Did you have a good holiday season - I hope so because the party’s over!

Okay, so I wake up today to find that Bloomberg is reporting home sales were off again in December. Well that was expected but here’s the thing that really caught my attention:  Their poll of 60 “experts” underestimated the drop.  Let me put it this way -  It was almost 300% worse than they projected!

I’ve talked about this before

We keep hearing those three words: “Worse than expected” with every new report on the condition of the economy. If you’ll remember I said the economic situation doesn’t fit the current “models” for accurately projecting what’s coming.  When you hear a report that experts are predicting a 2% decline in some area of the economy next month - you should be interpreting it as a 4% to 6% decline - because that’s what’s been going on over the last few months - The projections of the experts have been 2 to 3 times lower than the actual amount in almost every case.

So here’s what I think may be going on:

Nobody want’s to admit how bad things are because nobody want’s to be called a “doom and gloomer”.  I’ve already had to defend myself on a couple of radio interviews from that label because of my work on the Intentional Self-Reliance Boot Camp… As if preparing for the unknown and doing what you can in order to survive and prosper is somehow being negative and expecting the worst…

Burying your head in the sand because the truth makes you feel uncomfortable is far more dangerous than simply facing reality and making sure you are in the best possible position to ride the storm…

How is that negative or “doom and gloom”?

Putting yourself in the best possible position to master the new opportunities which present themselves whenever a change to the status quo takes place - means you are adjusting your perception to include the reality of what may be possible at any given moment.  

This minimizes “surprises” and maximizes your ability to maintain control over your options.

If you’re afraid to see things as they really are - your fear will eventually turn you into a victim of what you refuse to accept as the current reality.

Only by understanding the current reality will you be able to create your own “parallel reality” which empowers your ability to find your passion and live a lifestyle that allows you to follow your dreams…

-Bob Baran