From my article 5 Daily Practices to Keep Your Edge at The Change Blog:

“How can you stay sane and make good choices? How can you come out ahead when faced with competition in all areas of your life? I suggest you consider these daily practices that will help you keep your edge in a competitive world.”

Read the rest of  5 Daily Practices to Keep Your Edge.

No WAY!

Though you might believe otherwise from the news coverage and mass hysteria, the world is not coming to an end. The Financial “Crisis” will make it more difficult for those with not so perfect credit to get loans, but it really shouldn’t affect your day to day life.

What it should do is make you realize that this will impact only a tiny fraction of your existence…and there are so many other areas of your life that you have complete control over. Why not work on them, and secure your future?

What’s the worst that could happen?

Ask any economist, and the only response you will get is their opinion or theory. The markets are responding to the hysteria and the uncertainty of our past mistakes and future fears. Do not be swayed! Stay strong! Eventually when the government allows our markets to stabilize (by stabilizing THEMSELVES) we will return to our bullish times. Until then, realize that this period will be over at some point. Just make sure that YOUR house is in order.

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by David Bohl

Remember when you were a kid, and your mom and dad read you that story about Chicken Little?

Chicken Little feels an acorn drop on her head and assumes the sky is falling. She goes on to spread such misinformation to her animal friends. The chaos that ensues enables “Foxy Loxy” to come along and make a meal out of some of Chicken Little’s friends.

The story of Chicken Little is meant to show what happens when you pass along information that isn’t true. It leaves you vulnerable to attack because no one is paying attention to what’s really happening.

Lately, the mass hysteria that the media and the internet have contributed to is reminding me of that story. No, we’re not all running around squawking that the sky is falling, exactly. But we might as well be, with the election rumors flying around, the bailout backlash, and everything else that’s going on.

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from Life Coach David Bohl

Have you ever felt out of touch with your own emotions? Do you wish you could emphathize more with the way others feel? Try these six exercises to improve your emotional intelligence and become an emotional Einstein!

Take an Emotional Inventory

During a typical day, you probably feel dozens of emotions, and these emotions influence your actions. It is easy to go about your business without examining why you do the things you do, but for one day, attempt to track your feelings. When you notice you are conducting an activity on autopilot, take a moment to analyze your thoughts and the way you feel and write them down in a journal. When you develop an ability to identify the emotional motivation behind your actions, you will grow a much better understanding of yourself and the ways you feel.

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From my article What to Do When You’ve Outgrown the Club Scene at Dumb Little Man:

“As you mature, other things in life take precedence over nursing hangovers and not remembering the end of the night. Spending your entire paycheck on drinks no longer seems fiscally responsible. Yet, it is sometimes so difficult to move away from the party club scene that has been part of your life for so long. How do you meet people? What should you do on a Friday night? How can you persuade your friends to do something else?”

Read the rest of What to Do When You’ve Outgrown the Club Scene.

by David Bohl, Lifestyle Redesign Expert

As I watch the U.S. Presidential campaigns — complete with polls, interviews, focus groups, and pundits — it occurs to me that each candidate’s basic message has been lost.

When you’re starting out in business, or in sales, you’re taught to focus on one solid message, and to share this message time and time again… often for a year or more before moving onto anything else.

The Presidential candidates haven’t done this. Each may have started off strong, but with the field day that the media is having, they’ve since been diverted by other peoples’ expectations.

They hear that one group of people is affected, and they tailor a TV add to try to sway that group. One candidate attacks the other, so the attacked candidate films a rebuttal. This goes on in a never-ending digression until the candidate’s message: his/her values, beliefs, and visions — are totally lost and covered up by all the extraneous bull.

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Our nation is going through some troubling economic times right now… but you do not need to follow suit. The economy today is a horror story of financial bailouts and golden parachutes. Is the government going to bail you out if you make some not so good decisions? This is why you need to control your own financial destiny!

Don’t panic.

Easier said than done, right? Well, the truth is that the stock markets go through cycles every ten years or so. Which is why if you are close to retirement, you should be involved in low risk stocks and why if you are far from retirement, higher risks are acceptable. You should be waiting it out… not jumping ship! If you join the sell, sell, SELL bandwagon, you will be sorry when those that buy your “undervalued” stocks at a song and make a killing. An economic downturn is the best opportunity to purchase stocks (and even “designer” stocks like Google or McDonalds) at a much discounted rate.

(Note: Before you do anything, talk to your financial advisor who can help you figure out the best financial planning strategy that makes the most sense for YOU.)

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Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for looking on the bright side. But have you ever noticed… without the dark side, there can BE no bright side?

As Election Day edges closer, there’s an awful lot of negativity brewing. At first people seemed to thrive on pointing out how Candidate Obama didn’t do this, or Candidate McCain mismanaged that.

But now… I’m getting the distinct sense that people from both sides are just tired of hearing the criticism.

We know that the state of our country’s finances is grave. We know that something needs to change in order to fix it, and everything else that’s been or will be affected.

As the Obama campaign aptly points out, “It’s time for Change.”

But now we’ve got to figure out WHAT to do differently. And we can ONLY do that by exploring what we didn’t do right before.

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I wanted to send out a note of thanks to everyone who joined me for last night’s teleseminar,

“How the Average American Can Weather the Financial Crisis Without Becoming Emotionally Overwhelmed.”

I got some GREAT feedback and am feeling really good about what was presented!

I’m especially feeling good about what everybody took from the call.

That’s because I truly believe that now is the time to ACT… not just sit around in a state of paralysis over the news reports.

I want people to remember that life goes on no matter what the Dow Jones is doing. When a major crisis like what we’re seeing with the economy happens, know that it’s NOT about self preservation. It’s about self assertion!

Getting out and taking action. Making plans and following through on them. Creating a better life for you and your family. Doing it YOUR way.

As a gift of thanks for being a Slow Down Fast reader, I’d like to offer you a FREE instant replay of what was presented during last night’s teleseminar. You’ll find a link to the entire audio recording right here:

http://www.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=4649052

Note: On this call, I reveal some truths about myself in my “past life” that I normally don’t share with people whom I’ve just met.

But as I was planning the seminar, I started thinking that it was MORE important to share my story with people who might be able to relate to it than it was to worry about possibly being judged.

If you’re working on light tasks today, why not turn up your speakers and listen in for free? 

Also: please DO share your own thoughts about how we can all “weather the financial crisis together” - and maybe even come out better people in the end!

Email me: david@slowdownfast.com, or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your views on what’s happening in the world today.

Most of us have been taught from a very young age by parents or grandparents that lived through the depression that the responsible thing to do is to save…. and save a lot!

But living in the generation where everything is so readily available… and can be charged or financed… spending seems to be the wheel most of find ourselves running. How do we break the cycle?

My biggest tip: use cash! Cash is much more difficult to part with than swiping your credit or debit cards. Using cash really makes the decision of “do I really need this” very easy. Cash is King, after all. Save for big ticket items. Not necessarily saving $30K for a new car… but surely you can put away a few dollars a week or month for that gaming system or washer/dryer you will be needing shortly! Saving and spending money you have saved also helps you determine if you are buying things your really “need.”
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