A Little Light in Dark Financial Times

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I’ve had it. If I hear one more negative rant from an economist, financial planner, or my RSS feed, I think I’m going to detonate. I know that things are icky right now, but do I need to be reminded? Let’s take a moment to celebrate these rarely found gems from across the blogosphere. They’ll inspire you to think better!

10 Ways to Keep a Sluggish Economy from Breaking Your Stride at Motivate Thyself – It’s not often that I find one post so positively uplifting that I subscribe to their blog feed. Eric Hamm has found freedom in ways most of us only dream of, and it doesn’t take him $1 million to do so. His recent post emphasizes the ultimate coping skills for any financial (or personal) downturn. My favorite tip? Adjust your gauge of success:

“Keeping up with your progress is always important if you want to know the state of your success. Sometimes you compare yourself to others and other times to yourself. But in a weaker economy you must keep your comparisons to current situations. In other words, don’t compare the current success of your business with how it was doing when the economy was better. Inevitably you will not be doing as well as you were and therefore be discouraged to move forward. Instead, look at other, similar businesses in the same economy, to set your bar for success.”

Very well said!

Life’s Enough: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others at Zen Habits – You didn’t think I could do a positive roundup and just forget about Leo, did you? In this more recent article, he not only explores the consequences of comparison, but also tells you how to stop doing it! His tip to “Count Your Blessings” is one I try to practice regularly, and I find it is often the ONLY thing that can break my cycle of self-blame and pity. Try all the dead-on advice for best results. (This post is extremely relevant for those of us who are always sizing up our finances.) If you have any doubt that Leo’s heart is in his writing, just skip to his last tip: “Learn to Love Enough.” The quote from Bernard Grasset sealed the deal for me.

How to Survive an Economic Meltdown at Pick the Brain – A perfect balance of positivity and financial mitigation, the tips offered up by Tejvan Pettinger pretty much sum things up. Avoiding fear-tactics in media and finding ways to make yourself more valuable to your employer top my favorites. Who knew that “Opportunities in Redundancy” even existed?

Worry is Prayer for What you Don’t Want at Cultivate Greatness – What? And all this time I thought worrying was helping me to plan out my options and maintain control of my life! When you read this well-written post in its entirety, you’re left feeling like a schmuck for staying up late crunching numbers and planning for the worst. Thanks for the wakeup call. Some of us need to read this weekly.

Want to read more? These classic Wise Bread posts might give you a lift!

Being Poor Without Being Pitiful

Feeling Stuck: 100 Ways to Change Your Life

The Most Powerful Weapon Against Debt: Your Mind

How to Survive (and thrive) in a Job You Hate

Seven Tips for the Newly Unemployed

5 Tips for Making Do with the Right Now

Personal finance and productivity blogs are popping up everywhere. Some are good. Others are great. The ones I really appreciate, however, are those that inspire and instruct. Do you have a great post to share that can become the silver lining to an otherwise dreary financial future?