we had been in it for well over a year.
We would be better off to instead focus on what we want our contribution to this world to be. We are the biggest keys to our financial futures. Even during the current economic climate, the opportunities are immense. The pertinent question is “Will we seize them?”
Are You Ready For a Wealth Transfer
With mortgage rates at historic lows, housing prices depressed, and anemic housing sales, there are some opportunities in real estate that haven’t been seen in decades.
Remember, it was Buffet who said, to “be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.”
John Paulson realized this and used intellectual capital to orchestrate one of the greatest financial plays ever recorded in a single year according to Alpha magazine. Paulson got wind of the coming storm of mortgage defaults in 2005. He taught himself the complex world of mortgage-backed securities. It became clear to him that the real estate growth was unsustainable. To capitalized, Paulson created packages of distressed and overpriced assets. These were then sold through Goldman Sachs to sophisticated investors who failed to thoroughly appreciate the risks associated with the deals. Indeed, the buyers were all too happy to take Paulson’s money. His financial interests ran contrary to the investments in these deals. Consequently, when the real estate bubble burst, Paulson profited to the tune of billions personally and tens of billions for his hedge fund.
David Tepper is another who made a brilliant play that resulted in a colossal payday. Mr. Tepper chose to buy troubled assets backed by commercial real estate while other investors were divesting in droves. With a personal gain of $2.5 billion and a total fund gain of $7 billion during the recession, David Tepper’s bet certainly paid off… in dividends.
Of course there are several other examples, but the point is there are some outstanding opportunities in a bad economy just as there are opportunities during a good one. Opportunities are everywhere. Indeed, Market Watch recently profiled nine companies that grew during the recession. While I am certainly not endorsing putting on rose-colored glasses, I am suggesting that you invest some time in determining how you can best capitalized on the present market with your gifts, knowledge, abilities, and experience.
They are Both Right
The power of belief in oneself cannot be overstated. In The Millionaire Mind, Dr. Thomas J Stanley concluded that almost all millionaires attributed their success to believing in themselves. You have to believe in yourself to start a business or invest on your own. It’s certainly not for the faint at heart. I will never forget hearing the story of an ex-felon with a 3rd grade education. He was both illiterate and inarticulate. However, he never let his circumstances stop his belief in himself. He knew he was going to be someone. He applied himself, seized several business opportunities, and the rest is history. He receives in excess of $30,000 per month from his businesses while most Ph.Ds and other professionals never come close to that type of earnings power.
I also had the privilege of hearing a talk from an outstanding achiever. He started his own law firm right out of law school. His first month’s income was $30. However, that did not dissuade him. He persisted because he “just knew” he would make it. His business presently generates in excess of $30 million per month, and his personal net worth over a hundred million. While I certainly cannot wholly attribute his success to his unrelenting belief in himself, I will say that it is very unlikely he would have found success if he gave up prematurely. His favorite quote is: “whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right in either case.”
Don’t allow this season to past without you taking inventory on what you have available to exploit the present opportunities. At a time when business can proceed at the speed of thought, all it takes is the implementation of the right ideas to bring one from obscurity into tremendous success.
About the Author: I’m Roshawn Watson, and I write at Watson Inc. on eliminating debt, investing, and building wealth. Please connect with me on Twitter @roshawnwatson too.
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the statement “The power of belief in oneself cannot be overstated.”
is so true. If we focus on a certain thing, our mind draws our attention to other things that relate to what we have been focusing on. Even if we focused on the color yellow and thought about that color over and over. Our mind would find more objects throughout the day that have yellow in them and we would notice more colors around us. So, the same is true if you have belief in your self, you would be drawn to do more things with confidence and when others see that you have confidence they start to believe in you too.
Believing on yourself, having set plan of action, and hard work daily pays off. I think having little lady luck on your side is huge help like many.
I have noticed, some people, companies makes most money when there is a war and recession. It is all about how you do business and what is your business. I like business with ethics, so it might be some time for me. I know customers want ethical blogs and companies to there is a hope.
@Mike The interesting thing about luck is that many millionaires “make” luck happen. In other words, the old adage holds true “the more I prepared, the luckier I got.” Thanks for commenting.
Shawn
I’ve always heard hope is the last thing we lose… besides, cycles are the norm, so believing in a brighter future should be rewarded in days to come. It’s good to read a possitive message in times when pessimism rules.
Cycles are the norm. Nonetheless, this recession was a very deep one and has affected the psyche and wallets of many. While I am doubtful of lasting changes for the masses, that doesn’t preclude capitalizing on some of the great opportunities that are available during this “slow” recovery. I believe we could reach that much needed tipping point if we diligent. Thanks for the comment.
Shawn
Shawn,
We let other people (read the media & pundits) dictate our state of mind and investing decisions because we don’t know ourselves what we want out of the investing process.
Your best bet is to take some time and create an investment policy that sets out reasonable goals, risk levels, rates of return and the amount of time and effort you’re willing to spend managing your investments. Having this personalized document makes it a snap to say yes when all those great opportunities come along.
As always I enjoyed the article.
PS: I think @Money Ning was advocating for the Flat Tax. If so, I agree completely.
Hello Betty,
Thanks so much for the kind words. I definitely love the idea of developing your personalized investment strategy. This is the only way I invest now: investment that are in line with my plan. In contrast, I initially started by following all the expert recommendations for my age group, and I was constantly concerned about my portfolio and didn’t have appropriate understanding of what I was doing. That’s no way to live.
Also, I am a big fan of the flat tax as well. One concern is that it can be regressive (poor pay a larger percentage of their income than high income) although it would be infinitely better than what we have presently. Some things that I have heard that seem to be a reasonable solution are to enact the flat tax but perhaps give exclusions to anyone making less than X dollars ($15,000 or $20,000). Also, they can make up the difference with VAT taxes on businesses and sin taxes (liquor, cigarettes) if they have to.
Shawn
Maybe it’s time for a paradigm shift. We should always think positively but we can think differently about the true meaning of “financial abundance.” For instance, prior to getting less hours at work a typical dinner for Friday night would be anywhere from $30-$40. But now b/c we’ve had to adjust to the downturn in the economy, dinners may be cheaper b/c we eat in so much more. You can still be happy with less. Just keep up the positive attitude.
Great point: we shouldn’t be miserable just because we’re in the process of becoming something or because something negative happened. There’s certainly joy in the journey. All too often, if we aren’t careful, we can rob ourselves of contentment because of a bad experience. Unfortunately, the is past the past, but we can decide our attitude regarding the future. That positive attitude may be the key for getting through whatever challenges we are facing. It certainly was that way in the two examples I mentioned. Thanks for the comment.
What a great blog post of hope in a time when so many people have such a negative outlook on things. Thank you.
@Jenna, you are very welcome. I am so happy that the post was motivating to you.
I think that by allowing those tax credits to expire, we may be removing the economic incentives for growth in our country. It is no fun busting your tail only to pay at least half of that money to the government. Consequently, businesses will let people go because to avoid being penalized for being profitable.
I just read an article about the expiring tax credits http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/managingyourmoney/archives/2010/09/expiring_bush_t.html
I was wondering what your take is on this.
I think they should just lower the tax brackets but get rid of all the tax credits. I don’t believe the government should try to dictate (or highly encourage) how we live just by throwing tax credits out there.
It would be crazy if a retailer made every customer pay a set fee monthly and then sends out great discount coupons to make us buy, but that’s exactly what the government is doing with these tax credits along with higher taxes.
On another note, I think no matter the taxes, one should always strive for success. It’s true that Uncle Sam gets a bigger cut the more you make, but your take home pay will always be higher the more you make.
Thanks so much for your well-grounded thoughts.