What is the most difficult part of owning a business in today’s economy? Are you losing customer base? Having a tough time getting credit? Worried about having to lay off employees?

Email me and let’s share problems and potential solutions. Also, visit our LinkedIn community and let us know. I will be sure to credit you and your ideas in a future blog on this issue.

Thanks, Lisa

Do you feel deeper in debt? You are not alone.

According to an article recently published by USA today, federal obligations and debt have soared $6.8 trillion in 2008 to 63.8 trillion. What does this mean to your household? It means it will cost an average of $55,000 per household to cover rising federal commitments made just in the past year!

These key federal obligations are:
-Social Security; which will grow from 1 to 2 million beneficiaries this year alone.
-Medicare; more than 1 million a year will enroll starting in 2011 and..
-Retirement programs for civil service (government workers) which currently stand at 5.3 trillion

I for one think we need to continue to save our own money (whatever you can carve out) to try to stay ahead. By the time we retire, who knows if any of this money will be available?

Please take responsibility for your savings and your financial future…we can no longer afford to keep our head in the sand!

Appraisals are becoming one of the biggest obstacles for those trying to sell their homes, refinance their mortgage or tap into any credit line (if there is any equity).

During the housing boom, appraisers were swamped and had increased pressure to inflate home values in order for the borrower to get a loan, now it looks as if the pendulum has swung too far the other way.

The bigger problem however, is in the refinancing of existing loans. If an appraisal comes in too low it could promote the lender to turn down the loan, as the lender does not want to be burned with lower property values.

To me there needs to be a compromise. If there isn’t one, foreclosures will continue, even for those with good credit and income, but no equity due to a low appraisal.

How do you handle your emotions? Many people say they don’t care what others think of them, that maybe true, but most of us are much more insecure. We do care what others think of us, but have allowed our emotions to get away from us. When we don’t master our emotions we alienate people on the receiving end of our outburst. This could be perceived as overpowering, petty and childish.

A business associate of mine is a single mom with kids. She is totally stressed out and blows up at the least little occurrence. If things don’t go exactly her way, her temper will flare. I have heard repeated complaints from others who wish to have nothing to do with her. Unfortunately, she is not a friend where I can sit down and have a heart to heart conversation about how to win friends in everyday life. In fact, her latest outburst prompted me to write today’s blog.

I’ve listed three helpful tips for those who feel they need to create a calm self-awareness so as not to overreact to a situation.

1. Practice detachment. Try to “step away” from a situation and look at it from an observer perspective. This works especially well for me personally. If I am in an interchange where someone has hurt my feelings or angers me, I try to step back and take a few deep breaths. In other words, think before you speak.

2. Write it off. Try keeping an emotional journal, jot down when you experience stress, and emotional outburst. Look for a pattern to your emotional thinking. You may be able to put things in perspective when you can see a pattern.

3. Take a walk. Get out of the situation and come back to it when you cool down.

If all else fails, consider therapy. Being an angry person is not good for your physical or emotional health.