For over two decades I have asked audiences a simple question, "What is your biggest fear?" The question is asked not to depress my audiences, or to place a dark cloud over the session I am about to conduct, but rather to expose these fears, and ultimately work through them.

The Book of Lists produced a rather famous collection of fears that surprised a few people when the top five turned out to be:

-Speaking before a group
-Heights
-Insects and bugs
-Financial problems
-Deep water

Interestingly enough, "speaking before a group" was not only number one, the next four on the list combined did not exceed the votes racked up by public speaking. For the record, "death" came in at number seven on this list.

In 2009, I contend that a new fear has emerged, and is making its way onto this list. What's more, it is a far more personally destructive fear. I'm referring to the "fear of change."

This a silent fear, that not only haunts us all, but the repercussions it can leave in its wake can be devastating.

Think back on your life and how often you have been faced with a challenging decision to make. You no doubt weighed your options, and both logic and instinct presented you with a solution. Then, you did what so many of us are guilty of doing; you did nothing.

The fear of change not only overpowered your reasoning, it left you with a frustrating reminder when you finally did make the change. Your souvenir was the phrase that came out like a mantra: "I wish I had done it sooner."

So here we are in 2009, and all of us are keenly aware of the economic troubles that permeate the air. There isn't a newspaper, magazine, television commentary, radio program, or friendly get-together where the dreaded "economic crisis" topic doesn't rear its ugly head.

What have most of us done to combat this crisis? Nothing. Why haven't we done something? Because our fear of change instinct kicked in big time.

I have real empathy for this state of affairs because I have similar fears. The fear of the unknown often outweighs the pain of the present.

There is a solution, and it comes from an often unappreciated source. It comes from a well trained, trusted financial professional.

When we are not well, we know enough to go to a doctor even though we know we might have to confront information we would prefer not to hear. A good doctor asks questions, listens, finds a solution to the problem and dispenses the more difficult solutions with compassion and empathy.

A trusted financial professional does the same thing, and they are as desperately needed right now as a doctor. The solutions are not always easy, but a trusted financial professional also asks questions, listens, analyzes problems and does one other critical thing before dispensing solutions. They help provide a reason for you to overcome your fear of change, and take action.

Change should not be feared, especially if the financial results you have been getting are not what you wanted or expected. The challenge is finding the right financial professional someone who is not an order-taker but a truly understanding and well-informed professional who understands your goals and can help you attain them.

Rob Jolles is a bestselling author, and 25-year veteran professional speaker consulting with foundations, and corporations including the United Way, Toyota, Disney, NASA, Nortel, a dozen Universities, and over 50 financial institutions. He is the Client Relations Manager for Bluemont Capital Advisors, LLC, working with clients and providing value added services with companies under management. rjolles@bluemontcapital.net