What does austerity mean?

As we approach the end of what was supposed to be a fantastic year some of us have already started to reflect on the past 11 months. Has it turned out to be all that you expected? If you haven’t quite hit the targets that you set don’t stress it and to those who have, just celebrate.

I want us all to take this last month to make time for the important things and then start to plan for next year.

The Important Things

• Spend some quality time with your parents if they are still here – take them to lunch or dinner. Really talk and connect.

• Call a sibling including those that live out of town or even out the country and let them know how you feel about them. (Positive please)

• You know that child that never stops asking questions and you never have time to sit down and talk – take some time out and make it happen.

• Relationships are so important it gives meaning to a lot of what we do. So let your spouse significant other know how much they mean to you in a way that they would appreciate.

• Take some time with yourself, get yourself right with God, and don’t neglect YOU.

Next Year

It is a time of austerity – government cuts have or will affect many of us, the credit crunch is still here and the future looks to be much of the same for next year. I suggest that we have to be thinking and acting differently.

Sometimes it is how we look at things. Do you remember the government advisor who got sacked for saying we have never had it so good? Is there any truth to that? Well I was delivering an away weekend for a client a few weeks ago and one of the participants was not shy to let us know that he had never had it so good. His property portfolio with low interest rates was giving him a great rate of return. He has moved into consultancy so his day rate pay has never been so high a lot better than being salaried and the company that he is working for have extended his contract. In fact he said he doesn’t spend his salary he just banks it. Wow!

So what are we to do, those of us not experiencing the best year yet, what can we learn?

Well I decided to look up in the dictionary what it said about austerity and the definitions were quite revealing and in the definitions I think there is a plan.

“Austerity – stern or severe, self-disciplined, severely simple “

So here it is

1. Make some severe decisions
2. Stay disciplined
3 .Keep it simple