To paraphrase Albert Einstein, the way to get out of a crisis is not to employ the same thinking that got you into the mess.  Lawyers tend to be a sully lot because they help clients get out of messes, whether self-inflicted or not, so they spend their days in crisis management and problem solving; it may not look like it, spouting random latin phrases in our conversations, but lawyers are (supposed) to use the law to help their clients get out of messes. That is really our job description.

Are you in a mess (financial or otherwise)? I never thought about it until I wrote this blog but there is a very easy to replicate set of steps to get out of a mess:

1.  Ask someone if you are actually in a mess. This sounds very simple but are you actually in a mess. Being in debt $15,000 where the carrying costs are low and you are making $60,000/year is relatively “unmessy” compared to being in debt for $150,000 where the carrying costs are high and you are making $100,000/year (I would argue that you aren’t really in a mess in the former situation). Since we only know our own experiences, it is always helpful to ask someone you trust whether, relatively speaking, you are in a small, medium or large hole.  You could be panicking over nothing or willfully blind to imminent danger but unless you quantify the issue contextually, you’ll never know. In other words, don’t wait until the barbarians are at the gate to assess your situation. Depending on situation, a good financial planner, money coach, accountant or lawyer can help you wrap your mind around whether you are actually in a mess. That is why you have free consultations with professional advisors- sometimes you think you are in a mess and an advisor may tell you that you have over-blown the issue.
2. If you are in a mess, how big is it? Can this be fixed in months, weeks or years? For example, if you owe a lot of people money, how long would it take you to repay it and would the repayment impair your ability to live a normal life?  Notice I didn’t write can your mess be fixed in days. There is no silver bullet in life- no one waves a magic wand and the mess goes away. It takes some time to extract yourself out of a mess. Since a certain type of thinking got you into a mess consult with someone who thinks and acts differently than you to help you figure out the size of the issue.
3. What are your options given the size of the mess? There are always options. Get another job. Dump him. Ask your parents for help. There’s no such thing as a hopeless situation. Even in personal finance, there is always bankruptcy. Sit down and map out all your options. If you don’t know what your options are, get help and a second set of eyes to help you. Being in a mess is no time to be vain and not ask for help. In fact, I have often found people who are humble, willing to make changes and open to suggestion get a lot of help from strangers.
4. Weigh your options, pick one and don’t look back. The primary reason why people can’t dig themselves out of messes is that they change strategies mid-stream, have bad/negative thoughts and attitudes and they don’t work hard to get out of a mess. I thought the best definition of good leadership I read lately was a good leaders listen, weighs all of their options and then pursues a course of action decisively.
5. Track your way out of a mess. Track, track, track. A pillar of good goal setting which also applies to getting out of the mess. How are you doing? Make sure that the intervals that you use to track your progress are sufficiently wide to show progress. Tracking progress in days and weeks may not be too helpful since progress in the beginning can be slow and can discourage you.

Above all, stay positive throughout. Good luck.