Tax filing is just around the corner. The impact of the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in three decades has arrived and it will spread far and wide. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law in December 2017.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I focus on the things that I am thankful for –

tarting a business is like jumping off a cliff. Some enjoy the thrill; others face the fear and just do it. However, if that fear becomes too much it can stop the growth or destroy a business owner. As Henry Ford stated “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” If you think you will fail – you most likely will.

I am not one who likes scary movies. I think life itself is scary enough. It might be that I find myself in enough uncomfortable situations that I don’t need to go looking for more.

“Have a vision. It is the ability to see the invisible. If you can see the invisible, you can achieve the impossible.”

When I graduated from high school, I had goals. My goals were – to be a CPA, get married, be a partner in a CPA firm, own a nice house and have a family. I wanted to earn enough to have a comfortable life. It took 10 years to check off the goals. However, I ran into a problem. I achieved my goals, but I wasn’t where I wanted to be.

Did you know that only 50% of taxpayers pay income taxes? That won’t change with the new tax laws. However, there is good news for those 50% that do pay.

The goal of a budget is to create a plan to get the end-result you desire. So why not start with the end and go backward?

We are in the midst of summer; the days are warm and humid in Wisconsin. We just had a streak of 3 weeks where I stayed in the house and enjoyed the air conditioning. It was too hot for me to enjoy outdoors. I don’t want to waste a day. It is time for me to adapt and make the most of it – for every day counts.

Often I hear the statement work smarter not harder. An easy statement to make much harder to apply. The Pareto principle states that 20% of what we do achieves 80% of the results. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we knew actually, what the 20% of activity was. Each of us are only given 24 hours a day. So why can some people achieve great results and others are just getting by? Here are four things to consider when focusing on working smarter.