Generally, I never wait ’til New Years ,Day 1st of the month or a Monday to start anything. Any change I want to effect in my life I start the minute or day that I make the commitment to change.

The events of this year will spark off so many new or re-confirmed dreams and goals. The global credit crunch has brought a change to many of our behaviours concerning consumerism and how we live. As a result, I would urge everyone to follow at least a few of these tips in your 2009 plans:

Watch your thoughts: Be careful of what you wish for. You will get it. The Universe doesn’t understand “Don’t give me X, Y and Z”, so you’ll get exactly what you asked not to receive. Be the master designer of your life. Be positive and think big – it’s all possible if you…

Believe: Apparently lack of belief has hindered many people from making the Law of Attraction work for them. It’s about developing a mindset to be open to receiving the blessings of the Universe. It won’t happen overnight but you’ll start to see things happen before your eyes.

Meditate/Pray/Study daily: Find quiet time to be with you and the Creator. Find your own way to have this conversation – what ever suits you is right for you. Find your gut instinct/intuition/quiet voice which will steer you through life to achieve your dreams. Read and watch material that inspires, energizes and teaches you how to live your life they way you truly want to.

Give and be grateful: What do you notice when you give without expecting in return? It’s amazing isn’t it? Have you paid attention to how many other blessings your receive when you give? Yes the Universe/Creator makes sure you’re always rewarded. Express gratitude everyday – in a journal, blog, video blog – whatever resonates with you. Your blessings will be increased many times over. Remember coincidences are the asked blessings that turn up unexpectedly! There is no such thing as coincidences.

and finally

Be more self-reliant: Over the last 30 years or more, we’ve been moving into a new age. Every 10 years (also called recessions) a major shift takes place and the outcome of the most recent events is we have to find ways to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Jobs for life, occupational pensions, company sponsored health care (UK) have all but disappeared. Governments have less funding to look after us, especially after recent the multi trillion dollar bailouts. Find ways to use your talent and knowledge to create multiple income streams. Leverage your time to make sure that you can look after your loved ones at the level you desire and not the Government levels of poverty that we are currently seeing. Create and manage your own micro economy – learn about money and treat it well. It will bestow great treasures on you.

2009 will be whatever you make it. Take care of your business of your life and it will take care of you.

Happy New Year!

Despite the government and the Bank of England reassuring Northern Rock customers that their money is safe and the bank is solvent, very few people believe what is perceived as facts. Northern Rock allegedly hasn’t even drawn down on the emergency funds that they requested from the BoE as yet and it looks like the bank’s own customer will increase the likelihood of collapse for the country’s 5th largest mortgage lender.

So when did we stop believing in whatever the government tells us? We elect a government based on their manifesto (lies in some cases), expect them to act on our behalf, and then when they advise us to do or not to do something we don’t take their advice. I’m not saying if this is good or bad, it’s just my observation.

I think that the masses stopped believing in their governments (in the western world) since the fall-out of 9/11. Inaccuracies, mis-information and conspiracy theories led lots of people to distrust those of authority who are supposed to act in our best interests. In the UK, people still remember quite clearly the Equitable life and Robert Maxwell fiascos and many people are still suffering from the loss of value of their pensions. In this increasingly uncertain age how do we protect ourselves and our loved ones? What do these economic alerts mean for the short and mid term future?

I’m a contractor in Marketing and Advertising and I’m a little nervous about what this means cos when business gets a little shaky, the first resource to go is marketing as it’s seen to be a costly business expense after wages. PR staff tend to survive for a bit longer.

I’m seeing the same indicators of the last slow-down/recession but no-one is saying the R word: lots of shops for sale on the high street, job cuts in large companies etc. Yet the high street consumer sales still seem to be strong, the house market is slowing marginally but still growing and I believe business confidence is still strong. But for how long?

Not wanting to bring doom and gloom, but it makes me all the more confident and reassured that by working on my own projects to increase my streams of income is the right thing to do. And that way I can recession-proof myself in as many ways as possible. Once I’ve worked this out, I want to share it, because the US sub-prime market crisis, the Global credit crunch and the Northern Rock panic is perhaps just a blip. But there is more to come and we should get educated to understand how that will actually affect us now and in the long term.

As the economy historically has shown trends in regular cycles, many people are expecting history to repeat itself again. Maybe it will, or maybe it won’t. I’m leaning more to won’t as we’re in a different age now and the power is shifting from the authorities and governments to individuals, in terms of money that is. What I’d really like to understand are the ‘what if’ scenarios and how that will affect me and how I may help others. Not sure how, but I’m sure I can work this out.

I think this is the ‘All change’ that so many financial experts and economists have talked about for a while. It’s filtering down to everyday people and because of our general lack of understanding, financial education and trust for authority, we’re unsure what to do and how to react wisely.

All change means that we should now start to control and maintain our money and assets and not leave it up to our fund managers, bank managers without truly understanding what we’re getting ourselves into.

All change means that we now need to give up the one income stream model cos we have no guarantees in life and companies are no longer loyal to their employees, their shareholders generally come top of the list.

All change means getting off the bus right now and finding your own means of transport. But after I get through this damned to-do list!