How To Thrive In A Recession

A financial advisor association called me the last week of April and asked if I could do a May 2022 presentation on; How To Thrive In A Recession.

I said yes, as I created blogs and presentations under the same title back in 2008.

Just like you, I am wondering, will there be a recession?

It’s 9 am PST on May 2, 2022, and here are the headlines that appeared when I Googled recession 2022;

• If We Get a Recession in 2022 or 2023, It’ll Be a Mild One – Wall Street Journal
• Posthaste: Canada is headed for a recession, economists say – Financial Post
• Deutsche Bank Sees 5%-6% Fed Target Rate and Deep U.S. Recession – Bloomberg

Regardless of today’s headlines, I still have a May presentation on How To Thrive In A Recession.

Recession is a state of mind

I believe that recession is a state of mind. 

Since March of 2000, I’ve been blogging and speaking about state of mind. So the same tried, and true practices hold true today.

The following are excerpts from my 2008 how to thrive in a recession blogs and presentations.

“You don’t have to outrun the bear; you just have to have better strategies and actions.”

Call it a crisis, danger, opportunity. Notice the Chinese symbol on the screen is for crisis. But the crisis symbol is made up of two symbols. Are you coming from a place of danger, or from a place of opportunity? 

Some people call this the New Market; others call it a melt­ down, a debacle, a recession – whatever. Recession, recession, recession, recession, recession. 

There, I said it. Now, what are we going to do to go to the next step?

“Are you coming to the market either from a place of danger or opportunity?” 

Where are you coming from when you approach the market? 

There is a quote there, 

“In a time of change, the best get better and the worst just disappear.” 

Something to consider. So it’s about getting out of limbo. Why? Because recession is a state of mind. 

You don’t know if you’re in heaven or if you’re in hell in respect to limbo. And, by the way, the Pope is even talking about abolishing limbo.

It’s about STP –See The People. It’s about taking action.

My first experience with recession goes back to the Cuban missile crisis. Some of you are old enough to remember – Duck and Cover. Any of you remember Duck and Cover? We were in school, and told to get underneath our desks. There is a possibility of a nuclear attack. But as a financial advisor, this situation is not about Duck and Cover, it’s about getting out of the trenches and getting out there and seeing the people.

So why no vision? 

The minute you start thinking about the vision, you might start thinking about the world and all the world’s problems. And it’s easy to get sucked into this stuff. What are you thinking about?

Vision allows you to create a big picture and a measure because without a vision and the beliefs that go with it – you are just like your client – 10% of the time you’re euphoric, 10% of the time you’re suicidal and 80% of the time you don’t have a clue!

In order to thrive in a recession you’ve got to have a vision. You’ve got to have a strong message and you’ve got to be able to stand out there with your clients in these challenging times. 

And the question I ask of you is if they don’t have a clue about what’s going on – who are they going to be blaming? You! So we have to take responsibility.

4 steps to thrive in a recession

Dr. Marshal Rosenburg wrote Nonviolent Communication. There are 4 steps in that book as far as communication that you can apply when dealing with clients that are afraid. So you are connecting but don’t avoid their fear. 

Don’t be so quick to be able to come up with the answers so to speak. If they’re saying that they’re afraid, well you can say to them “Well you’re hearing bad news about the economy, you’re feeling afraid, nervous and worried.” You’ve got to be able to feed it back to them. Don’t deny the experience that they’re going through. Confirm that your clients are being heard by repeating; . “So when you’re hearing bad news about the economy, you’re feeling nervous, worried and afraid.” You’ve got to be able to give them empathy. You’ve got to let them know that they’ve been heard. You’ve got to listen.

Listening, hearing, empathy. Those are 3 values that you want to have in your practice to be able to share with your clients.

Then repeat back to them their fears because you believe your investment plan is working. 

You’ve got to sit with them with the fear. But the first thing that you’ve got to do for yourself is developing your own vision.