These are indeed interesting and extremely challenging times for all of us in the financial services industry. And they are taking a toll on advisors. This was driven home for me when I visited one of my favorite advisors in early October. As I walked into George Wislar's office at Wislar Wealth Management in Princeton, N.J., I greeted him with a big smile and said, "How are you doing?"

I was shocked when he said, "Horrible. I'm feeling depressed today." George is usually one of the most positive and happy investment advisors you'll ever meet. But the week before, he and his wife had gone on a vacation to Aspen, Colo. They planned to spend the week relaxing in the Rockies' awe-inspiring autumn. Instead, George spent most of the week talking his distraught clients off the ledge. The most difficult part was, no matter what he told them, many became more anxious as the week wore on.

Emotions can be contagious, especially for an empathetic guy like George. So, it's only natural that the anxieties of his clients weighed heavily on his shoulders. He returned from Aspen exhausted and dispirited.

Solid Like a Rock

I was concerned for George but realized that, now more than ever, his clients needed his characteristic optimism and faith in markets. And they needed his empathetic counseling. In challenging markets, advisors must be the Rock of Gibraltar for their clients. So, it's critical to maintain a positive attitude and transfer your confidence to your clients.

Prolonged negative emotions can create a downward spiral into depression. Positive emotions make us more resilient to adversity, increase our energy and, as with negative emotions, are contagious. So I taught George some proven techniques for reducing stress and evoking positive emotions. This instruction was based on 10 recommendations:

1) Go for a walk. The first thing I said to George was, "Let's take Lilly for a walk." Lilly is George's dog. Walking enhances people's mood. And researchers have discovered that walking with a dog enhances mood even more. As we walked and talked, I could see George becoming more relaxed.

2) Count your blessings. When we returned to the office, George was ready for his next lesson. I said, "George, even though the markets are crashing, you live in a beautiful neighborhood and have a fantastic business, a supportive wife and clients who love you. Count your blessings and spend five minutes each day focusing on things you're grateful for in your life."

3) Stop watching the (bad) news. Sitting in George's conference room, I noticed his TV was tuned to market news. I asked him if watching the market helped him manage his clients' money.

"No," he answered. "My approach is long term. I don't believe in responding to short-term market fluctuations." I then asked him how watching the market or learning who got murdered or what disasters occurred that day enhanced his mood. I pointed out that they should call it the bad news.

What we think about at any given moment has a profound impact on our emotional state, so it's imperative to limit your exposure to toxic media. As soon as George switched off the TV, his mood elevated one more notch.

4) Engage in active play. George had been so troubled that he canceled a golf game with a friend. "How do you feel when you play golf?" I asked. I could see from his expression and body language that he enjoyed it immensely. He needed my permission to have some fun. So I gave him an assignment: Play golf or engage in a leisure activity at least once each week.

5) Exercise to music. When we are depressed we ruminate on our problems, focusing on how horrible everything is and obsessing about worst-case scenarios. This reinforces negative emotions and drives us deeper into despair.

An effective way to break this cycle is to engage in strenuous exercise that raises your heartbeat for at least 30 minutes. For maximum effect, listen to your favorite heart-pounding music while working out. Exercise releases endorphins, chemical messengers that reduce pain, elevate mood and create a mild state of euphoria. If you work out in the morning, you'll start the day with a boost of euphoria that you can transfer to your dysphoric, or not so happy, clients.

6) Commit random acts of kindness. We get a joyous rush from altruistic acts. I told George to commit at least three random acts of kindness each day, such as feeding someone else's parking meter, paying the expressway toll for the car behind him, holding a door open for someone or inviting someone to cut in line in front of him.