One Mahurangi – A self-fulfilling prophecy

When out driving, where do you focus your line of sight? I tend to look ahead to where I want to go because if I looked at the ditch on the side of the road, that would be where I would end up! I know the roadside ditch exists, but it doesn’t need my focus if I want to get to my destination.

We all know that internationally things are pretty grim. The war in Ukraine is causing oil prices and other commodities to rise, inflation is on the rise in most countries and the cost of living just keeps going up and up. We read the paper and watch the news, which reinforces our assessment of living in hard times. Things are indeed terrible out there so what can we do?

The understandable reaction we tend to make first is we try to save money and stop spending. We become slower at paying our bills on time and this chain reaction then becomes the self-fulfilling prophecy we hear: things are indeed just as the media warned, and an economic depression looms.

I believe that while there are things on the world stage that we can’t control, we can still look to the smaller things closer to us that we can still positively influence. As a community, being Stronger

Together looks like buying local, supporting local, and paying our bills on time. It’s focusing on where we can lend a hand, not where we can withdraw a hand. Imagine how strong our Mahurangi local economy would be if we decided that were going to do our best to support our local businesses and not hide our heads in the sand and hope the grim economic situation passes us by.

So often I have seen in times like this, businesses decide not to advertise because they believe there is an economic depression coming so what’s the point? But then when we stop marketing and advertising sure enough, business does slow down. I wonder why?

Keep supporting local publications with advertising and keep marketing your local business. Look at coming up with promotions that let people know you are still here and that you have decided not to buy into all the negativity and see what happens. During these challenging times there may be a small dip in business, but there might be a lot more people out there who want to share in your positive outlook and get in behind what you are doing.

A positive example of companies being prepared to invest in a local promotion is the Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights. Apart from a grant from the Rodney Local Board, this festival is funded by local businesses who believe in their local community. These businesses know that the festival will bring thousands of people into the area and will also put their business branding and values into the spotlight. Stronger Together and Love Local are core values at the heart of the One Mahurangi business community and our members continue to reflect that.

If we think positive and act positive, then that will also be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Look ahead to where you want to be and together, we will help each other get there.