Don’t Use the Economy as a Universal Excuse
“Once the economy turns around I am going to . . . ”
“I am going to . . . . once the recession ends.”
“If we were not in a recession I would . . . ”
Sound familiar? I am willing to bet that everyone has heard a variation of the above phrases on numerous occasions in the past couple of years. In fact, if you are like me, you have even used one of them, and used it more than once.
But is the economy really a valid excuse for so many of our problems? Sure, the economy has troubles and the vast majority of us have felt some negative consequences because of some facet of the recession. Still, I would argue that most of us are using the “bad economy excuse” in far too many situations.
Let us explore a couple of popular examples:
“As soon as the economy turns around, I am going to look for another job.” Yes, the job market is not that attractive, but that does not mean you completely give up. Sometimes after a company “reorganizes,” and conducts a layoff, new jobs are created soon after. After all, did you really expect the bozo’s that run your company get it right the first time? One never knows when the right job will come along. However, if your job searching eyes are closed, you could miss this opportunity.
“If we were not in a recession, I would move out of this house.” Is it a great time to sell a home? Probably not. But guess what, that truth is your favor whey you buy a new one. The thousands of dollars below the peak value of your home that you are afraid to lose can be quickly regained by buying a home that is thousands of dollars below it’s pre-recession value.
Once the economy turns around I am going to replace those drafty windows” Of course, any major purchase is that much more difficult to “pull the trigger on” during tough economic times. Still, when a purchase will eventually pay for itself, there are very few economic situation that should delay it.
Alright, these examples might all seem like “slam dunks,” but my main point still holds true. The economy may have a bad case of swine flu, but that doe not mean that you should start living in a bubble. Thus, the next time your are tempted to use the economy as an excuse for something, I urge you to reconsider.
“If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.”–Yiddish proverb
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Filed under: Personal Finance
yeah. I think people who cant find job because of other reasons beside poor economy are taking advantage. Like people who cant attain the knowledge requirements of a company. They will use the “blame it to our bad economy…” statement just to escape the embarrassment.
The economy may be weak, but our future is still what we make it. Phenomenal fortunes have been made in every environment. A poor economy isn’t an excuse, it’s a reason to work harder.
Correct, making those excuses are just reasons to procrastinate. There are times when taking timing of the economy into consideration make sense but far far far less then you hear people explain they need to wait on changes in the economy.
you make an excellent arguement (and i love the pictures). The reality is that if you can start a business in a recession and make it work then you have a sound business idea. The problem is that many small business started when the good times were already here and these are the first to go generally speaking.
[...] Kevin from The Red Stapler Chronicles presents Don’t Use the Economy as a Universal Excuse. [...]
The problem is not just with the economy but with the person itself. If you keep on procrastinating, you’ll never go far.
although i have job that might be considered as stable i am looking for another job for more than a year now
still haven’t found it but i swear i will
and yeah all this recesion thing is just another excuse for not doing whatever you should do
Mr. Miyagi is awesome! R.I.P.
Although the economy may be weak there are certainly many opportunities out there. A lot of small business start up are occurring since markets have holes in them now. It will be interesting in 5 - 10 years to take a look at how many of those businesses are still in business and how successful they are.
What a wonderful post! Excellent point, let’s not make the economy or the recession an excuse to slack off or prolong things or settle for mediocrity. We need to rise above such situations and strive even harder, work better, and be even more resourceful. Thanks!
“If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.”–Yiddish proverb
Agreed, right now is the perfect time to get your ducks in a row and plan for the future, not just dream about it.
I agree with you. Even though economy is bad, many of us use these sentences as excuses. The job market may be bad but there are still some jobs that most people can get.