CT Business Owners Face the Economy

January 27, 2010 by Geri Sutton
Filed under: Business Development

Economic Development Outlook is all about Attitude. Sometimes Business Owners Feel so Alone.

The economic outlook for 2010?

Cloudy with no chance of recovery if you recently attended any of the Economic development seminars in Fairfield County, as I did.

As the Business Development Manager for ActionCOACH of Westport I had the opportunity to attend the CBIA (www.cbia.com) Annual Fairfield County Commercial Real Estate & Economic Development Breakfast on January 6th at UCONN in Stamford and the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook Luncheon on January 7th in Norwalk.

Both seminars had excellent speakers but what they reported was extremely ominous. The consistent message was that the recovery was going to be very slow and that we all need to make adjustments in our savings and spending habits. What about an attitude adjustment?

As Patrick Farrell, VP of Employee Benefits at USI said when he was interviewed by a business reporter from the Stamford Advocate after the Norwalk chamber event:

“I try to be an optimist. We have to remember, we got into this due to a lack of personal responsibility.”

See Business Section A page 9 www.stamfordadvocate.com for the full article.

At ActionCOACH one of Brad Sugars core teachings is about personal responsibility, never play “below the line.” Do not blame others or wish that you had a better job. Instead work on doing your job better and be in charge of your own attitude.

It reminded me of the old quote from Charles Swindoll. I learned this over 20 years ago at my first sales job from my General Manager at Scholastic Book Fairs. His name was Merrick Burkhardt; he was my first mentor, my first coach. As we approach some challenging times, I thought it would be worth sharing.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.

It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.”

If you are Fairfield County Business Owner who feels like the recession reporting and the economic downturn is keeping you up at night, then call me at 203 210 7003 for a complimentary attitude adjustment session.

At ActionCOACH we specialize in helping business owners look at things with a new perspective. Sometimes when you feel so alone, it’s because you can’t do it alone. Let a business coach help.

Geri_Sutton