After the collapse of the US economy a year ago, the world business landscape has changed dramatically.

Feng Shui teaches us to align and understand the Universal winds so we can make the decisions that will take us where we want to go (instead of ending up wherever the winds take us).

When the economic winds change in such a drastic way as happened in the last year, this means that many of the business decisions that were right last year, might be wrong this year. We need to adapt to new financial climate to be able to succeed.

I have been observing businesses and individuals, both clients and friends, and taking note of what are the common denominators of success in a down economy, and these are the 6 main characteristics I have noticed:

Flexibility - The main quality of individuals and businesses that are not just doing well, but having financial growth in 2009 is flexibility, the ability to adapt to the new circumstances, maintaining a constant dialog with reality and making the necessary changes in their financial and business practices.

A wide range of skills - I know several professionals that are doing well right now because when their current line of business went down they were able to get jobs or start projects that capitalized on skills they had acquired previously.

Humility - Let me illustrate this point with an example. A very successful Reiki master saw her business come to a virtual standstill when the economic crises first hit. Even though she had retired early from nursing because she disagreed so much with the way health care is handled in conventional hospitals, she went back to her former profession. She chose to go into hospice care, because she saw this was an area where she would not feel that she was compromising her beliefs about health.

Diligence - A university professor had decided to cut her hours of teaching to a part time position so she could concentrate in a business she was starting. When the economy changed, she went back to teaching full time, while still devoting time to help her budding business grow. This means that she is now busier than ever, but she knows this is a temporary situation.

Resilience - The people who today are doing better than last year are those who do not take it personal. They understand that the conditions of external reality have changed and accept the changes that this may mean for their lifestyle without bitterness.

Toughness - Rough economic times give businesses the opportunity to assess the performance of their personnel and make the decisions that will allow for the survival of the business owner and the rest of the employees. In times of general prosperity a business can withstand lack of efficiency in employees, machinery or systems, but in a down economy this is much harder to do. Tough economic times can call for tough decisions. One of the hardest decisions for a business owner is to let go of personnel, but in certain circumstances keeping employees that are not contributing to the business or who are causing losses can endanger the survival of the whole business.