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Today I was absolutely astounded at the irresponsible comments made by Cabinet minister, Ed Balls. The current recession will be “more extreme and more serious than that of the 1930s”, he was reported as saying in the Yorkshire Post. Has he got a crystal ball? I speak to a lot of people connected in the City, and I think it is fair to say that no-one really knows with any degree of certaintly what is going to happen from one week to the next.

The recent hammering the GBP took over the pst months took many banks and businesses by complete surprise, and still today, Forex experts can’t say with any certainty how the GBP will compare with the USD or Euro in a week’s time. If the so-called financial experts knew it all, the world economy  wouldn’t be in the current mess that it seems to be in!

But, my point is, comments like Mr Balls’ only serve to contribute to any decline by pushing the economy further into a negative spiral. His comments are akin to a doctor informing a patient that he will only get worse. A negative prognosis is, all too often, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Medical studies have shown that there is a definite causative relationship between what we expect or believe, and what we get. Psychologists have also demonstrated in studies all over the world that in virtually every area of life, what we experience is largely influenced by our expectations.

One of the secrets to finding a flipside – the hidden opportunity – in setbacks and trauma, and overcoming adversity is raising our expectations and learning to become more optimistic even when faced with problems. And, there will always be reasons to be optimistic and hopeful. Read Harvey McKay’s book ‘We Got Fired!… And It’s The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us’ and you’ll see very quickly how even losing your job can turn out to be the catalyst needed for success.

A few weeks ago Shriti Vadera, Labour’s business minister, was chastised for daring to suggest that there were ‘green shoots’ in the economy. Of course, these are difficult times and many people are losing their jobs and their homes, but there are ‘green shoots’. Some people and businesses are thriving in the recession. The Pound shops, Lidl, Aldi, Charity shops – businesses that offer value for money, are all witnessing an upturn in sales. Services that help businesses and consumers cut costs are also doing well. Outsourcing services, car hire by the hour, grown your own seed suppliers, make your own wine and beer kits – all are seeing increased sales. A cheaper GBP makes British goods and services cheaper to customers abroad. So, perhaps there is opportunity for businesses through searching out new markets overseas?

There are ‘green shoots’ and they are there for all to see, but we need to look for them. Opportunities are always waiting to be found in any problem or setback, but to find them, we need to look for them. Mr Balls’ pessimistic comments compound our problems and act like mental molasses preventing us from moving forward and creating a better future.

Through my research in writing The Flipside, I am in no doubt that to succeed through difficult times, takes a number of factors. However, one key factor is learning to raise our expectations and become more optimistic. We can start by learning to ask different questions, empowering questions, of ourselves. Questions like ‘What is good about this?’ or ‘What could be good about this?’ or ‘What can I learn from this that will help me?’.

We are all motivated through pain and pleasure. Change comes through desperation and inspiration, most often through desperation. Difficult times and the problems that come with it can force us into exploring new ideas, seeking new solutions that we would, in all likelihood, not have sought had circumstances not forced upon us. The greatest discoveries in the world, the greatest success stories in life, all came about not in spite of, but because of, setbacks and challenges. Thomas Edison, widely acknowledged to have been the greatest inventor of the last millenium, went out of his way to find problems, because he understood that all problems bring with them opportunities, and the biggest problems we face in life, bring the greatest opportunities. One thing is certain, we’ll never find those opportunities listening to people like Ed Balls!