Preparing a personal debt consolidation strategy is one way to deal with your financial struggles. As difficult and painful as it is to face your situation and deal with it honestly, that path develops your character and makes you a better person.
"When a man is in love or in debt,
someone else has the advantage.”
- Bill Balance |
For some people, financial problems are shameful and create stress, anxiety and hopelessness. Every time they are late with a payment, or get a call from a creditor the shame and emotional chaos compounds.
They get stuck in a vicious, self-destructive downward spiral, and they rush out trying to fix things as quickly and easily as possible, perhaps with another loan, not knowing how to properly create a personal debt consolidation strategy.
Debt consolidation can be a huge trap if you use it as a quick fix and don't change the way you use money. Changing your spending behavior is truly the best fix.
The truth is that the situation is neither shameful nor hopeless - about a quarter of all Americans have credit problems. In fact, your credit problems give you an opportunity - an opportunity to grow and become the person you want to be.
The first thing you have to do is come out of the "Land of Denial" and admit that you have a problem. You are in debt, you're in over your head, and you're not able to meet your financial obligations. Those are facts; they are the cold, hard reality.
You have to acknowledge your feelings about your situation. It is normal to experience fear, anxiety, anger, shame and a host of other feelings about your financial situation.
Finances are an emotionally laden area of our lives. When our finances are in poor shape, it threatens our security and sense of personal safety. You've got to admit how you are feeling if you want to get out of a dysfunctional financial cycle.
Finally, you've got to take responsibility for yourself and your decisions. You probably have bought in to the marketing hype created by the credit industry; they do in fact target people who are vulnerable and lure you into credit products that when not used properly, can create a financial debt trap.
Just because you may feel as if you've been victimized, however, doesn't mean you have to be a victim. How you respond to your financial issues is a choice only you will make. You can wallow in fear and self-pity, blaming everyone else, or you can empower yourself by choosing to be responsible.
That means you acknowledge that you got yourself into this mess, and do the hard work to get out of it! YOU CAN DO IT!
You may need to restructure your debt by planning a solid personal debt consolidation strategy. You'll almost certainly need to change your spending habits and trim your expenses.
You may need to sell some of your belongings, or get a second job in order to meet your financial obligations.
If you need help or advice, you go out and get it. The effectiveness of your personal debt consolidation strategy will likely depend on which resources you choose to get advice from. So be very deliberate in who you adopt as a financial mentor.
If you need counseling to deal with emotional spending or other issues related to finances, you go get the help you need. You choose to do whatever it takes to honor your obligations and pay your debts.
As you work hard at getting out of debt, you'll change. Change is a good thing, it means you are learning and growing.
You'll be empowered instead of victimized, strong instead of weak, a person of honesty and integrity and good character. You'll stop making shame-based decisions because you'll be proud of yourself - and rightly so.
At a point in the not to distant future, you won't even need advice for a personal debt consolidation strategy.
Just get started now and do the hard work to become debt free, not just to be free of debt, but to become the person you will HAVE to become in order to make it happen!
Becoming your BEST self, is the true reward.
"Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience;
you will find it a calamity."
- Samuel Johnson |
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Debt is NOT your friend. It's not a wonderful "tool" for building wealth. That's a myth.
