Posted by Mike Smith :: November 8, 2008 @ 6:10 am

With the sudden change in the state of the economy, everyone is worried about their financial futures (especially these guys). I'm sure you've been hearing advice from every side about what to do. Should you take out all your money and invest it in gold, or buy Euros with all of your soon to be worthless American currency? Or should you just stock up on canned goods for a potential nuclear winter? Who knows.

The people who are giving you advice now are the same people who were advising you before the crash – the same guys that were wrong just a few weeks ago (case in point: Mad Money's Jim Cramer recommended Bear Stearns just a week before it collapsed). The advisers who continually change their advice are doing so for ratings, not because they have the answers. They don't.

However, the fundamentals always stay the same. When you can't predict the future – and you can't, with this market – it's important to look at what you can do regardless of the future. Paul Graham said it best when he described what new startups should do in a struggling economy:

"If you want to improve your chances, you should think far more about who you can recruit as a cofounder than the state of the economy. And if you're worried about threats to the survival of your company, don't look for them in the news. Look in the mirror." - Paul Graham

If you are worried about the economy, focus on what you can change: yourself. Go back to the basics: set some goals, make a plan, and make sure you are safe enough to have an emergency fund in case of disaster. But, the things you can't change – don't worry about them too much. Just work on what you can.