For the past several months, all of us have read/watched/heard an enormous amount of talk about a recession. The media seems to be obsessed with the topic. Are we in one? Are we headed for one? If we are in one, how bad is it and how long will it last? What can we do about it? And on, and on, and on.
Which brought a question to mind: Are we talking ourselves into a recession? Put another way, have we become a nation of economic hypochondriacs intent on talking ourselves into real/imaginary hard times?
The question reminded me of the following fable. It appeared in the February 24, 1958, issue of Newsweek in an advertisement for Quaker State Metals Company. It provides an excellent example of how reacting to words as if they are a reality can affect a business and an individual.
A Man Lived by the Side of the Road ...
... and sold hot dogs.
He ... had no radio.
He had trouble with his eyes, so he had no newspaper.
But he sold good hot dogs.
He put up a sign on the highway, telling how good they were.
He stood by the side of the road and cried: "Buy a hot dog, mister,"
and people bought.
He increased his meat and bun orders, and he bought a bigger
store to take care of his trade.
He got his son home from college to help him. But then something
happened.
His son said: "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio?
There's a big depression on. The international situation is terrible,
and the domestic situation is even worse."
Whereupon his father thought: "Well, my son has been to college.
He listens to the radio and reads the papers, so he ought to
know."
So, the father cut down his bun order, took down his advertising
sign, and no longer bothered to stand on the highway to sell hot
dogs.
His hot-dog sales fell almost overnight.
"You were right, son," the father said to the boy. "We are certainly
in the middle of a great depression."
Moral: Tune out the noise. You can't control the economy but you can control your economy. And that's where the battle for financial freedom is won.
Which brought a question to mind: Are we talking ourselves into a recession? Put another way, have we become a nation of economic hypochondriacs intent on talking ourselves into real/imaginary hard times?
The question reminded me of the following fable. It appeared in the February 24, 1958, issue of Newsweek in an advertisement for Quaker State Metals Company. It provides an excellent example of how reacting to words as if they are a reality can affect a business and an individual.
A Man Lived by the Side of the Road ...
... and sold hot dogs.
He ... had no radio.
He had trouble with his eyes, so he had no newspaper.
But he sold good hot dogs.
He put up a sign on the highway, telling how good they were.
He stood by the side of the road and cried: "Buy a hot dog, mister,"
and people bought.
He increased his meat and bun orders, and he bought a bigger
store to take care of his trade.
He got his son home from college to help him. But then something
happened.
His son said: "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio?
There's a big depression on. The international situation is terrible,
and the domestic situation is even worse."
Whereupon his father thought: "Well, my son has been to college.
He listens to the radio and reads the papers, so he ought to
know."
So, the father cut down his bun order, took down his advertising
sign, and no longer bothered to stand on the highway to sell hot
dogs.
His hot-dog sales fell almost overnight.
"You were right, son," the father said to the boy. "We are certainly
in the middle of a great depression."
Moral: Tune out the noise. You can't control the economy but you can control your economy. And that's where the battle for financial freedom is won.
