Taking personal responsibility for our own mess.

I talk to a lot people everyday and ask many questions about how they feel concerning the economic crisis affecting our country. This is what I hear: Life sucks, the government is corrupt, they don't care about us, life is not fair, and the list goes on.

So far I have not heard anyone saying: You know, we have to take some of the responsibility for this mess. I have been spending way beyond my revenues or resources, creating debt (the 800 pound gorilla sitting on your shoulders and causing a tremendous amount of fear and stress).

Marriages are breaking up due to the arguments caused by the lack of money to pay the bills. We have failed to save for a "rainy day" and now we blame anyone but ourselves. Of course, there are circumstances out of our control. So, let's stop worrying about things we can't change and concentrate on how we can get out of this crisis. The Chinese language has a symbol with dual meaning: one way spells crisis and the other one opportunity.

The way I see it, this is a wake-up call. We need to change our spending habits, we have become a nation of spenders with instant gratification. If the trinket doesn't love you back, don't buy it. If you already have it, sell it and save the money.

If unemployed, take advantage of this opportunity, go back to school and learn another skill, change careers, get another job in another industry, move to another city. When you are at the bottom of the pit, you have no place to go but up.

Surround yourself with people who see life as a painting canvass, creating their own destiny. Stay away from toxic people, even if they are relatives.

If you are employed and the money is not enough, you have two choices: Create more revenue, cut costs or do both. You can't print money. If you tell me that jobs are hard to find, then explain to me how immigrants have two and sometimes 3 jobs.

Start a think tank with other people to find out what people need and provide it. I always said that you can knock out the competition if: You provide 110 % service to your customer, love what your do, have fun doing it and expect a reasonable profit--because without a profit you can not stay in business. This you can apply to any business. Think out of the box-- something blue, something new. I have a friend who started a business cleaning windows and toilets for small commercial companies and he is doing rather well. He now has three employees. I forgot to tell you that he used to be a Project manager for a computer company.

Above all, be kind to yourself and others. You are not your job. Trust me, there is a way out. But we have to start with ourselves.