Update on Executive Orders to Provide Financial Relief on Payroll Taxes 11 Sep 2020, 12:43 pm

Dear Healthcare Management Consultants Client,

Clarification from the IRS is now beginning to trickle in regarding the Executive Order signed by President Trump on August 8, 2020. The intent of the President’s order was to provide financial relief on payroll taxes to employees due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Our team would like to provide the following details regarding the order and subsequent IRS guidance, which has serious ramifications to consider:

• Employers are not required to offer the payroll tax deferrals to employees.

• As stated in our August 13 email to clients on the Executive Order, the deferral is on the employee share (6.2%) of Social Security payroll tax.

• The deferral period is from September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

• Taxes may only be deferred for employees whose applicable wages are less than $4,000 on a bi-weekly period (or equivalent amount in other payroll frequencies).

• This is only a deferral. Newly released IRS guidance strongly indicates that this tax deferral will not be forgiven and will have to be paid back.

• Employers are “on the hook” for collecting and paying back any deferred taxes. Payments would be due between January 1, 2021 and April 30, 2021. Penalties and interest on unpaid amounts begin accruing May 1, 2021.

• Most importantly……employers are responsible for paying the deferred tax for employees who took the deferral option, even if they no longer work for the practice. The reason for why the employee no longer works for the employer is irrelevant in terms of having to repay the deferred tax.

Action Steps to Take:

You will need to decide if you, as the employer, will participate in the deferral and communicate this to your payroll service. Secondly, if you as the employer do decide to participate, each of your employees will need to decide whether they will participate. An important consideration for participating employees is that their payroll taxes will have to be roughly double-withheld in 2021 to pay back the deferred tax amounts. As you can imagine, this will potentially have a severe financial impact on participating employees throughout 2021.

Our Conclusion and Recommendation:

There is a chance that these deferrals could be forgiven in future legislation, but we simply do not know for certain. Until legislation is passed which specifically forgives these deferrals, we have to assume that these deferrals should be considered a government loan with required payback and penalties and interest starting after April 30, 2021. If the deferred taxes are forgiven, then social security income upon retirement would likely be reduced. As the legislation is currently written, the deferral plan should be considered a loan against future social security earnings.

Our team’s recommendation is that our clients do not participate in this deferral program. The primary reason is the unacceptable financial exposure that our clients could potentially expose themselves to if employees defer and then terminate employment. Secondly, participating employees will likely be extremely upset once the double withholding calculation kicks in next year.

The negatives to this program simply do not align with the good intentions that undoubtedly initiated its rollout. Please contact your Healthcare Management Consultants or Dental CFO consultant if you have any questions on this. In the meantime, we will continue to keep you informed as new developments occur.

Take care and have a wonderful week!

Your Healthcare Management Consultants Team

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EXECUTIVE ORDERS RECENTLY SIGNED TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL RELIEF ON PAYROLL TAXES 11 Sep 2020, 12:15 pm

Dear Healthcare Management Consultants Client,

Following is a quick update regarding the executive orders signed by President Trump last Saturday, August 8 with the intent of providing financial relief on payroll taxes due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Following is a link to the actual text of the orders signed by the President:

​Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster ​

Stimulus talks are currently stalled on Capitol Hill to try to address last month’s ending of the supplemental $600 unemployment compensation, student loan bills, and eviction notices.

In the meantime, the executive orders signed by the president defer an employee’s obligation to pay the usual 6.2% Social Security tax per paycheck. This action applies to persons who are making less than $4,000 every two weeks, which equates to an annual salary of $104,000. The order also instructs the Treasury Department to look into how the government can forgive the deferred tax payment. But for now, at least, observers indicate that the tax deferred tax obligation is not being forgiven.

Things to Be Aware of:

• Payroll tax relief, as outlined in the Presidential directive, would require employers to take steps to ensure compliance including working with payroll administrators and providers to adjust payroll processes by September 1.

• Employers will need to explain to employees that their take home pay would increase through the end of this calendar year. However, the employee may be required to repay these deferred taxes at a future date (expert guesses are that this is unlikely, but remains to be seen.)

• Payroll tax relief only applies to the Social Security portion of FICA that the employee pays at the rate of 6.2%. Compensation that is taxed at the 6.2% rate is capped at a taxable maximum of $137,700 for 2020.

• As an example, a person making an annual gross income of $50,000 could see savings of $258.33 per month.

More information is expected from the Treasury Department within a few days on further employer requirements. We will keep you updated on developments as they occur.

Take care and have a great day!

Your Healthcare Management Consultants Team

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BREAKING NEWS! CMS TO REBRAND MEANINGFUL USE PROGRAM WITH NEW EMPHASIS ON INTEROPERABILITY, BURDEN REDUCTION 26 Apr 2018, 7:44 pm

In a rule released this week (April 24), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced its intention to overhaul the Meaningful Use program.

In a press release, the federal agency said that it will be proposing to re-name the Meaningful Use program to “Promoting Interoperability.” CMS said the goals of the new program will be to: make it more flexible and less burdensome; emphasize measures that require the exchange of health information between providers and patients, and incentivize providers to make it easier for patients to obtain their medical records electronically.

The Meaningful Use (Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs) program has been around since 2011 with the intent to encourage eligible providers to demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR (electronic health record) technology. Seven years later, with nearly all hospitals and most physician practices having implemented a certified EHR, CMS is proposing a shakeup of the initiative with a rethinking of priorities.

Broadly, the proposed rule issued this week proposes updates to Medicare payment policies and rates under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS). According to CMS, the policies in the IPPS and LTCH PPS proposed rule “would further advance the agency’s priority of creating a patient-driven healthcare system by achieving greater price transparency and interoperability—essential components of value-based care— while also significantly reducing the burden for hospitals so they can operate with better flexibility and patients have the information they need to become active healthcare consumers.”

The proposed policies begin implementing core pieces of the government-wide MyHealthEData initiative through several steps to strengthen interoperability or the sharing of healthcare data between providers, CMS officials stated.  “Today’s proposed rule demonstrates our commitment to patient access to high quality care while removing outdated and redundant regulations on providers. We envision a system that rewards value over volume and where patients reap the benefits through more choices and better health outcomes,” according to CMS.

As far as “Promoting Interoperability” mandates go, the proposed rule reaffirms the requirement for providers to use the 2015 Edition of certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) in 2019 as part of demonstrating meaningful use to qualify for incentive payments and avoid reductions to Medicare payments. CMS is also proposing that EHR reporting periods in 2019 and 2020 for new and returning participants would be a minimum of any continuous 90-day period within each of the calendar years 2019 and 2020.

What’s more, CMS is aiming to “remove unnecessary, redundant, and process-driven quality measures from a number of quality reporting and pay-for-performance programs.”  Additionally, CMS is proposing a variety of other changes to reduce the number of hours providers spend on paperwork.

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THE BEST INVESTMENT ADVICE EVER! 18 Dec 2017, 9:15 pm

As of the time this blog is being written, the stock market is in the “green” and all is looking good for an incredible finish to a record breaking year for the American stock market.   This has certainly been a historical year for the stock market and the American economy as a whole.  As most everyone knows, stock markets around the world reflect, to a tremendous degree, the impact and value of investments that have been made in companies, new innovations, and inventions throughout the year.

Investors are always thrilled when the value of their investments goes up.   That normally is the goal in mind.   However, the downside to investing is that investments go up and investments go down.  Investing and stock markets around the world are always cyclical in nature.  The age old adage of “What goes up must come down” captures the risky nature of investments.  There is always risk involved with investing money.  Billions of dollars are lost every year due to investment ventures that have gone bad.   However, the good news is that there is an investment every one of us can affordably make which has no chance of failure.   This investment always provides a high value dividend that can pay out over a lifetime.  The even greater news is this investment is one that is never taxed and inflation can never diminish its value.   This sounds like a “no brainer” investment opportunity that everyone would want to be a part of.   What is this investment?    The investment we are talking about is yourself!

As we near the close of a year and step over the “threshold” to a new one, now is a great time to be thinking about how we can invest in ourselves throughout this new year.   Let’s take a look at ways that we can all get “wealthier” by investing in ourselves:

Learn As Much As You Can

This investment “venture” can involve personal as well as professional opportunities.  What is it in our lives that makes us uncomfortable or may be intimidating to us?  There is always something that causes some discomfort in most everyone’s life that many of us have a tendency to simply just surrender to and deal with as best we can.  Unfortunately, we have to face these types of discomforts and challenges because they usually never go away on their own.  How wonderful it would be if we took the time to identify and reflect on these challenges and then developed a plan to overcome them.   One of the major personal characteristics of “Excellence Inspired” individuals is that they are active learners.  Another way to look at this is to identify an issue or subject that you would like to be a “subject matter” expert in.   You could be the one that others come to and consult with for answers related to this particular issue.  What a great way to expand your interests and talents to become even more valuable on the job and to others around you!  By the way, learning does not have to be a chore.   It can be creative and include things such as learning a new hobby or learning to play a musical instrument.   Be thinking about why ongoing, lifelong learning is so important.

Invest in Others

Why is this investment so important?   Well, there are several rewards earned from this one.   The first one that comes to mind is that we are benefiting others in need.  No doubt, this reward comes to the forefront as we invest in helping others.  The other reward that sometimes is unseen is that we divert attention from ourselves and focus on others.  Consider individuals whom you know or have known who are self-centered and focused totally on themselves.  How happy are these people?  Many times the appearance of having an elevated status in society and achieving success leading to happiness is a facade.   This happiness appears appealing to others, but in reality it is very superficial and can quickly evaporate.   Investing in others is a wonderful way to give away some of ourselves to others.  What does it look like when we give away some of ourselves?   We can do that in many ways such as through time, attention, encouragement, as well as tangible resources.  Be thinking of ways that you could invest in others?

Invest In Our Health

Even though this investment is listed last, we should consider it to be the most important.   Nothing supersedes taking care of ourselves physically and mentally.  This sounds like a pretty basic investment.   Unfortunately, this is the one that most everyone neglects.  The interesting thing about this investment (which is totally the opposite of basic investing principles) is that not making this one creates tremendous risk and could result in life changing, unrecoverable losses.   We should all be encouraged to make an appointment with our physicians and dentists to get the routine “checkup” that everyone needs to keep themselves in peak operating condition.   Identify ways that you can improve your health in the new year.

This blog is just the “tip of the iceberg” in identifying ways to invest in yourself.   Please be thinking about other ways you can invest in the most important resource you have.

By the way, a reflective closing thought is this…Why do safety talks on airline flights always instruct passengers to give themselves oxygen first in the event of an emergency?

“Nobody can take away what you’ve got in yourself, and everybody has potential they haven’t used yet.”

– Warren Buffet

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CALLING A TIMEOUT TO FINISH STRONG & BEGIN STRONG 4 Dec 2017, 6:43 pm

We frequently hear comments around this time each year about how quickly the year went by.   “Where in the world did the year go?”   “I can’t believe the year went by this quickly!”   “Where did time go?”   The fact of the matter is that life moves along at a breakneck pace and seems to pick up speed all the time.   Most of us will certainly find this to be the case as we get older.    However, now may be a good time to call a strategic “timeout” to assess our success this year.   In other words, how do we think we have performed in all facets of our life throughout the year?   This assessment should include all areas that are of major importance to us personally and professionally.  Our discussion today will focus on the importance of taking a strategic timeout to do two things which can lead to success.

First, let’s talk about the importance of calling a timeout.  In today’s society, timeouts are most frequently associated with disciplining children.  When I was growing up, there was no timeout option when I misbehaved.  I wish there had been, but that was not the case back then.   Discipline with children was handled much differently, and I suppose it worked just fine.   The other definition of the modern timeout is the one associated with sporting events.  This is the definition we want to focus on today.   Having the option to call a timeout (temporarily stopping the game) in sporting events such as basketball, football, etc. is a critical tool that can be used to compete well and win.  Coaches and players rely on timeouts to regroup, assess game strategy, talk about what is not going well, talk about what is going well, get input from the players, receive encouragement, and physically rest before going back on the field or court to resume play.   Football also uses strategic timeouts to “ice the kicker.”  Sporting events can be won or lost simply by how timeouts are used.   That is why timeouts in football, for example, are used very carefully and at important moments of the game.   Timeouts in sporting events should never be wasted because they are limited.   There are only so many timeouts granted by the rules of the game.

This same scenario can be applied to our own lives.  As we approach the end of a year around November or December, it helps to stop, call a timeout with our busy schedules, and take this as an opportunity to see how we are doing for the year.   In other words, is there a strategic change in our actions or behavior that can help us finish 2017 strong?   If we look back and reflect for a moment on last December and January, we hopefully set personal and professional goals for ourselves.  Now is a great time to reflect on how we are doing.  Are we in a position to finish 2017 strong?  By the way, this strategic practice is important for companies as well as individuals.

Secondly, taking a timeout and reflecting on how we are doing for the year and whether we will finish the year strong, is a great way to get a head start on 2018.    Notice, I didn’t say how we have done for the year; the year is still underway.   Even though we are closing in on December 31, we still have time to “get our house in order” and at least finish as strong as possible.   The great thing also is that we get to “roll over” our dreams and plans into the new year.   Maybe we have a personal or professional goal that has not progressed quite as well as we planned.   Life happens and things change over the course of time that can impact and influence how well we do with our goals.

The immediate challenge for each of us is to take the time to strategically reflect on and review the current year.  What is going well and what did not go well?  What action can be taken now to change the outcome of this year and finish strong?   What can we do now in the final weeks of this year to “tee it up” for success in the upcoming new year?  What is it that we may wish to do differently in the upcoming year?

I encourage each of us to complete this reflection as we get closer to the traditional time of setting goals for a new and exciting year.  At the very least, take the time now to reflect on what can be done to start a new year out with a head start.  This may be a great time to call a timeout.

Remember to always define time as a series of opportunities.  Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of wasting time, taking our time, or ignoring time.  Once time goes by, we can never get it back!

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ACHIEVING POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE – PART 1 12 Oct 2017, 8:40 pm

Most of us have likely used a Burt’s Bees product at some point over the past 10 – 15 years.  Burt’s Bees is a personal-care products company that was founded in 1984 in Maine and is now headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.   Burt’s Bees was purchased by the Clorox Company in 2007 for a whopping $925 million in cash.  Its original, “flagship” product was the famous Burt’s Bees lip balm which led to the company growing its unique personal-care products line globally.  Burt’s Bees has now expanded its footprint into 19 different countries.  A consumer can find Burt’s Bees products in most supermarkets, pharmacies, and even restaurants.

I recently read an article from the September 18, 2017 Encouragement Wired newsletter that talked about the high pressure growth environment that Burt’s Bees was able to successfully manage.  In many companies, a high growth scenario means numerous meetings, flooded e-mail boxes, and constant urgent demands.  The Burt’s Bees team has been able to successfully avoid operating in the expected “state of high anxiety” environment which tends to effect a group’s problem solving capabilities.   The secret to this success has been an encouragement for Burt’s Bees employees to work with a positive mind-set.   Research shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level related to productivity, creativity, and engagement – improves.   Most individuals equate a positive mindset with personal happiness which is the assumption that we’ll take in this blog.  By the way, this will be the first of four blogs related to achieving what is called “Positive Intelligence.”

Happiness is probably the most misunderstood driver of job performance.  One misunderstanding many people have is that success precedes happiness.  For example, many of us think that “Once I get a promotion, I’ll be happy” or, “Once I hit a certain sales goal or personal job performance target, I’ll feel great and be happy.”  But because success is usually a moving target – as soon as we hit our target, most of us move on and raise the performance bar again.  Consequently, the happiness that results from achieving that goal and realizing success doesn’t stick around for very long.   In fact, for many individuals, it works the other way around.   Those are the persons who cultivate a positive mind-set and perform better in the face of challenges.  Shawn Achor of Encouragement Wired calls this the “happiness advantage” where every business outcome shows improvement when the brain is positive.  Numerous studies have found strong evidence of a direct correlation between life satisfaction and successful business outcomes.

Another common misconception is that our genetics, our environment (i.e. home or work), or a combination of the two determines how happy we are.  Now, we have to be honest with ourselves that both factors can have an impact.  But the truth is that a person’s general sense of well-being is surprisingly “malleable.”    The habits we cultivate, the way we interact with our team members, how we think about and handle stress – all can be managed to increase our happiness and our chances of success.

Developing New Habits

Training our brains to be positive is not so different from training our muscles when we work out.  Recent research on neuroplasticity – the ability of the brain to change even in adulthood – reveals that as we develop new habits, we can rewire our brains.   In essence, we rewire the way we think.

Achor notes in his article that engaging in one brief positive exercise every day for as little as three weeks can have a lasting impact. An example that Achor gives is related to a consulting engagement he provided to tax managers at KPMG.  The purpose of the engagement was simply to see if he could help these tax managers become happier at the beginning of what was expected to be an extremely busy tax season.

Achor asked the tax managers to choose one of the following five activities that correlate with positive change:

• Jot down three things they were grateful for.
• Write a positive message to someone in their social support network.
• Meditate at their desk for two minutes.
• Exercise for 10 minutes.
• Take two minutes to describe in a journal the most meaningful experience of the past 24 hours.

The client managers performed their chosen activity every day for three weeks.  Several days after the training concluded, the participants and a control group were evaluated to determine their general sense of well-being.  The evaluation included metrics such as were the participants engaged or were they depressed?  On every metric measured, the participants’ group scores were significantly higher than the control group’s scores.  Both groups were evaluated again four months later, and the managers group still showed significantly higher scores in optimism and life satisfaction.  Specifically, mean scores on the life satisfaction scale – a metric widely accepted to be one of the greatest predictors of productivity and happiness at work – moved from 22.96 on a 35-point scale before the training to 27.23 four months later.   The conclusion was that just one quick “positive intelligence” exercise a day kept the tax managers happier for months after the training engagement had ended.  Happiness for the tax managers had become habitual.

It seems that each of us has a personal need to consider the importance of “Positive Intelligence” in our lives. The first task for all of us is to truthfully self-evaluate ourselves to determine where we are in terms of happiness and life satisfaction.  The second task is to determine what intentional and purposeful action can we take to improve our own “scores” in these areas.  The third task is to take action to replace being habitually “unhappy” with being habitually “happy” as we travel through this journey of life.

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

C. S. Lewis

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DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF! 26 Sep 2017, 9:15 pm

The older I get the more I think about all the “small stuff I have sweated” about over the years.  These are the things that at one time seemed to be tremendously important and major priorities for me.  At particular times of my life, some of these things actually were priorities.  However, when looking back over the years (hindsight is always 20/20), I now realize that those “old” priorities turned out not meaning a thing in terms of their lifetime value to me or to others.  In essence they were only insignificant, inconsequential things (small stuff) that I unnecessarily worried about at the time.

I recently read a fantastic book by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Men.   This book identified fifty-two simple things that we can do to minimize stress in today’s mega-busy, tech-driven environment.  A side note here is that Dr. Carlson has authored several “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” books that have become bestsellers.   For today’s blog, we won’t have time to talk about all fifty-two things Dr. Carlson identifies.   We will cover just a few of the most significant “takeaways” that I feel are most applicable to each of us:

1. Have an Affair  

I’ll bet this title got your attention!   Have you known individuals who barely get through life and have no enthusiasm for much of anything?   These are folks who have a tendency to become overburdened and take problems and obstacles way too seriously. Consequently, we begin to live a life that is a bother instead of a joy.   People are seen as burdens instead of as gifts.  Challenges are dreaded instead of seen as opportunities.    Dr. Carlson says that the solution to all of this is to have an affair with life.  In other words, the idea is to reignite your passion for living, and to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.   Sometimes we have to remind ourselves just how precious and short this adventure we call life is.

The book, A Parenthesis in Eternity, is recommended by Dr. Carlson as a good resource for putting things into perspective.  A Parenthesis in Eternity encourages us to think of our lives as a blip on a passing screen.  If we view our lives that way, why waste a second on self-pity, frustration, irritation, and all the other things daily living throws our way?   Our lives are much more important and time is too valuable to waste energy on the small irritations of life.  The key to achieving a really good affair with life is to wake up every morning reflecting on the miracle of life and how really fortunate we are that we were granted the privilege of experiencing another day.

2. Don’t Know the Answer

Sometimes the scariest words to say are “I don’t know.”   Think about all the times we’ve put so much pressure on ourselves to always have the answers for every issue or problem that comes our way.  Trying to have the answer to everything is impossible, and many times, gets individuals into big trouble.  How fortunate we are to have a fantastic team of individuals that works together to help resolve problems for our clients and each other.  Having credible and reliable individuals to rely on is a key element that many executives attribute to their own personal and business success.

The act of quieting down and letting go of our need to have an immediate answer many times will pave the way for an appropriate solution to come to us.   Rather than banging our heads against a wall and being paralyzed by continuously mentally “computing” the same set of facts, what we often need to do is to look at things differently.  Many times the answer will come to us the next morning after relaxing and “sleeping on” an issue after some time has passed.

Always rest assured that there is no harm in admitting that you don’t know what to do.   Actually, in many instances, not knowing may be the best form of knowing.   Have faith in yourself.  Almost without fail, you will know what to do.

3. Be Able to Laugh at Yourself

I am sure that we know individuals who are so uptight about everything that nothing is funny.   They have no sense of humor and very rarely laugh.   Now let’s admit that none of us really enjoy being around these individuals.  What a tremendously sad life they have!   Let’s realistically look at ourselves and what each of us have to do on a regular basis.   We have hundreds of things to do each day, tons of responsibility, people relying on us, and the moment-to-moment potential for many things to go wrong.  Yet, to our own credit we keep showing up and trying our best each day.

But we know that no one is perfect and mistakes happen.  It certainly is a welcome stress relief when we are able to learn from a mistake and laugh at ourselves a bit.   It takes the pressure off feeling like you have to be perfect and bat a thousand all the time.  It simply will not happen.  What will happen is that we will be given opportunities to try…. make mistakes….and then become better and more valuable persons as a result.   Acknowledging the importance of being able to laugh at ourselves and with others is undeniably one of the greatest joys of life.

4. Check Your Blind Spots

How many of us have been driving on an interstate and switched lanes, and completely by accident, cut someone off?   This is certainly a dangerous situation that we unknowingly caused for ourselves and someone else.   Fortunately, today, most new cars can be purchased with “blind spot” detectors to help minimize the chances of causing an accident.  Similarly, our lives need “blind spot” detectors who will alert us from time to time to unforeseen catastrophes ahead.   These personal “blind spot” detectors could be family, friends, coworkers, fellow church members, etc.   This list of “detectors” could potentially be endless. What we should seek from these individuals would be alerts to potential self-inflicted dangers in our lives, or for them to be a source of insight and feedback to ways that we can become better in many aspects of our lives.   For example, at work, we should seek feedback on ways that we can be more effective with the job responsibilities we are given.  A good resource for this would be the actual clients we serve each day.   Another example is to never be afraid to ask for advice when in doubt with making an important personal or professional decision.  Relying on personal “blind spot” detectors will increase your chances of making more informed and ultimately correct decisions.  Take the time to determine who your “blind spot” detectors are today and rely on them as needed.

“If you had an hour to live and could make just one call, who would it be to—what would you say—and why are you waiting?”

Stephen Levine as quoted in the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Men

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7 THINGS WILDLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO BEFORE 7:30 A.M. 18 Sep 2017, 2:09 pm

There are people from all walks of life whom we consider to be successful in whatever way we personally may define success.   When you study these individuals and how they manage their lives, many times you’ll find interesting things they do that set them apart from others. First of all, their confidence in the face of hardships is driven by their ability to let go of the negativity that holds so many individuals back from being successful.  It seems that successful individuals are those who in many ways thrive on facing obstacles and how they overcome them.   Their mantra in life could be summed of with “Obstacles do not block the path; they are the path.”

This perspective helps successful people think differently from most everyone else.  This unique way of thinking is important because, if you think like everyone else, no matter how smart or talented you are, you will hit the same “ceiling.”  By thinking outside the box and being different (going against the grain), successful people are on track to rise above their limitations.  So let’s take a look at some of the ways that successful people go against the grain.

I recently read an article by Travis Bradberry which identifies seven things that wildly successful people do before 7:30 a.m. each day:

1. They Drink Lemon Water.  

Drinking lemon water as soon as you wake up spikes your energy levels physically and mentally. By improving nutrient absorption in your stomach, lemon water gives you a steady, natural energy buzz that normally lasts the length of the day.  You’ll need to drink it first thing in the morning (on an empty stomach) to ensure full absorption of nutrients.  You should also wait 15-30 minutes after drinking it before eating.   Note:  This may be a good time to include some exercise.  Lemons are full of nutrients such as potassium, vitamin C, and antioxidants.  If you weigh less than 150 pounds, drink the juice of half a lemon (a full lemon if you are over 150 pounds).  Dentists will advise that you not drink the juice without water because lemon juice is hard on the teeth.

2. They Exercise.

Richard Branson, Tim Cook, and Disney’s Bob Iger all wake up well before 6:00 a.m. to exercise.   A study conducted by the Eastern Ontario Research Institute found that people who exercised twice a week for 10 weeks felt more competent socially, intellectually, and athletically.  A second study conducted by the University of Bristol found that people who exercised daily had more energy and a more positive outlook, which are critical for getting things done.  Getting your body moving for as little as 10 minutes releases GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid), a neurotransmitter that makes your brain feel soothed and keeps you in control of your impulses.   There are a number of advantages to exercising first thing in the morning.  Probably the most important one is that it ensures you’ll have the time for it, and it improves your self-control and energy levels over the course of the entire day.

3. They Disconnect. 

You can probably guess what this is all about even before reading the following details.  A well-known business executive starts his day with a motivational email to his employees.  After taking care of this, the executive disconnects and dedicates his early morning time to exercise and family.   When we roll out of bed and dive straight into emails, texts, and Facebook, we are far more likely to become distracted and quickly lose focus right off the bat.  Doing this allows our precious early morning time to succumb to the wants and needs of other people.  It is much healthier to take those first moments of each day to do something relaxing, which starts the day off with a calm, positive tone.  The way we start each day tends to influence and determine the tone for the remainder of the day.

4. They Eat a Healthy Breakfast.

Just eating anything at all for breakfast puts you ahead of a lot of people.   Studies have shown that people who eat breakfast are less likely to be obese, they have more stable blood-sugar levels, and they tend to be less hungry over the course of the day.   And these are just the findings for people who eat anything at all for breakfast.   When you eat a healthy breakfast, the doors to a productive day swing wide open.   A healthy breakfast gives you energy, improves your short-term memory, and helps you to concentrate more intensely and for longer periods.

5. They Practice Mindfulness.  

“Mindfulness” has recently appeared as the new buzzword for meditation.  Its popularity and growth as a tool being used by highly successful CEOs is largely due to the huge benefits it pays in increased productivity and overall well-being.  Research shows that meditation fights off stress by reversing the fight-or-flight responses, improves ability to focus, boosts creativity, and increases emotional intelligence.

6. They Set Goals For the Day.

Benjamin Franklin was obsessive about planning his days.  Each morning, this legendary forefather would wake up at 4:00 a.m. and meticulously piece together a schedule.   There is a clear message to take from Dr. Franklin’s habit:  Prudent and specific goal setting pays dividends.   When you plan out your day as carefully as possible, your chances of successfully accomplishing your goals will increase exponentially.  Some successful individuals like to set their daily goals immediately following their meditation period.  The consensus seems to be that the added calm and clarity help individuals to set effective, specific goals.

7. Many Times They Say No.

“No” is a powerful word which will protect your precious mornings.   Many times we have to diligently guard the time we have to begin each day.  For myself, it has to be a very good reason for me to disrupt my early morning routine.  I try to take my cue from successful people who guard their time very carefully.   One time that should be treated like gold is the first hours of each new day.

While the above strategies are tried and true, each of us likely has additional strategies that work well for us.   We can use the above strategies with our other routine personal activities that enrich our days and get us started on the most valuable gift any of us ever receive…. the gift of a new day!

“Every sunset reduces one day from life, but every sunrise gives one more day to hope.  So hope for the best happy new day of life.”

Quotes 4 Smile

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212 DEGREES – ONLY ONE DEGREE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! 23 Aug 2017, 11:37 am

At 211 degrees…water is hot.

At 212 degrees…it boils.

And with boiling water, comes steam.

And steam can power a locomotive.

And, it’s that one extra degree that… Makes all the difference.

How many of us ever really consider what is takes to be just a little bit better at work, in our relationships, at a hobby, etc.?  Honestly, many of us probably dream about making major improvements in our lives without ever achieving many of those dreams.  The reason for this may be that our dreams are unrealistic or that we never take the necessary steps to begin and follow-through with achieving our dreams.  Maybe we are intimidated by taking those first steps to improve or believe that the final destination is unreachable because the journey is too difficult.

How many of us want to be better?  Dumb question of the day Tim!   Of course all of us want to be better!  But, what will it actually take to make a difference in our lives to become better?  How much work is going to be involved to be better?  These are all important questions to ask, but maybe being better is not as difficult or challenging a task as we believe it to be.  Using boiling water as an example, we see that it really doesn’t take much additional effort to make a huge difference.   Applying one extra degree of temperature to water means the difference between something that’s simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine.

Secrets to success simply don’t exist.   Most of us instinctively know it, but won’t admit it.  Success in anything has one fundamental aspect:  Effort.   And in most cases, to achieve exponential results requires extra effort.   That’s the extra degree.   Thomas Edison once said that, “Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”   Vince Lombardi said that, “Inches make the champion.”   Did you know that at NASCAR’s Daytona 500 from 1997 – 2006, the winner took the checkered flag by an average margin of 0.175 seconds…. less than two-tenths of a second.  For the winner, it meant $509,000…. more….in winnings!

Let me toss in a controversial thought……It’s really not about being the best.  Realistically, it’s about being better than you were yesterday.   That’s what makes the difference.  Remember that it’s that one extra degree of effort in business and in life that truly separates the good from the great.  So, the question for all of us is where could you turn things up in your life to create one extra degree that will make a major difference?   This goes for not only individual lives, but for businesses as well.   And finally, I appreciate the below quote from the book, “212° The Extra Degree.”

This makes things a little easier as we ask ourselves the question, what are the few most important things that we can incrementally improve to make the biggest difference?   Can you identify some of those things today?

“Focus on the critical few, not the insignificant many.”

   Sam Parker and Mac Anderson from the book, “212° The Extra Degree.

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5 REASONS THE IRS WILL AUDIT (INFOGRAPHIC) 2 Aug 2017, 10:00 am

The words “IRS Audit” strike fear into the hearts of many taxpayers.   There is no limit on how many times a taxpayer can be audited by the IRS.  If your practice’s business return gets audited, it is a strong possibility that the IRS could issue an audit notice for your personal return.

Sometimes an audit is triggered merely due to simple mistakes made by taxpayers which can be easily corrected without severe penalties.  This month’s newsletter shares five reasons that could trigger an IRS audit for you or your practice.  We hope that you find this information helpful, and please let our team know if we can assist you in any way.

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