​There is an overwhelming amount of literature on habits.  Every author seems to have a different perspective, but most seem to agree that habits cannot be “broken.”  Rather, they must be replaced.
A lot of people have the habit of multitasking, checking social media, and becoming distracted.  If this is you, read on!
 
As I have mentioned before, most people can get 80% of their work done using only 20% of their efforts.  For instance, I have to read a dense section on wills and trusts law this morning.  This reading will take me about one hour.  However, before I replaced my social media/multitasking habit with deep, productive work habits, the reading might have taken me three hours.  I might have read five pages, checked Facebook, texted a friend, read another page, browsed my inbox, etc.

​Even with a legal degree, I am guilty of clicking agree to user terms or a privacy policy without reading all the terms.  I bet you are guilty of this too.  Just because you are guilty of clicking agree once, does not mean you should do it when you are signing a contract that obligates you to something big or is for big bucks (whatever big bucks may be in your world).  Smarten up, and read the rest of this blog!

​This blog stems from a conversation I had with a friend of mine that works in the FBI on criminal investigations.  She was interested in starting a boxing program for youth that might be non-profit or part of a city program.  She wanted to charge right in to the Chief of Police to ask to start the program right away, but realized that she might need a little more advice before taking that action.  She came to me for advice.
 
I am a busy person, so my first suggestion was to treat the process of creating the boxing gym in the same way she would treat an Investigation she was doing as part of the FBI.  However, it was not easy for her to think about the steps of investigation she used in the FBI and apply them to creating a city youth boxing program.  As we had the conversation and I walked her through the steps, likening each one to an investigation step she would take in her job, the plan of attack became clearer to her.
 
Going through this process with her made me realize that a lot of people have the skills to solve any PROBLEM they encounter.  They just cannot transfer the skills they have for solving a PROBLEM in one sector of their life to another sector.  Out of that realization, this Blog post was born.

I know there are many business owners and entrepreneurs (especially those starting out) that are mystified about how to deal with taxes now that they aren't on a standard W-2.  Here are a few tips to start out a new business owner on the right track: