“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.

Are we free? Free to live our life how we choose. Maybe.

As we zoom through life we live for today, without much thought for tomorrow. We take care of what is in front of us. Yes, we know there is no guarantee that you will be alive tomorrow. Yes, accidents, cancer and heart attacks happen, but to others not us. In reality, we do not know when our time is up.

Some business owners hunt for their next sale while others grow from within. Deep down I am a farmer. I love to nurture relationships, to grow the business organically. Just look at my garden. I love perennials, plants that come back year after year. I love color; my garden is full of deep reds, purples and yellow. Once the snow melts and the weather starts to warm my backyard comes to life. My backyard has a rhythm that synchronizes with nature.

Are you starting a new business? Or struggling financially with an existing one? Small business owners wear many hats. One hat they wear is the Accounting green shade. Here are 10 best accounting practices that will remove the clutter, save time and get financial results.