Today’s discussion is a continuation of last Thursday’s post, entitled Control What You Can Control: The Producer Mindset.
I think it’s a very wise strategy going forward (for all of us) to think of ways in which we can put certain systems together in our lives that will help us to be more self-sufficient in certain areas of our lives.
We may not necessarily have the resources or the means in which to be self-reliant when it comes to many of the daily needs that must be met in our lives. But, we can at least make some moves toward learning ways in which we can control more of what we intake as food, what we’re offered in household and everyday-use products, what we receive into our bodies as remedies to cure certain illnesses and health conditions, the ways in which we earn a living or make income, and more.
Adopting a mindset of being more forward-thinking and intentional in how we go about living our lives is of paramount importance now and into the future. That’s how a process starts. It starts with a thought . . . an idea . . . a vision that can germinate and grow into actionable steps that get you to a sought-after destination (in this case, self-sufficiency or the capability to be more self-sufficient in life). We need to find more ways to do more things for ourselves.
And I’m always of the mindset that making small incremental and realistically doable changes in your life is a tried-and-true way of successfully reaching your goals. Big jumps and leaps in progress are great if you can make them happen, but such movements don’t happen to everyone or in all cases. Many times, it’s the consistent and unrelenting effort made on a daily basis that gets the job done.
I would encourage all of us to consistently apply a progressive mindset, where you’re thinking about doing those little things that add up over time. And with notable action applied to this thought process, you can eventually get to where you need to go. (Of course, the sooner the better.) Needless to say, this mindset is the starting point where a lot of us need to initially focus our attention.
We can’t always be the consumer and never the producer and think that we’re in control of some of the circumstances around us. We put ourselves at a great disadvantage — always in a position of letting things happen to us (being reactive) instead of making things happen for us (being proactive).
Think of the compromising position you’re placed into when you don’t have access to the things you need, can’t acquire the raw materials for the things you need, don’t manage the manufacturing sites where your things are made, don’t run the distribution channels that provide those things you need, and haven’t acquired the skills to bypass the supply chain above and produce the things on your own.
You can have all the money in the world, but money can’t buy you everything, especially in the times of a pandemic. A consumer’s money (no matter how much he or she may have) can be of little-to-no value when a product or service is hard to come by. Monetary means may provide somewhat of a cushion to prevent a hard fall in global crises and may give you more conveniences and access to the things you need versus not having dollars and having no cushion at all.
But, I would venture to say that there were medical professionals (with money) who couldn’t get the Personal Protective Equipment they needed to take care of their patients. And, some of their patients (with money) couldn’t get access to the ventilators they needed. In these instances, I’m pretty sure that financial wealth wasn’t even on the radar when dealing with emergency life and death situations.
Furthermore, when you go to the store, you could have the excess money; but if the store shelves are empty because of supply and demand issues, then your money won’t go very far in that store (at least not for the scarce products, anyway).
The thought process I’m encouraging is to creatively figure out ways to get access to the things you need when you need them. And check out this reality pill: if crises such as this current pandemic can happen once, then they can happen again and again. So, think of what systems you need to put in place to ease the blow or help sustain yourself and others NOW and for the next global wave of whatever.
And now that we have this global pandemic in our world’s history, then we’d better learn something from it because we need to set ourselves up for better outcomes the next go-around that comes around. Preparation is key, you know.
And, you’ve probably heard it said that you should “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
WELL?!
So again, as I mentioned last week, the frame of mind I’d encourage everyone to invest in is to think about “What can I do to help myself be able to sustain those basic needs (and even discretionary wants) that are important to me? What can I do to be a creator of those things in my own life and to be a creator to assist others in their lives as well.
I don’t mean assisting others by placing them in a position of dependency on your product or service, but assisting them so that there will be better options and more choices that will prevent the next scenario for the scarcity effect to rise up. The more producers there are, the higher the level of quality in products and services.
More competition drives up the quality. And what’s wrong with that? Products and services for the people by the people. We, as individuals who can learn from difficult circumstances, must recognize the need to make our quality products and services available to all and in the best interest (health-wise) for all.
In a time where an aggressive and mysterious virus is attacking our old way of life, I’m hopeful that we’ll prepare ourselves now and for future times by serving the needs and wants of ourselves as well as others in a way that will provide health and healing to our lives.
Here’s how we can make some moves toward creating our own stuff for our use and for the use of others:
- Take on the Producer Mindset (as described throughout this whole blog post).
- Look for credible people who are producers of what it is you’re wanting to create and learn what to do and what not to do from their examples.
- RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH! Use this Information Age we’re in to find information that will assist you in being the producer you are meant to be.
- Make a goal-setting action plan to outline the steps necessary to move you in the direction of your goal to be a producer of your product or service.
- Pull resources together that you already have access to for your creative venture. And, work toward acquiring the resources you’re lacking.
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