In times of economic distress, many people sit on the sidelines, worried about their future.  You may be one of them.

You may have heard the tales of woe emanating from the mainstream media and reasoned that failure is imminent.  You may believe that lay-offs and foreclosures are legitimate excuses for pulling back on your business plans.  Or, as I noted recently, you may find yourself huddled in the corner in the fetal position waiting for someone to save your economic bacon. 

What you need is some context.

As Heather Milligan writes in her outstanding post, you need to look for inspiration in the recession.  Though her words are directed to new law school grads, they apply equally to anyone in the business:  rather than panicking, "maybe you should be looking at the different opportunities and paths that are now available to you."

No matter how dark the future may appear today, things will get better. You cannot place your future into the hands of others.  You must accept responsibility for your own fate, take reasonable risks, and move forward with confidence. 

Times of economic uncertainty lead to great opportunities.  Take advantage of those opportunities.

If you want your business to prosper during difficult economic times, you must think and act differently than your competition.  You must stop thinking like your peers, and start thinking like your clients.  You must, as Harry Beckwith suggests, ask yourself, "What would people love?" and then change your way of doing business so that your clients will love what you do. 

Make yourself invaluable to your client.  Your job is to make your client's job easier, to make her pain go away, to help her sleep soundly at night.  Don't wait for her to tell you what she needs.  Your success depends on figuring out what her needs are and creating solutions that she will love.

Move forward with confidence.  Discover how to make yourself invaluable to your client.  Focus on making your client's job easier, and your business will boom.