“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” – Seneca
We’re in the midst of the longest U.S. economic expansion in history. That headline combined with current events provokes in many the desire to predict the next recession. Moreover, that fact pattern incites incredible fear and uncertainty often accompanied with anecdotes about 2008 and the financial crisis.
The media uses click-bait headlines leveraged by technology designed by cognitive scientists to capture our attention. Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt. Greed. These are the emotions most commonly triggered when scrolling through our news feed. Remember, if you didn’t pay anything for a service or product, it’s likely because you are the product. “Free” news is merely monetizing your clicks, views, and shares. They get paid based more on your attention than the accuracy of the information they’re sharing or its relevance to your plan.
Are we advocating that you should disengage or ignore the world around you? No. Rather, we focus our attention on the controllable inputs that precede the required outcomes of your plan. We allow a collaboratively executed plan combined with decades of empirical evidence to quiet the noisy world. There is a huge difference from being financially independent vs. being financially free. Focus on the parts of your plan that you can control.
Here are 16 things that you can do to proactively prepare for the next recession.