Are you making the most of the economic downturn?

Now I am not about to jump on the bandwagon and offer you a brilliant program that will cure everything including the common cold for the down payment of and three equal installments of ... because lets face it - these people aren't really worried about helping you, they're more interested in lining their pockets by promoting your fear about lack - and its usually a lack of money. So before you part with more (although it is entirely up to you whether you do or not. and who you spend it with) - lets think about this in another way.

There will be some people who will be experiencing some significant downturns because of the economic crisis. Every day we seem to hear about big and sometimes big AND established companies biting the dust, and it seems to be across many different sectors. From banks to cars to pottery and glass manufacturers, so it appears no one is immune from closure and layoffs, but if you'll bear with me for just a minute, we need to consider what happens when we are in work - no matter what the economy is doing. And this to my mind is where the differentiation should be drawn, where we should be thinking about putting our time and our energies.

What happens when you are laid off - is you do everything in your power to find alternative work. i'm sure we've all been there and done that once or twice, I know I have. And then we work really hard to make sure we get through the necessary probation periods, we find our slot within the organisation we have chosen to work for and work on our jobs. And this is where we should stop and think about things. If you do the same job in the same way for 20 years, you don't have 20 years worth of experience - you have one year's worth of experience repeated 20 times.

So, always you should be asking, how can I make a difference to the organisation we work for? What difference can I make to myself? Am I doing all that I can? Am I making enough phone calls? Am I being responsive or reactive to the climate when I should be being pro-active? Am I delivering what I said I would deliver - when I said I would deliver it? (and we're not just talking about goods - but everything).

If you continue to work hard during the tough times, you will be creating excellent work habits when things start to grow again...that's assuming they're not already growing for you based on the work that you've done already.