Brian Tracy walks through a year-end checklist for 2018: review what worked in 2017, schedule health checkups, declutter your space and subscriptions, and do a financial audit including assets, debts, and taxes with a professional.
Hello, I'm Brian Tracy and today I want to task you with a few things to take care of before 2018. We often talk about the importance of staying motivated and setting goals on the business side of your life. With the approaching new year, however, it's also important to take a step back and make sure we are prepared personally for what lies ahead. Are you on the right path to achieve personal as well as professional success? First, schedule time to look back on 2017. Reflecting on the year that is about to expire helps establish where we are, where we were, and where we're headed. If you are married or in a close personal relationship, this is something that the two of you should be involved with. What were your bills this time a year ago? What was the state of your savings or investments? Don't get depressed if this is not good news. Instead, use it to empower you in improving those aspects of your life. Look for the positives. If you paid off a credit card or bought a new house, make note. Did you take a nice vacation? Did you complete an educational course? Were there other ways that you were able to improve yourself? Perhaps you met a new person or made new friends? Use your successes to build momentum and seek to overcome issues like procrastination that may have held you back. Second, schedule doctor's appointments and checkups the end of the year is a good time to check in on your health. By scheduling doctor's appointments, it also ensures that you are using any health benefits your medical insurance plan has available before they expire. Keep in mind these include dental, vision and your overall health. Entering the New Year Knowing the status of your physical health can provide you peace of mind. If health changes are suggested by your doctor, this is the perfect time to make those changes. Third, clean up and declutter. Most of us simply have too much stuff. It may be books, clothing, kitchen gadgets, apps on our phones, boxes in our basements. Acquiring stuff tends to burden us rather than enrich us. That is why cleaning up, decluttering and downsizing has so much value in preparing you for the new year. Will you add More apps in 2018? Of course you will. But if you should, shed the ones you rarely use before the year is out. Even make a decision to shed one for every new one that you add, or maybe even shed more than one. Cancel all your useless newsletters on your website, things that you never read that you have to delete anyway. Will you buy new clothes in the coming year? Certainly. But get rid of the clothes you haven't worn in over a year first, the rule is that if you haven't worn it in a year, you probably never wear it again. If you are an avid reader, aren't you better served gifting a book that you love to someone who will learn from it or enjoy it rather than have it collect dust on a shelf? Decluttering has a mental and therefore a therapeutic benefit to it. Thus, stuff creates less weight on your mind and spirit. Stuff takes space maintenance and can quickly outweigh perceived benefits. Owning a boat, for example, may sound like an absolutely logical goal initially. But when you consider the purchase cost, storage, dock space, maintenance, fuel costs, insurance and transportation expense, and divide it by the number of weeks or days or hours that you may actually enjoy it, there may be better alternatives. Renting a boat temporarily may be a much better idea. Decluttering often starts by simply asking, do I really need this? Fourth, Complete A Financial Checkup this is more complex than looking at the balance of your checking account. You need to establish where you are right now. At the end of the year, what are your total debts? If you were forced to pay the balance on your mortgage, car loans, credit cards, department store cards, and other personal debt, how much would it add up to today? That's kind of a scary thought. Now add up your savings and investments, the value of your home and cars after the mortgage and your personal belongings, collectibles, and what you have in your wallet and checking account. What would that amount to? This, at the very least, will give you a rudimentary evaluation of your net worth. You deduct your debts, your liabilities from your assets, and that's what you'd be worth if you had to move out of town tomorrow. The bottom line is this. If you were to go away today, never to be heard from again, and you're family would have to sell your assets to pay your bills, what would be left over? Knowing this basic number, even if not precise, can help you improve upon it before heading into 2018. No end of the year financial checkup would be complete without an evaluation of your tax situation. How can you best position yourself in the new year to minimize your taxes? Whether they are income, real estate, capital gains, heritage or others, there's no doubt a tax professional can pay dividends in your planning for the new year. By the way, I found that every dollar that you spend on an accountant, including a tax accountant, will actually save you $5 in expenses, costs, unnecessary taxes, and so on. Do not try to save money on getting a good accountant or tax accountant. They can save you a fortune. Before we wrap up I'd like to leave you with a thought to share with your friends and followers. Be future oriented. When facing any problem, ask where do we go from here? What is our desired future now? I'd love to hear from you. So my question today is what is on your list of things to do before the end of the year? Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to follow up with you. Thanks for watching. And remember, if you want to change your future, take action. And take action now. If you enjoyed this video and feel it was valuable in teaching you about preparing For a successful 2018, subscribe to my channel. Like this video and share this video with your friends. Don't forget to click the button on the screen for a free gift. Thanks again for watching.
