When finances keep you awake

Financial stress snowballs. Maybe it starts with sinking commodity prices, maybe weather issues. Before you know it, you’re having trouble paying the bills.

Here are three steps you can take when finances are starting to stress you out.

1. Don’t wait! Act as soon as you realize money concerns are keeping you awake at night. Stewing about the problem while hoping it will go away on its own isn’t going to work (which some part of you already knows, or you wouldn’t be stressing about it).

2. Share your concerns with key stakeholders. Whether it’s a business partner, spouse or family member, the stress of hiding financial truths in any relationship can be crushing. Sometimes just the act of sharing can alleviate some of the worry.

3. Talk to your financial institution right away. It’s often possible to extend the term of a loan, lower the payment amount or decrease payment frequency. The longer lead time your lender has, the greater the number of options they’ll be able to offer.

And know you’re not alone. Almost everyone experiences financial stress at some point, especially in an industry we love but where so much is out of our control. One thing you can control? Your response – how you deal with a situation, and how much help you’re willing to accept to fix it.

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