Get off that dead horse!
Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira says there is no recession
Expert gives tips to businesses walloped by recession.
In this economic downturn, it is easy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to find themselves in difficulty, especially newer SMEs and those that did not prepare for the unexpected leaner times.
However, there is hope: Spence M Finlayson, Bahamas-born and world renowned motivational speaker and corporate trainer is the President & CEO of the Phoenix Institute for Positive Development & Empowerment, based in Nassau, Bahamas, has some solutions.
Finlayson, who is also the creator and Host of the ‘Dare To Be Great’ TV Show, offers a clear set of guidelines that give entrepreneurs an all-encompassing approach to business problems, and even explains how one’s spiritual grounding could be of value in these difficult times.
According to Finlayson, acceptance, and the realisation that the hand of a higher power is at work are the keys to getting through financial and other business difficulties: “Accept what is happening, remember that God is a God of order and everything is in perfect divine order. “If you are not able to make the right decisions anymore, just wait and trust. “Ask your Higher Power to set you back on the right path,” he wrote, and also gave these tips to help on how to get “unstuck” in business:
1. Take a Different Course of Action
When you are mentally in a rut, you should take a break
and try something totally different. If you regularly
lift weights for your exercise routine, then switch to
the aerobics class or take up yoga. Vigorous exercise is
good for venting frustration.
The endorphins that are released through vigorous
exercise helps to change your mood and outlook.
2. Have An Attitude of Gratitude
An attitude of gratitude for all of the things on your
gratitude list helps you to see your situation from a
thankful perspective. As we look at our lives from this
angle we then realise that we are not really stuck, we are
just regrouping for our next business level. Success
brings success!
3. Know that this too shall pass
No matter what are you going through in your business
life; trials and tribulations, there is an innocuous
phrase in the Holy Bible that says “and it came to
pass!” It did not come to stay, it came to pass.
Remember that this too shall pass. Yes, the sun will
come out tomorrow.
4. Take a trip somewhere
I recently was invited to Barbados to speak at a
luncheon and I thoroughly enjoyed the island. This trip
rejuvenated me to no end. I felt totally energised and
the words from “Aquarius” by the Fifth Dimension ,
really hit home to me: “When the moon is in the seventh
house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will
guide the Planets and love will steer the stars. Harmony
and understanding , sympathy and trust abounds, no more
falsehoods or derisions, Golden living dreams of
visions, mystical Crystal Revelation and the mind’s true
liberation.”
5. Talk to a Confidant
Have a personal chat with someone who is very close to
you but who is also very objective. Talking about your
situation with your confidant can work wonders in moving
forward from your “stuck” position. Usually an outsider
or somebody without a vested interest in your business
can shed new light on the issues affecting you and your
company.
6. Take a pit stop
You know life lets us know when its time to take a pit
stop, where like at the Indianapolis 500, the drivers
pull into “gasoline alley” for an oil change, change
tyres and to refuel. Being stuck is a signal that you
need to take a break and pull into your own “gasoline
alley” for your pit stop. Most importantly progress in
our business or personal lives comes in stages. It takes
a real determined and focused individual to make it
through a seemingly non-productive stage, the stage of
being stuck.
7. If your horse dies, get off!
In the recovery movement, a popular saying is “insanity
is doing the same things over and over again but
expecting different results.” A good illustration of
’staying stuck’ is found in the following story called
“What To Do When Your Horse Dies.” If the horse you’ve
been riding has died, then get off the horse! But
instead of getting off, we try: Buying a stronger whip,
switching riders, trying a new bit or bridle, moving the
horse to a new location, saying “this is the way we’ve
always ridden this horse,” form a commission to study
the horse, visit other places where they ride dead
horses more efficiently, blame the horse’s parents or
complain about the state of horses these days. So
finally, just remain positive, and you will rise again from
the ashes like the phoenix!