Do Now ...
What You Didn't Before.

What's getting us down? It's the Economy. Don't feel stupid! What'll we do Now? Stop listening to all the political rhetoric, newsprint media, television media news and other forms of feel bad information.

If you have to listen, just don't believe most of it. It'll stunt your growth or shrink your hopes. Move on. Let's divert.

WE WILL ALL GET THROUGH THIS!

The first thing to do now... do not panic. Number One. We highly recommend that you learn to jog or stretch, discover yoga or go to the gym.

Do get your 6 to 8 hours of sleep, but not any more than that. Less than 6 hours will make you sluggish and more than 8 hours will fog your mind and want for more sleep!

The easy part is saying o. k., the hard part is to GO DO IT! Start today or do now. We'll be here when you get back. Things are better than they seem. Jog it off.

This will clear your mind and relieve you of the numbings of stress. Stress affects our nervous systems.

When we find ourselves frozen in time doing nothing except worrying and begetting more stress the body needs an outlet to relieve the energy and adrenaline.

So if you find yourself unable to work, for example, go climb a mountain. Your body and it's nervous system will thank you and you will be temporarily destressed.

You can do anything you put your mind and commitment to do. Even if you do not get immediate results. Try again and again and again. Don't stop. Do now.

Some people have so much stress they have been running to the bathroom two and three times a day! This is also a temporary destressor.

The positive note is that they are losing weight! It's a do now thing. They are feeling better physically and getting more aggressive in acquiring that survival dollar.

Take vitamin supplements every day, breathe deep and exhale slowly; often and all day. Do now the dream.

Sing a song, write a story or a verse or a whole book. Play a musical instrument that you have put away for decades. Or divert your focus to learning a new instrument. Go and do now.

Listen to music that is up beat or soothing. Find lyrics that make you smile, laugh, ponder, or set you in the mood for love, intimacy, a good cry, hope and faith.

Find someone to serve. They are everywhere. The man without shoes was bitter until he saw another man with no feet.

Ride your bike. You have one, you know you do... somewhere.

Take a class in a junior college or anywhere and finish it.

Throw away the Newspaper and do not watch mind numbing T. V. but especially the News. Shows about murder and sex and deceit will only dampen your mood. Avoid those things which may encourage self-defeating behaviors.

Drinking alcohol, driving under the influence, occasional recreational deviations with drugs, contentious arguing, viewing pornography, wallowing in self pity and depression are all symptoms, of one another.

They are ways of self defeating. They can become perpetual cousins of doubt and misery. Leave them.

Smile. Go to the park and feed the ducks and watch some kids who play with no weight on their shoulders... no emotional reasonings that cause hurtful pain from within.

Be like them in what ever you do. The key is to DO anything that is right and good.

Now, once you have managed to budget time for these things, take time to evaluate what is most important.

Do not do important things to you, or to your significant other. What are the most important "big picture" items for you to do now. Make a list and prioritize it.

See beyond yourself otherwise you improve very little.

Spend time with family. Express your fears. Plan together to stick out the economic hardships no matter what happens.

Do not find excuses to break family commitments, like marriage or the disowning of a family member. This is a horrible and negative choice. Resolve personal relationship hardships.

Resolve to stay committed to things which matter most. For us it is family, even though family is on the verge of disintegration with negative stresses.

This is the time to pull together and become closer to one another.

What goes down, must come up.

Examine your feelings about God. Talk to Him. Realize that if you do not believe in God... it doesn't matter. He still believes in you.

Money is just money. Bankruptcy is never necessary. It is a convenience in our society. It is just a form of release of responsibility not stress.

You will always feel better paying your bills. Many make it a point to only pay principal back and ignore the interest, penalties and late charges.

Creditors in most markets are grateful to receive this and will negotiate with you. If they do not negotiate you tell them that this is all you can do now.

Then proceed on your own schedule and commitment even if creditors don't want it that way. Eventually, you will have them paid to your satisfaction. This is more important.

Politely tell them you are finished at that point and move on.

If some get nasty, unethical and send collection hounds decide whether or not they are worth paying period.

Now to pay off credit card debt it is very simple. Ignore all of your credit card debt except the smallest amount due on one card.(If you can make minimum payments on other cards then do that, if you can't focus on one debtor at a time.)

Budget to pay as much of the balance off as you can each and every month. So if you can afford to pay $100.00 a month and you have 18,000.00 in total principal debt; If one card is only $300.00 pay it off in three months.

Then find another small balance card and pay it off in the same manner, say $2000.00. In 20 months you'll have it paid off. Then you'll only have $15,700.00 left to pay.

As you get more comfortable you can add an extra amount of principal every month if you like.

Stop worrying about your credit rating. Once your balances show as "paid collections" or "settled" your credit score will soar instead of causing you to feel sore.

Life is good. It may take some patience and ingenuity but you can do it.

You can negotiate settlements if you like. It won't make you feel as good. AND any difference that you don't pay has to be reported as income and you must pay tax on it.

It may be better to choose how much you will pay your creditor and proceed from there.

If there is still a balance due because of late fees and charges of over the limit etc., they may still ding your credit so eventually you'll need to negotiate this as well or ignore it altogether.

Homes become houses when you are about to lose them. If foreclosure is at your door. Call the lender and plead with them to MODIFY your note.

Try to sell your house at market value. If you do not or can not get enough for your house ask the lender to take a short sale.

Pray for help

KNOW THAT EVERYONE IS AFFECTED BY THE 2008 ECONOMY. IT IS NOT JUST YOU. Very rich people have tumbled to nothing and are not able to pay their bills. Very poor people are confident that they can still make it. So can you. It all attitude and your will to proceed.

Other ideas to do now? Keep some cash in your home. Make sure the denominations are ones and fives and maybe some tens and twentys. Get $100.00 of quarters in rolls.

Don't go buy a gun unless you plan to learn how to use it and commit to keeping it in a locked safe away from children and loved ones. Use common sense.

Most of us do not need guns in our society. However, keeping guns and ammonition is not a bad thing to do.

If things ever got really bad, hunting would become a way of survival and having the guns and ammo available, in storage, would definitely be very smart.

Guns for protection from others is a rare happenstance in our current society. Let's keep it that way.

Get a 72 hour survival kit. We recommend acquiring a year's supply of food.

Here is some encouraging news!

6 percent unemployment means 94% are employed!

25% foreclosure rates means you have 75% keeping their houses somehow someway.

Global warming means you can keep your clothes off longer, not use as much oil to stay warm and enjoy outdoor activities longer. (remember the sunscreen)

Banks are closing but many more are staying open many more will start up anew.

If you have liquid cash, now is the time to buy real estate.

If you have a 401k or an IRA it may be time to re=evaluate how you use them. Make them self directed. This is a do now priority.

Do real estate hunting within these vehicles. Buy some gold and let the stock market keep 10 to 25% of your portfolio. Bring home as much cash as you can stash and not lose it.

Using the IRA, you'll amass a fortune and not pay taxes until age 70.5 If you divert money into a Roth self directed IRA you could amass great wealth and pay no taxes when it matures.

"Yes can do" is the best way to feel but it is also an energetic base for enthusiasm and passion for future shaping events in your life. Don't stop now... Yes can do now!

More to come.

Do Now