Turn on the television, radio, or open up the newspaper…the big story is the economy. Everywhere we turn we’re hearing about it. From Wall Street to Your Street, massive job layoffs, dwindling bank accounts, and tightening wallets are in effect.

Experts are giving recommendations for how we need to manage during these tough economic times.  They recommend that we live below our means with consumer savvy spending – increasing coupon usage at the grocery stores, improving the fuel efficiency of our cars, and buying fewer lattes from the local coffee shop. Those are great ideas but I have an additional recommendation that the experts are NOT saying.

I recommend that we live above our mean. Yes, live above our mean!

In other words, we need to live above our average. We need to increase our standards and live above them… not below them!

Remember, our true wealth is intangible and much more than money. No matter the condition of the economy, it comes down to the standards we set for ourselves. In order to live above our mean, each of us needs to ask:

1)      What type of person am I?

2)      What type of person do I want to be?

And then become the person you desire to become. Become a better person than you are now. We can increase our standard of living by increasing our standard of being.

Financially challenging times are stressful and can be an opportune time to get caught in a rut. It can lead many of us to be abrasive in our relationships, have negative self-talk and distorted self-image concepts. But we don’t have to let financially challenging times bring out the worst in us.

No matter the state of the economy, we can live above our mean anytime. How do we do it? Increase our standards by expecting more from ourselves, by being a joy to our families and by giving more to our communities.

So, do as the experts recommend – be consumer savvy and be conscious of your financial budget. But make sure you spend more of your smiles on your friends, share more of your laughter with your family, give more of your skills to your community, and invest more of your time in your relationships. Put that into your budget.

It won’t cost you a penny.