I am thrilled to report that my non-profit foundation has recently been successful in empowering many individuals who've asked for guidance about how to save their homes by not joining the other 11.3 million homes already in foreclosure. The most recent call was from an attorney calling on behalf of her brother, who has suffered a pay cut and is desperately trying to reduce his mortgage payment but to no avail. The one thing that I can hear in her voice is FEAR! But just by giving her a few helpful suggestions and opening up new possibilities, I noticed her fear was beginning to dissipate.

What people don't understand is that fear does not just affect your personal life but also your business life. Operating due to the fear factor will do nothing but land you at a dead end. Re-inventing and re-packaging our product opens new possibilities for ourselves and our business. The thought of this kind of change can strike fear in some. Instead of fearing change, we should take it on because the profits are bound to be greater than if we stick with the basics. Let fear affect your life positively.

It's not easy to admit that fear is the one controlling our financial life, as it may expose the depth of our low self-esteem. I can relate; I spent most of my life living with fear, even while I was being recognized as a successful individual. Now and then I was able to stand up, push the fear aside and commit to my beliefs and desires, but they were always short-lived until I realized exactly what was causing me to relinquish power over my life.

Let's explore how fear is taking hold in the currently poor real estate market: Homeowners are losing their jobs/income and, as a consequence, feel that losing their home is the only option. But this is not so. The foreclosure rates are increasing and the government is sitting on more than 240,000 homes that they don't know what to do with. In fact, the last thing banks want to do is take your house away from you. Last week I started to spread the message of "Don't Walk Away From Your Home" as a way to help our economy by keeping current homeowners in their home. This message empowers people by showing different ways to increase their income and go through the loan modification process. Many dedicated realtors are working with their clients through this difficult time; however, I did hear from a few realtors who were upset with my message. They felt that I was stopping people from selling their homes through short sale and hence, reducing business for them. This is fear talking. My response to them was: as a realtor, why did you get into this business? Most want to make money by helping their clients realize the "American Dream" of homeownership. So now, when they are experiencing financial difficulties, would you want to pull the house from them by selling it low just so you can earn a commission? How about focusing on finding ways or connecting your clients to resources that can help keep them in their home? Who knows? They may just refer that next new client to you simply because you care.

In a time where fear seems to be taking over, now is the best time for us as individuals, to re-invent our way of thinking, stare fear in the face and dare to discover different ways to increase our income. By going through these challenging times as a team and fighting off fear, we can regain control of our personal and business lives and hence, improve our economy in general. Kick fear in the butt and don't let it hold you back from enhancing your financial success!