Apparently we’re in a recession. Sorry if I’m the first one to break it to you. I know the news channels have been trying their hardest to hush it up and only deliver good news, but it’s here and who knows, maybe it’s here for a while?

Recessions aren’t good things at all because everybody has to put their life on hold and be miserable until the economy moves back into growth.

I even hear that smiling is now illegal, making money banned and parties have been prohibited in many States for fear that random joviality, good humor and frivolousness may break out. Quite right too if you ask me because the only way out of recession is by sitting around listening to Leonard Cohen songs and telling sad stories about the Wall Street Crash, the South Sea Bubble and the day M.A.S.H. finished.

As a Life Coach it would be easy for me to think that a recession is going to mean hard times for my family and I. After all, to hire a Life Coach you need some spare cash and according to all the reports there is no spare cash anywhere, Warren Buffett has it all.

I’m was going to quit and head back to England with my tail between my legs until I made the shocking discovery via the UK media that things aren’t great there either.  Oh no I thought, the Universe is conspiring against me yet again.

Apparently unemployment is on the increase, petrol prices are going through the proverbial roof and somebody has stolen all the gold that was used to pave the streets of London. Damn! I can’t go there then, and that uses up all the countries that will allow me past their border control without offering huge wads of cash or mules as bribes.  I’ll just have to stay where I am for the time being and tough it out.

Look at the activities below and rank where you think you are with each one:

Poor – Fair – Just Below Average – Average – Just Above Average – Good – Excellent

Driving
Making Love
Doing Your Job
Your Health (or if you’re not well, your ability to recover)
Your Potential
Your Open Mindedness

I know you, I bet you’ve rated yourself higher than average on most of those. You have, haven’t you, you little rascal? And good for you, because I think you’re well above average too, and you shouldn’t be afraid to say so.

The weird thing is that vast majority of people think they are above average or better when you ask them about many areas of their life.  Of course math dictates that everybody can’t be above average, but that’s beside the point. What this says to me (and yes this is just my opinion), is that we’re all inherently optimistic and have a belief in ourselves that Society seems to want to condition us to keep under wraps.

Last week I was talking to a client that had just put his house up for sale. He was bemoaning the fact that it was going to take him about 2 years to sell it and even then he’d never get his initial asking price. Jeez I thought, this guys a soothsayer, I wonder if he can tell me whether tank tops will come back into fashion, or I just need to give it up and let them go to the charity store?

I asked him how he knew when he would sell his house and he told me that was the Florida average. Oh right the Florida average I thought, that explains it and the tank tops are staying right where they are.

I then asked him half a dozen questions similar to the ones above. Each time I asked him to rate his ability in a different area I got an answer of ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ and in each area I fully believed him because he was a successful guy.

“What if you took that belief in yourself and your abilities and transferred it to selling your house? With your contacts, ability to influence and passion for business, do you not think that you could sway the odds in your favor a bit more?”

I have no idea of whether he will sell his house more quickly, but I am absolutely sure he has more chance of doing so believing that it’s possible.

I’m actually happy to be staying where I am in the good ole US of A. I know that there is less money about and some people will see Life Coaching as a luxury they can ill afford, but I’m not going to get wrapped up in that. I know I’m an excellent coach, I know I can help people and I know it’s my job to demonstrate coaching is a sound investment in their future and not an indulgence. I have to believe all that otherwise I’m in the wrong job!

Whatever it is you do, I will guarantee you this. There will be some people in your industry or field of expertise that will have their best ever year this year. However, they wont be the people whining about the recession or complaining about how tough things are. They’ll be the ones that refuse to believe that the recession applies to them because they know they’re not average or even close to being average, they’re way above that.

Go out and make it your best year ever and then take great pleasure in thumbing your nose at all those that told you it wasn’t possible.

If you want to learn how to reframe which is a cunningly simple way to feel better about ‘negative’ situations. Watch this.