Counter fear with new plan of action

The financial fear in this country is palpable. When someone asks me, "How are you doing?" my answer is "I have a job."

I'm not without hope for a long-overdue economic recovery, but some days it gets downright depressing. It's hard staying optimistic when the economic figures swing from good to bad on any given week. It's hard to stay positive when every day I get an e-mail or personal request from someone deep in debt desperately looking for help.

This summer, MetLife released results from its fourth annual study of the American Dream.

For many, the dream has been deferred, the study showed. Fifty-two percent of those polled said they felt more stress in performing their jobs, and 45 percent said that if they lost employment they would have enough money to meet financial obligations for about a month. A majority of respondents worried that they would lose their jobs.

We have to keep the fear at bay. And I have just the book to help. For the Color of Money Book Club's September recommendation, I've selected "Turn Setbacks into Greenbacks: 7 Secrets for Going Up in Down Times" by Willie Jolley (Wiley, $21.95).

Jolley is a motivational speaker and host of "The Willie Jolley Weekend Show" on Sirius XM Radio. I know him, and if you are with him for even a minute, he will get you charged up about something in your life. He can't help it. Motivation just pours out of him. Jolley is a man on a mission to get all of us to see that our dreams may have been deferred, but they don't have to die because of the recession.

"In changing and challenging times, I believe it is necessary to think differently," Jolley writes. "If you are willing to do different things and do some of the old things differently, you will be able to go beyond surviving and get to a place of thriving."

Jolley's advice doesn't come with budget sheets or investment tips but with inspiration to persist and persevere in tough economic times. It may take years before your 401(k) rebounds. You may not get a job for months and, as many families are finding out, it's difficult to hold on to a home with a whopping mortgage. Do you let these financial setbacks wipe you out mentally too? The singular focus of his book, which is teeming with positive affirmations, is to give your financial thinking a lift. Here's a sample:

• "Pressure makes diamonds, but panic makes disasters."

• "The minute you make a decision and move in a new direction is the minute you change your life."

• "Economic storms, like thunderstorms, come into our lives at various times, but you need to stay mindful of the fact that they come to pass, they do not come to stay."

• "When you start focusing on your possibilities instead of your problems, you will find that life becomes much more manageable."

A Pew Research Center report found that long-term unemployment doesn't just strain people's budgets, it also has a profound impact on their personal relationships and understandably erodes self-confidence. Pew found that people unemployed for at least six months or longer were significantly more likely to say they sought professional help for depression or other emotional issues while out of work.

In times like these, people need pep talks while they look for work. The talk doesn't pay the bills, but it keeps them from losing hope.

Jolley tells his readers to be proactive in changing their financial situation. In this job market you'll need to stay positive, but you also need to stay aggressive in looking for employment.

"It is in these moments of challenge that we will either move forward toward our goals and dreams or we will fall back toward our fears," he says.

If you want to go up in down times, Jolley adds, don't panic, be creative and come up with a financial plan.