Many people are misguided and believe that a recession is a time to reduce their ambitions of wealth. This is a common misconception that keeps people from gaining wealth in the first place. There are many investment vehicles that are now trading or selling at a large discount compared to three years ago. And yet, more people will stay away from investing now than they did three years ago. Why is that?

While the financial crisis is real, what it represents is up to you. The Chinese symbol for "crisis" is said to be made up of two individual characters which mean, in broad terms, "danger" and "opportunity".

You can decide how you will respond to the current climate. Will you adopt a poverty consciousness and cut back to survive? Or, will you see the current state of play in the global economy as an opportunity to foster your entrepreneurial skills and build more prosperity?

The transferral of wealth currently taking place means there has never been a better time to launch a business in a market you identify as growing already or is predicted to grow into the future. The current climate represents the perfect storm of opportunity. However, it is up to you to decide whether you will capitalise on the market conditions. More millionaires were made out of the Great Depression than ever before.

Most people do not realize how wealth is truly built. It is not the easiest task, but it can be done. You have to be able to think differently than the majority of the population. You have to always keep in mind that the majority of Americans live their life in debt or just barely getting by. And that is because they do not take opportunity when it presents itself.

The Great Depression is remembered as a time when many people lost their homes and their savings. What most people do not know is that there were more millionaires created in that time than had ever been made before. Why? Because those people recognized all of the opportunities that were now present. The same can be said of the 1990's. After the recession of the early part of the decade, many people gained an incredible amount of wealth. Again, it was because there were people who saw the opportunity and had the ability to look at the long term scale.

Take responsibility, set down your goals, identify opportunity and take confident action.