Smile Through Adversity
- By Rick Sawyer
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- 03 Dec, 2018
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The Most Positive Individuals Are Usually the Most Successful
Everyone in business experiences multiple calamities during his or her career. . . and celebrities aren't immune. You lose a part in a potential blockbuster. Your band-mate decides to go solo. The option expires on your screenplay. A major sponsor decides to go with one of your competitors. You get sent down to the minors. The list is long . . . and none of us is immune.
There are just too many obstacles facing creative and athletic professionals to let negativity get in the way. That’s why, the most positive individualss are often the most successful.
Being positive, especially in the face of a crisis, is no easy task. Even though experience prepares us to expect an unexpected calamity, the moment something goes wrong, negativity can take over our thoughts. And, if allowed to dominate our attitude, can eventually impact many other areas of our lives.
The worst thing that we can do to hinder our ability to perform at a high level and be successful is to be discouraged or appear to be dispirited, especially in the middle of adversity.
Here are three areas to combat a defeated attitude—internally and externally:
- See failure as a new start. Optimism allows us to learn from failures, pick up the pieces and move on to something greater. The greatest positive breakthroughs often occur shortly after a significant failure. That’s because, when things are good, we tend to coast along without making any dramatic leaps. When things go bad, our world gets shaken up, which requires us to grow, see new things, and start over. In contrast, when you see a setback as end-of-the world failure, you become your own worst enemy.
- Get physically healthy. Focusing on the positive, instead of the negative, improves mental well-being, which can also motivate individuals to take better care of their bodies. Not only are positive people generally happier and less stressed, but they also tend to have healthier hearts. In a study of more than 5,100 adults, researchers from the University of Illinois found that those who were the most positive were 76 percent more likely to have health scores in an ideal range. In addition, positive people had significantly better blood sugar and cholesterol levels, exercised more, and had healthier body mass indexes,
- Be optimistic. Negativity causes us to fixate on the fear of failure. But you can’t “just think positive” and stop there. You must pair your positive thinking with positive action. Believe in yourself, believe in your team, believe in your mission and expect to prevail over your next challenge.
Remember, being positive is contagious. Having an upbeat attitude can inspire everyone around you. Smile a lot. It’s a reflection of your confidence.
Optimistic leaders can help motivate and engage everyone around them. A positive team will be driven to accomplish goals and work together. And your career will move forward.
One area we’ve found challenging to some of our clients over the years is providing the right documentation to substantiate sizable charitable contributions.
The IRS recently published final regulations clarifying several aspects of charitable gift reporting:
Donations of cash
For contributions of $250 to $500
To claim a cash contribution of $250 to $500, you must obtain a contemporaneous (originating at the time as the gift) written acknowledgement from the recipient of the donation.
For contributions of more than $500
To claim a monetary gift of $500 or more, you need either a bank record or a written communication with the recipient showing the name of the recipient, the date of the contribution, and the amount of the contribution.
Donations of property
To claim a donation of property valued under $250, you must receive a receipt from the recipient or keep “reliable records.” (We encourage getting a receipt.)
To claim non-cash contributions valued between $250 and $500, you’re required to obtain a contemporaneous written acknowledgment.
To claim a donation valued between $500 but less than $5,000, you must obtain a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the recipient and file Form 8283 using Section A, Donated Property of $5,000 or Less and Publicly Traded Securities.
To claim a non-cash donation valued between $5,000 and $500,000, in addition to a contemporaneous written acknowledgment, you must obtain a qualified appraisal and file Form 8283 using Section B, Donated Property Over $5,000 (Except Publicly Traded Securities).
To claim a non-cash contribution of $500,000 or more, you must meet the requirements for a contribution of $5,000 to $500,000 and attach the qualified appraisal to your return.
What’s a "qualified appraisal?"
The IRS regulations define a "qualified appraiser" as an individual with "verifiable education and experience in valuing the relevant type of property for which the appraisal is performed" (Regs. Sec. 1.170A-17(b)(1)).
We get it. Your career demands are too hectic day-to-day for you to worry about the end of your fiscal year . . . until we get to the end of your fiscal year. And since most of our clients operate as small businesses, their fiscal year usually coincides with the calendar year.
That means you’re simultaneously faced with booking and using your talent, dealing with holiday hassles, and getting your paperwork in order so your accountant can prepare your tax returns (personal and business).
Here are a few year-end tax prep tasks every client can do right now to help assure a trouble-free tax preparation and filing experience for 2018.
Get organized
CPAs generally charge by the hour. That means, if you bring us all your receipts in a shoe box, for example, your tax return will be done, but it will take us longer to sort through everything that’s in the shoe box. Just as in your business, time is money.
It’s best if all your invoices and receipts are recorded in the same format in the same software program or spreadsheet.
Get reconciled
Bank reconciliation should be ongoing on a weekly basis throughout the year, but we realize it’s one of those things that gets back-burnered in the pressure and fast-pace of your professional life.
What we’re looking for is documentation of a bank transaction that corresponds with each entry in your accounting system.
Evaluate quarterly payments
If you make estimated tax payments quarterly, check to see how they correspond to the actual end-of-year numbers you achieved. The process will give you a good idea of the amount you’ll get back or how much you’ll owe this year.
And it will give your accountant benchmarks that will come in handy while preparing your tax return.
Review your W-9s
If you hire freelancers, you must issue 1099 forms to every person you paid at least $600 to for contract labor. If you didn’t anticipate paying him or her that threshold amount, you may have overlooked having them complete a W-9 form at the time. You can still have any missing W-9s completed before the end of the calendar year.
Call your CPA today
For a successful CPA practice, every day during tax season is like Black Friday to retailers. We’re deadline driven to get every tax return prepared as accurately and efficiently as possible.
The sooner we can sit down with our clients to review appropriate records and start preparing the return, the more likely this year’s tax filing project will be smooth and stress free.