Guest Article by Sarah Gentili

Develop A Battle Plan For Life  

I heard a quote a few years ago, that has never left me: "A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job." At the time I did not appreciate the full meaning of what was being said. In today's rocky economy, everyone understands this.

We see the world around us, and think it will never happen to us. It doesn't matter if it's losing a job, flunking out of school, or gaining that extra twenty pounds. We never believe it's a "depression" until it happens to us.

I think there are a few things most Americans can agree on. One, we are in a precarious economic position. And two, the smallest mistake could topple the whole house of cards. The truly scary thing is that it doesn't appear like we have hit the bottom of the economic barrel yet. Add into this mix huge legislative and complex business and taxes laws, and business owners and employees are both losing sleep waiting for their own economic depression.

As a small business owner I'm afraid of where this country is heading. I do not know how much longer my husband and I will be able to keep our business afloat with tax hikes and the government dictating how we run things. Our state has just passed additional tax increases on small business. This only adds to our worries.

One thing we do have in abundance is potential workers. It is amazing to see the shift from formal schooling being pitched by them, to the combination of skills and competence. More and more potential employees are using specialized training, experience, and personal attributes to push them past others and land them the job. They are recession proofing their unique job skills instead of trying unsuccessfully to recession proof their career.

This ability to look past your formal education and re-evaluate your unique skills to win a job is something that can be used to land the job, as well as improve your daily life. For example a person might have a business degree. In today's market this might not lead to many promising jobs. However, if you combine this with solid costumer service skills, advanced computer skills, a foreign language or something as simple as being detailed orientated, then you have a better chance of landing the job.

If you can give an honest accounting of the skills you have, what you need to work on, and what is a genuine weakness ; then you have a better chance of not just landing a job, but making improvements in your life. It's surprisingly simple how this works. You decide what you want to do, set goals and prioritize them. Then you look at your strengths and weaknesses. This self-evaluation is a key to success because it will let you know what strategy to use to achieve your goals.

This process works for anything. It's a battle plan for life.

*For those interested in learning more about setting goals and discovering your strengths and weaknesses, be sure to check out the Learning Activities for these two topics when they become available on this website.

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Copyright 2010 Leland Pulley