3. Persevere

Don't give up. Make a promise that you will wake up each morning and tell yourself that today is a brand new day. Each day, make those phone calls you are afraid to make. Write those e-mail's and letters you aren't sure will get read. Network. But most importantly, feel fear and move forward anyway.

4. Ask For Help

This may be hard for you because you are used to doing things on your own. Open yourself up and ask for what you need. Be surprised and appreciative because people from unexpected places will take time to help you. Life is much easier when you are not reaching your goals alone.

5. Trust That You Will End Up In A Better Place

Stop driving yourself crazy because you know in your heart that things would improve. Recognize that your situation is only temporary. Enjoyed yourself more. Spend time getting to know you again. Lose weight, or take up a new hobby. Try new things. Get ready to grow in ways you never imagined possible. You will be stronger and wiser from this experience. You will not be same.

So what do you say? You only have one life to live so it might as well be a life you love.

**************************************************** Deborah Brown-Volkman is President of Surpass Your Dreams, a career and mentor coaching company that has been delivering a message of motivation, success, and personal fulfillment since 1998. We work with Senior Executives, Vice Presidents, Managers, and Coaches who want to enhance their careers and improve their lives. Deborah is also President of The United Coaching Alliance, a Long Island based coaching group dedicated to educating people on powerful impact a coach can have in their lives, both personally and professionally. To Learn More Visit: http://www.surpassyourdreams.com, send an e-mail to info@surpassyourdreams.com or call (516) 432-2440. ****************************************************

By not doing their homework.

They did not take time to compare my current rates with rates offered by their competitors. If they had (and I am assuming they didn't because I can't believe they would take this risk), they would not have sent me letter about increasing my rate.

The letter led me to call them to find out actual amount of increase. The significant (to me) price increase led me to call their competitors.

Before letter I was content to pay their fee. I hadn't planned on checking prices and making comparisons. But when they brought subject of fees up, I took initiative and ended up with a much better deal.

Maybe they were counting on most of their customers to roll over and accept it. But I wonder how many will now renegotiate their fees since subject has come up.

They obviously have different customers on different fee schedules. So why wouldn't they take time to determine which customers should have their fees increased and which should be left "overlooked" this year.

Customers who were paying close attention to their competitors fees would probably accept their "modest" price increase because of hassle (read: barrier) of switching to a competitor. Even if they did a price comparison a small increase is usually not worth trouble.

I guess moral of story is that before you bring up subject of increased fees, make sure you know your customers' alternatives.