The Cure for the Recession

We may not control the economy, but we don't have to let the economy control our quality of lives. Coach Kate Phillips explores the power of our thoughts and emotions, the true determiners of our experience.

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  Posted by Kimberly LeRiche, Cornelius, Oregon | Aug 25, 2008

  Hi Kate, This is a great article with wonderful reminders that we should all strive to remember on a daily basis. I've recently been working reminding myself to think in the positive and push aside the negative. I also believe in being grateful for what I do have, not focus on what I don't have and have compassion for those who may be struggling.
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  Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington | Aug 25, 2008

  Thanks Kimberly. Sometimes I need the reminders, too! We are bombarded with bad news, and we've got to make it a habit of bringing ourselves the good news.
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  Posted by Richard Whitaker, Federal Way, Washington | Aug 25, 2008

  We hear about 3% to 6 % unemployment. How about 94% to 97% employment.

  Rich
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  Posted by Ian Costigane, Concord, California | Aug 25, 2008

  This article puts "if it bleeds, it leads" where it belongs. Thanks for the uplift. Ian
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  Posted by Kate Stewart, Seattle, Washington | Aug 26, 2008

  I love this article, Kate! Not only does staying whole and happy in times of trouble require a lot of persistence, but also humor, which was definitely present in your article.

  -Kate

  katelstewart.com
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  Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington | Aug 27, 2008

  Another Kate! I love Kates. And Kate, I'm much funnier in person... but thanks!

  You're welcome, Ian. Yes, I think the media really conditions us to think a certain way, it's bad modeling and insidious programming for our minds.

  And Richard, nice turn-around! How wonderful that the grand majority is employed! (And speaking of indidious programming... employment statistics imply that "employment" should be a goal... what about self-employment!?) Thanks, Kate
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  Posted by Chris Cliff, Lynnwood, Washington | Aug 27, 2008

  One thing people forget that in any market there is money to be made, it is simply a matter of finding it. In my case, business is looking up.

  People are staying in their homes instead of moving, which means more painting and remodeling work for me! And even the people that are selling are trying to make their homes look as nice as possible to get top dollar.

  It is all a matter of looking for where the business is and tapping into it.
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  Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington | Aug 27, 2008

  Yup! Ask anyone who has come here as an immigrant about "opportunity" - it's all around! And you've fouind a great niche, Chris!

  Kate
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  Posted by Michael Yanakiev, Sofia, Sofia Bulgaria | Sep 15, 2008

  Kate, After reading your marvelous article 'How personal spending can impact your business(and your life)', my intuition made me aware that you are an extraordinary person, with a rich spirituality, combined with a lot of creative common sense to be able to reason in such a non trivial way on such serious and delicate things that practically have a major impact on everybody. So ,I decided to study most carefully:-What you do?; How you manage said in a nutshell, to help people to think differently about money; I tried to understand that strange animal you call a"Money Shrink'(Or Financial healer'; Rediscovered,that we rarely outperform our self-image; Passed through the concept of the"Financial Thermostat'; And finally wrapped up your Wisdom,which embodies more of an understanding of fundamental principles embodied within the knowledge that are essentially the basis for the knowledge being what it is. I found out that your wisdom is essentially systemic in a rather unique way. It starts with a neat axiom that you assume-"THE quality of our life is the quality of our emotions." After that you state:"I' am a prosperity coach, not an all-powerful genie who can cure this country from what ails it(I can assure you that such genes exist only in fairy tales!).However, I may have some "cures' that may help our individual sufferings in a measurable way(Quantification is not neglected!)." And finally after some elegant dribbling which I can only admire, you make a confession,that had me on the floor ,since I think exactly as you do:"And call me crazy, but I don't think a recession(whether personal or national) means we must succumb to gloom, doom, and fearful fretting( It turns out that what a ' recession brain'that is capable of shrinking ,etc, does not obstruct your performance with clients?). We just have to unlock our mental potentials, tame our habits and reduce complexity to 3-specific mind prescriptions that you have designed for the special occasion,if I have understood you correctly?! All this sounds lovely, but is the system you propose not a specific function of your unique, universally educated( PIANO, SONGWRITER,SINGER,PERFORMER and extremely intelligent and intuitive mind+rationality) personality, that can not be universally taught? When I am saying this I have my "MENTOR",Prof. Russel L. Ackoff,in the back of my mind. I would strongly appreciate if in your frank and honest style you help me to preserve my piece of mind , which I deeply value! Loa Tzu,says: Who understands does not preach; Who preaches does not understand.

  Reserve your judgments and words; Smooth differences and forgive disagreements; Dull your wit and simplify your purpose; Accept the world.

  Then, Friendship and emnity, Profit and loss, Honor and disgrace, Will not affect you: The world will accept you. Kind regards, Mike.
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  Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington | Sep 15, 2008

  Michael,

  You also have an interesting way of thinking.

  If I did not give credit in my blog (I can't recall), the concept of the "financial thermostat" is T Harv Ecker's, one of my many mentors, who wrote the book "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind." Harv drove home for me that our inner world shapes our outer world, and that our outer world is a reflection of our inner world.

  Most people approach money as a left-brain numbers game. On the other side of the pendulum, there is all of the "law of attraction" stuff based on a DVD (and now book and cd set) called The Secret. (If you are not familiar, it is only because you do not live here and are not bombarded with The Secret!)

  While numbers are numbers and are quite straight forward (ie, 10 + 10 will always equal 20) and the Law of Attraction principles are equally "true," I have found myself fascinated with what Harv talks about, how our inner world creates our outer world, particularly, how beliefs, attitudes, emotions, assumptions, dreams, fears (etc.) shape the reality that each of us experiences.

  I, like you, am drawn to many spiritual teachings and texts. I do not believe they exist in order to tell a person "how to get rich," and undoubtedly, how the writers of such texts would define "wealth" might be quite different from our cultural definitions. But the texts have much to say about how we create (and can transform) the reality we each experience.

  Since it is a passion of mine to help women (and occasionally men!) transform their relationship with money (because, even in a country as wealthy as this, the average retirement income for a woman is just over $1300 a month, which is very low and hardly covers housing costs)... this is the topic I choose to apply these spiritual and psychological principles to. (Although the concepts are equally true when applied to health or relationship or any other aspect of life.) People are not used to hearing money talked about in such a way, they are used to money being about math and spiritual or emotional concepts being something differently entirely.

  Thank you for your comments. It is my privelege to share my journey. My relationship with money has been through much growth and change, and is ever-evolving! I hope that I can shed light for others.

  I will have to check out Mr Ackoff... I do not know of him.
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  Posted by Michael Yanakiev, Sofia, Sofia Bulgaria | Sep 20, 2008

  Kate, I read an interesting article, by Annie McKee,titled-"How to Stay Sane When the Economy Goes Crazy", in the 'Harvard Business Review'. While reading the article and responding, I realized what a deep impact your unique way of thinking had on me! I will immodestly cite myself, so that you can assure yourself that the light you are spreading is not in vain! " Dear Annie, What a wonderful and deeply human article. It is a rare thing to read ,something like this from a professional now days. You say,that most of us can't do a darn thing to change what is happening on Wall Street or in the financial markets around the world and you are right. It has been my conviction, for quite a long time that the contemporary financial machine that resulted from the creative design input our "fantastic brains", has slipped out of our control for quite a long time. No matter what financial wizards,experts, Gurus,etc, preach, the system is in a auto- pilot mode of flight and we have to patiently observe what will happen. Unfortunately the system is not so simple as a bicycle so that it can be repaired overnight. Such" interactive complexity",combined with relativity,quantum mechanics,catastrophe theory, chaos and human bias is not a possible feat for any living reformer, innovator to sort out for the time being even in theory. I am afraid that this "madness",as you call it can't be stopped neither individually, nor collectively- we simply ran out of such time proven mechanisms , which we blindly trusted without questioning the axioms on which out system was functioning with its ups and downs, but this is a long story. You are right in stating that- We need to rise above fear,and look to the future in the period to come, to re-form our lives, our companies and mostly I would say -our economies, where something went radically wrong. One is for sure that when so many Devils come together, Hell is to pay the bills! God has to bless the 44'th President of the U.S., who when stepping in the office must essentially redesign the whole system to be able to cope efficiently with the new realities in a constantly accelerating world, racing through: science, education and politics towards catastrophe. The idea of a "New World Order" is also falling apart in front of our eyes. So what is left except hope? The ancients seem to have some answers: "The highest attainment is to know non-knowledge. To regard ignorance as knowledge is a disease. Only by feeling the pain of this disease do we cease to be diseased. The perfected man, because he knows the pain of it, is free from this disease.It is for this reason that he does not have it. Such sentences appeal to the heart not to the head. They land us into a region where intellectual machinery is worth no more than old iron. Nevertheless, as Lao-tzu says, ignorance of this indicates disease, for Truth, whether a philosophy or life is-"to know what is that you know, and to know what is that you do know- that is understanding." Non-knowledge is the sense of absolute knowledge. Everything that is absolute appears to us as nothing because all we know we know relatively. In this context let us try to reason a little bit.-The most powerful determinate s of our financial results are our thoughts and feelings.As Maxwell Maltz discovered, we rarely outperform our self image. Lottery winners end up broke again, and tycoons who lose it all are usually back on top in a short period of time. T.Harv Ecker calls this phenomenon of predictable results the "financial thermostat." The quality of our life is the quality of our emotions. I don't consider myself an all powerful genius who can cure this country of what ails it. However, I may will suggest some "cures" that may help our individual suffering in a measurable way. The quality of our life is the quality of our emotions.And our emotions tend to be driven by thoughts of the future we believe in and design for ourselves. Work, struggle and then move forward to purposefully pursue something qualitatively new! This may sound peachy keen, but think of all these years you have spend developing all your mental habits, and now maybe you are not sure how to change them even if you wanted to! Here are 3 specific ways you can keep your mind aligned with your highest good: 1) Expect the best. Henry Ford said that whether we think we can or can't, we are right. Christopher Howard says we don't get what we want, we get what we expect. Proverbs say"As a man thinks what he is." 2) Live in gratitude for all that you have. If you are willing to commit another 5 minutes a day to giving thanks, perhaps making a list or saying your prayers before bedtime, then get ready for miracles. 3)Keep things in perspective. You are reading this blog. Think about it- you are living in a time and place so prosperous and technologically advanced that you actually have the education, the political freedom, the leisure time, and the computer equipment(or computer access) to be reading this BLOG! If,I were to ask you frankly speaking to consider all these centuries that have come so far, tell me if you don't relatively speaking live in prosperous times, you have to admit that yes, your standard of living is probably much higher than if you were to be born at any other time in the history of man(let the women forgive me the saying!). Everybody reading this post lives a life only dreamed by most people in most times.(Even in a terrible recession.) Live in gratitude always. Expect the best. Keep things in perspective. And remember, the economy does not control your life! You do. As Prof. Russell L. Ackoff loves to say -"The Future is not contained in the past." Let us all hope as Annie says- "We humans are wired to hope. Tap into yours." Our Planet is moving and still exists, so there is always a chance to survive decently,which is also questionable and problematic in recent times!"

  Kind regards,

           MIKE.
  
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  Posted by Brook Munoz, Kenmore, Washington | Apr 09, 2009

  Bravo Kate- you echo metaphysical principles. With method and practicality, you explain that being a creator of your own reality is not only possible, but is what is actually taking place everyday. How could anyone find their way out of their own mire if they don't focus on goodness and control their minds? Great job!
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  Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington | May 25, 2009

  Thanks Brook! I was just reminding myself of what was in this article... because occasionally I need reminding that it is the quality of my emotions that determine the quality of my life.