Going Back to the Good Old Value System

The recession and the US’ slow recovery are causing US citizens and business owners to (slowly but surely) revert back to the good old value system. Times are hard and more and more people, businesses and organizations are looking to optimize their dollars.


Shoppers are now more focused on getting the product that best suits their need for the best price possible and are no longer casually buying the biggest widget from the most renowned brand name.

Businesses are hiring and keeping employees who are more flexible, versatile and who are or will provide a value added service(s) that can be quantified and showed to have a positive effect on the bottom line. Similar to consumers, businesses and state and local governments are also seeking to optimize their spending by getting the most talented and highly productive workers at a bargain price. We may see more people being hired on a part-time basis and as contractors rather than as a direct hire.

In a nutshell, the burst of the real estate bubble is having a deflationary effect on the US economy across the board. Businesses can expect to receive less money for providing better quality goods and services and employees can expect to work harder for lower pay. Anything or anyone who does not produce or provide value is taking a risk of being eliminated. Businesses can expect increased competition and consumers will be forced to be more selective with their spending due to the lack of dollars that will be available in the economy due to lower salaries, higher interest rates on borrowing due to fewer loans being made available.

Therefore, it is very important that both businesses and individuals recognize the need to adapt to the back to basics value centered mindset as soon as possible and begin to make the necessary decisions and changes to their modus operandi or lifestyle as soon as possible to position themselves by getting lean, cutting back on luxuries and increasing efficiency to compete and survive.

You CAN Get UP!

Sometimes in life we get dealt a curve ball. Something hits us and we never seen it coming. It might be something affecting our health, our finances or something affecting us mentally or emotionally. It could even be a combination of these things.

Times like these bring us down and cause great despair to the point where we feel like we just can't go on because of the heavy burden experienced when facing what appears to be overwhelming odds.

Sometimes it is helpful to see and learn about someone else’s struggles and how they were able to overcome or live with them. How they manage to get up over and over again after falling and achieve unbelievable accomplishments despite the odds.

I hope this video gives you a sense of inspiration and encouragement to always get up, press on and live life to the fullest no matter what!

Winners often fall and they may even fall or fail often. However, the difference between a winner and a loser is that winners always get up more times than they fall. By the way, whenever you do fall, try to pick something up or learn from the experience.

Do The Right Thing Because It's Right

Believe it or not, this video excerpt from Any Given Sunday, which is a movie about a football team and coach who are trying to get on a winning track, can teach our national leaders a thing or two. The excerpt is a half time speech given by the coach (played by Al Pacino) who is trying to motivate his team to fight for a comeback and for them not to give up.

Our politicians should watch this video and pay close attention to the parts of the speech where he talks about:

"... we work as a team or we die as individuals" - The democrats and the republicans must understand that if they continue to make decisions and take positions for pure political reasons, they will and our country will die (or fail) as individuals. "We must heal as a team (or country) or we are going to crumble". "We can slowly climb out of this mess, but we have to do it together." "If we don't come together and work as a team, we are doomed."

Politicians, business and financial leaders really need to get back to doing the right thing because its right and stop making decisions and doing things for their own self interest with no considerations for others.
The part of the speech where the coach talks about "...willing to die for that inch" is referring to how we have to sometimes make sacrifices to slowly get out of a bad situation.

The speech is really based on the old adage "Together we stand or divided we fall". Our future is dependent on whether or not our politicians, democrats and republicans together, can get back to focusing on doing what's right for the people they serve, even if that decision may jeopardize their ability to raise campaign funds or get votes. Continuous immoral, selfish and questionable decision making will result in further degradation of what was once a great country. Unfortunately, the desire to maintain power and prominence once obtained is difficult to risk or forgo (the sacrifice) even if doing so increases the chances of winning the game.