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Recent Posts:

  • The Toll of Our Modern World
  • How Money Can Buy You Happiness
  • Using Social Media Well In Families
  • What Dreams Have You Left on the Shelf?
  • Major confusion over new law and per diem for company drivers
  • This trucker was GLAD we woke him up!
  • And for Seinfeld Fans...
  • Are You Making These Retirement Saving Mistakes?



    • What Dreams Have You Left on the Shelf?

    Hopefully, it won’t surprise you for me to tell you that most of our office hours this year have been focused on cutting our clients’ taxes to the bone and on helping them with IRS problems.


    But here's where some of our thinking here at eTruckerTax might surprise you a little.

    You see, running a business with success requires more than just protecting yourself against overpaying needless income taxes, tax audits and profit-sucking overhead. It requires that you keep your heart and mind focused and alive.

    Truly, if you can act from a sense of GRATITUDE for what you've been given as a manager or business owner, it makes a big difference in your happiness ... and your bottom line.

    And just so you’ll know, it’s not required that you technically be a business owner in order for you to think like one.

    We here at eTruckerTax love working with all members of the trucking and transportation professions. Whether you are a driver, a small fleet owner or a trucking executive, there is no limit to what can be achieved by men and women in trucking!

    We are fortunate here at eTruckerTax to have team members that take a strong sense of pride, responsibility and ownership in their work, even though their name is not on the door!

    The very same idea applies to you. If you’ve been in your current situation for more than two years, you are hopefully feeling a sense of connection and you are even coming up with ideas on ways to improve processes that you see.

    With virtually every part of the economy on a slippery slope for the past several years, I've seen far too many business owners, executives and managers, both men and women, get trapped into the cycle of stress, fear and being "tight".

    I would dare say that even if you’ve been fortunate to reach a measure of success, there are still dreams that may have been shot down years or even decades ago by a well-meaning parent or friend. Or even by the responsibilities of family or simply paying the bills!


    I want to invite you this week to dream a little bit about your business, and also about your life. And together, let’s create a simple strategy to make some of those dreams come true.

    Perhaps you can get away for a long weekend with your spouse or significant other. Or a friend. Or even by yourself.


    Yes, we can help you with your finances and taxes (it's what we do best) ... but I can't "get in your head" and make decisions for you.

    I can, however, speak some truth (hopefully, with a measure of affection and encouragement) ... and prompt you to win big during the rest of 2018, and beyond.

    And, it starts with breaking free of analysis paralysis.

    You see, part of the reason analysis paralysis occurs, is because we become too hesitant to act upon our ideas or dreams. Once we look at the "realistic" side of things, our natural fears and hesitation take over. And, that's a good thing! It's stopped many of my clients from taking actions that would actually be harmful or dangerous! And it’s what stops us from tempting fate and racing across a railroad track into the path of an oncoming train!

    Unfortunately, it can also keep us from taking ANY risks. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard said, "If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off a few cliffs and grow your wings on the way down."

    We have the pleasure of working with drivers, fleet owners and trucking executives all over the U.S. Two of our very favorites are women, one in Texas and one based in Georgia.

    They both own very successful 7-and 8 figure grossing trucking businesses. The owner in Texas is currently realizing her life’s dream by negotiating the successful sale of her company.


    Most of the great achievements in life started out simply as a dream. When business owners are able to turn their dreams into goals, and their goals into actions, amazing things happen.

    So maybe, even with your established business, is it time to think bigger? Maybe it's time to take the step to start something new that has been burning inside you, but you didn't have the heart for it at the time.

    The steps below may seem foolish if you’ve never taken them, but there really is power in stepping back and taking the time for them:

    Do you have goals, dreams hopes or ideas that have been a part of your thinking?

    It might be your long-standing dream of pursuing a different career or it could be an achievement or an adventure you’ve dreamed of pursuing. Like growing your trucking business to 10, 20 or 50 trucks.

    Or it may be that you simply want to have the time and resources to spend more time with your family and/or plan some specific activities like a Mediterranean cruise or a 3-week tour of Italy.

    What about those dreams from when you were younger that time and “reality” have relegated to a shelf somewhere?

    Don’t let your dreams get away from you!

    TODAY, do yourself a huge favor:

    Take 15 or 20 minutes, and just make a list of every goal or dream that you want to do, be, have or achieve.

    Don’t think about each one or evaluate it – just write it down. We’ll prune your list later.

    Just get every desire-even crazy ones- written down. There is tremendous power in getting a goal out of you mind and written on paper where you can see it literally on a daily basis.

    Having trouble getting started? Maybe it’ll help to break your list into categories. Like maybe:

    Family

    Financial

    Career

    Physical

    Social

    Spiritual

    It will help for you to achieve balance in your life by having goals in a number of categories, as well as having both short and long-range goals.

    You may have heard that your goals should be S.M.A.R.T.:

    Specific – Is it concrete?

    Measurable – Is it quantifiable, or easily determined if you have met this goal?

    Attainable – Is it realistic and within reach?

    Relevant – Is this your goal? Is it something that you can connect with mentally or emotionally?

    Time-bound – Can you attach a time frame for accomplishing this?

    There are dozens of motivational speakers that are very worthwhile to reach and listen to.

    Two specific speakers, Zig Ziglar and Jim Rohn, were very important to me in developing a goal orientation. They both passed away in the past several years. I never had the pleasure of meeting either of them, but their books and recordings were incredibly helpful in showing me how to get from where I was to where I wanted to be. You can check them both out at Amazon.com


    One of the most tragic things in life is to see an unrealized dream. As an entrepreneur, you already know that this doesn't have to be your fate. Be willing to dream a little more, and see what you can do that may break you out of a monotonous cycle. Look at Thomas Edison – he dreamed of stuff that didn’t even exist!

    I hope this helps ... these notes of encouragement are just ONE of the ways we like to serve our clients.

    Our primary method of assistance, of course, is making sure your bottom line is as healthy as possible! All so you can keep your business, and your dreams, alive.

    Have some major fun with this list project and let us hear from you!

    Warmest wishes in dusting off those dreams.

    Dennis Bridges | 02/28/2018