I attended an event last night at the Museum of Natural History in New York. A friend of mine, Gregg Fisher, who is an independent financial advisor hosted the event. The focus was on the market, the economy and how our emotions are impacting our thinking about investments. Right up my ally. The guest speaker was Professor Richard Thaler – who is legendary in the field of behavioral finance and considered to be one of the original founders.

Anyway, Gregg asked an interesting question to the 200 plus people there….the question was “How many of you think that the economy is great?”

2 people raised their hands.

He then asked, “How many of you think the economy is bad?”

Over 200 people raised their hands.

What I found so interesting about this is that people…the vast majority of people focus on what is wrong. Maybe it is because that is all they hear or read about and it just overwhelms them.

But you know what is really cool about that….it shows how we can be influenced by information. It also shows how we allow ourselves to be influenced and then eventually think and behave according to that influence.

I wonder what would happen if we chose to think the opposite. Or surround ourselves with the opposite. Instead of negativity, what if we surrounded ourselves with optimism, hope, inspiration and yes, even the possibility of change.

So I sat there last night, holding my wife’s hand and reflecting on the what if’s of life.

What if we viewed the current economic environment as an opportunity rather than a crises. What if the media ran headlines that shouted “Historic Economic Opportunity!”

Hmmm…would we view our current reality different? Would 200 people have raised their hands when asked if the economy was “great” (because they were viewing the current economy as a great opportunity) and only 2 people when asked if the economy was “bad?”

What if, you chose to think about the current world and your economic reality or if you are unemployed as the following:

1) a phenomenal opportunity to invest in your career by going back to school or attending training courses

4) a remarkable chance to follow your passion and start a new career for yourself – maybe as a writer or a chef (like my brother-in-law chose to do) or a party planner or a teacher or whatever your heart has always been wanting to do but you just could not find the time have the courage to do it….what if NOW could be that opportunity?

Or, what if you just viewed today’s reality as a great opportunity to change….I wonder what might happen?

Creating positive change.
That is what I think we have the opportunity to do. Create positive change not just for ourselves but for all of us.

drdoug