Josiah Mackenzie

For the past 6 months, everyone seems to be talking about the economy. Are we in a recession? Is the market crashing? Are we headed into a depression?

Who cares? Instead of reacting to the current environment, I believe in proactively creating my own reality.

“Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.” — Michel de Montaigne

In Business

Building a business in a sluggish economy will only prepare me for greater success when it’s over. It forces me to improve my selling ability. It requires me to cut costs and watch cashflow. If I can learn to succeed now, I’ll be the better for it later.

For the past year, my profits have nearly doubled by focusing on a few high-value clients and building systems to handle the extra work. I’m confident this trend will continue in the future.

In Investing

I’m not a stock market genius, but using basic financial analysis I’ve built a portfolio of undervalued companies that has beat the market by 3-8% over the past 6 months. A market downturn means stocks are on sale - so now is a time to snap up companies at bargain prices.

For more on value investing, read Value Investing 101 by Motley Fool.
In Personal Finance

As an entrepreneur, my income and job security is not tied to the economy. By making some changes to my sales strategy, my income has more than doubled from last year. I’ve taken the advice of David Bach in The Automatic Millionaire and automated my savings and investments. Also, I’ve made some major lifestyle changes and am aggressively paying off debt. By boosting my job and investments income while living frugally, I’m applying the fundamental law of wealth building:

Live on less than you make, and invest the difference

The “don’t have it, don’t spend it” philosophy is unpopular with many young entrepreneurs, including myself in the past. It’s easy to overspend now, hoping you’ll make it big . While your business may become very profitable in several years, it’s the habits you form now that will impact you in the future. In my view, it’s better to develop a financial position now that doesn’t require a future windfall. That way, you can do what you love and not be tied to making decisions for the money.

As JD from Get Rich Slowly advises, it’s best to return to the basics if the going gets tough. After all, the #1 impact on your investments is you.

So please, stop complaining and take more responsibility for your life!