The Times We’re In

In this week’s article, I want to shift gears. And I want to look at a much bigger picture. Just as a reminder.

We’re living in a worldwide period of transition right now. It is a generational and societal shift that I think will play out over the next decade.

I think it is important to know where things are going and have your eyes open. Research it yourself. And plan accordingly.

This period of change will be marked by things like:

• Inflation and monetary shifts
• Changes in standard of living amid economic changes
• A battle between centralization and decentralization
• Geopolitical upset

I’m not going to dive real deep into this. Not here in THE EDGE. But, I want to set the stage for how I think this might affect us as online business owners and entrepreneurs.

I just want to give you some things to think about. And perhaps remind you of the bigger picture.

First, in a world of rising inflation and what I believe will be big changes to the monetary system itself, what makes sense to do?

In a world where more and more centralization is happening and they are abusing that trust, what makes sense to do?

In a world where things will be changing quickly around you, what do YOU do?

Well, here’s my thoughts….

Make yourself more valuable. Increase your skills.

No matter what happens in the economy on a bigger scale, YOUR economy is personal. You’re in control.

And how do you make more money?

By serving more people and being more valuable.

So, if you’re working to build up a business, light a fire under your butt and let’s do this. If you’ve already got one, see how you can serve people more effectively and in a way which makes you less… optional.

If you’ve got a job, be more valuable. Perhaps even consider switching jobs since we’re currently in an economy where employers are looking for people. And, switching jobs is often a faster way to get pay raises.

Put wealth into things that can protect against inflation as much as possible.

The lack of understanding of money out there is so bad. Most don’t seem to realize that wealth is NOT the same as your bank balance.

Your bank balance can look like it isn’t changing, but if everything is getting more expensive, then you’re actually getting less wealthy by just sitting there.

As Ray Dalio has said, “Cash is Trash”. And, it is.

All world currencies are dwindling to zero. The money my business makes now would have been considered much more interesting 10-15 years ago. It just buys less now. That’s inflation.

So, we all need to be looking at ways to make more money. But, we also need to learn how to preserve that energy.

I won’t advise you on where to put your money, but this is something to think about. Most of my wealth is not in a bank… and for very good reason.

Become more self-dependent.

When you have large aspects of your life or business that are reliant on outside entities, that gives you more failure points.

And, in a fast changing world, even big corporations and banks and a lot of the things we take for granted now can become problematic in one way or the other.

In the context of blogging and online business, this is one reason why I’ve been so interested in bringing business components “in house” and into Wordpress.

I don’t want to be reliant on Google. Nor on Facebook. Nor on my email list provider. Nor… on anybody. I want those companies to be optional to me.

It helps with expenses, of course. And increasing profit margin is always a good idea. But, it also makes my business more portable and less reliant on third-parties.

You could apply the same logic to your own life, too.

…

It comes down to this…

To do well in this world, you need to be producing way more value than you consume. That thing you do needs to be considered valuable and exchangable by others.

You need to be responsible for yourself. Others, too, but you come first. You can’t help others if your own situation isn’t under control first.

And you need to know a little something about how money really works… so you can preserve the wealth that you create.

…

I know this is pretty different kind of piece than you usually read here in THE EDGE. But, let’s also be real…

We’re all doing this online business thing to try to improve our own lives and the lives of others. And we don’t operate in an island. What’s going on in the world certainly has an impact. And I think it is important to keep that big picture in mind… rather than getting mired down in just that next blog post, or what set of plug-ins to run.