Whether we think we can or we think we can’t – either way we’re right!

Some people view their environment through rose-colored glasses. Others in a similar environment see their world through fog-covered lenses. Some people see challenges as problems. Others see challenges as opportunities. Some folks look at a glass filled to the middle as half empty. Others see that same glass as half full. Perception is reality!

Take today’s recession-mindset as an example. The economy is undergoing a major adjustment, which was initiated by real circumstances. However, the situation has been exacerbated by media commentators who seem to thrive on sensationalizing the bad news at the expense of good news. When is the last time you saw the national news begin with a feel-good story? I bet you can’t remember when, if ever.

What’s in the news these days? India and Pakistan saber-rattling over the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Three hundred fifty Palestinians killed by Israeli retaliatory air strikes over the past three days. The Caylee Anthony murder case and the virtual certainty that it was committed by her 22-year-old mother, Casey. The $50 billion Bernie Madoff ponzi-scheme investment debacle. The indictment and impending impeachment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich over conspiring to sell President-Elect Barack Obama’s senatorial seat to the highest bidder. And of course the ongoing news about the negative economy. All sensational stories for sure, but what about the good news?

Well, there was a great news headline in today’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel. At least, it was good news to me. After going 1 win and 15 losses in 2007, the Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets yesterday to win their American Football Conference division title. They are going into the post season playoffs for the first time in 8 years with an 11-5 record in 2008 (not such good news for Patriots and Jets fans I suppose). Ok, I admit this is a rather frivolous piece of good news, but there IS a lot of good news in your backyard, too.

Let’s face it. You and I can’t solve the crisis in the Middle East or resolve the problems in Zimbabwe or the conflict in Somalia. We have no control over the greed or avarice of shady investment bankers or corrupt politicians. We don’t have any control over the national economy. BUT WE DO HAVE CONTROL OVER OUR OWN BUSINESSES AND OUR IMMEDIATE AND LONG TERM ECONOMIC AND PERSONAL STABILITY.

It all starts and ends with our personal mind-set.

I try to keep my ear pretty close to the ground in terms of your feedback. In talking to some of you, what I hear is mainly good news. Its like, “what recession?” I heard from Amanda Collucci the other day and she reported that her sales this month are just a hair shy of $30,000 – and this is December, a month shortened by major holidays! (I mentioned Amanda’s success in my last blog below.)

A week ago I spoke to another customer who purchased our House Cleaning Biz 101 materials in July of this year. His wife is running the business and he said she’s doing exceptionally well; no discussion about the current economic situation. It turns out that he is a franchise broker and some of the clients he represents are major residential cleaning franchises. He says one of the reasons he bought our program is because he was amazed at how much money franchisees in this industry are making (and he also said he is very impressed with our program – something I consider a compliment based on his extensive knowledge about the industry).

I hear such positive feedback from you folks out there all the time. And I love to hear it. But does this mean that everyone who buys our program will build a million dollar business? Not at all. In fact, our program does not make anyone successful; it merely provides the knowledge and teaches the skills to help them achieve success. It saves them from spending thousands of dollars and years of trial and error. But chances are they would have eventually been successful on their own. These people have a winning attitude; they always see the glass as half full instead of half empty.

I had correspondence with a very nice woman last week who chose not to proceed to open her business. She had a concern that there were not enough people in her small Midwest town to support a professional cleaning service. I checked the demographics of her town and found there were 968 home owners between the ages of 35 and 65 earning between $75,000 and $250,000 annually. We know that, on average, it only takes about 100 regular clients to have a business doing $250,000 in annual sales. There is only one other residential cleaning business in her town, meaning there is some darn good potential there.

Upon satisfying this concern, she then stated that she doubted she would be able to find people willing to work for a house cleaner’s wage in her town. Strange, considering the other customer I just mentioned is in a major metropolitan area where average wages are much higher than in her market.

These examples are, in my humble opinion, validation of the adage, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way you’re right.”