A few days before school started this year, one of my sons was anxious. After some prodding, he finally confessed that math makes him nervous. The year before, he picked up on the fact that his friends were in the “good” math group and he was in the “needs improvement” math group. It was embarrassing for him, and he worried that this year would be no different.
So, with only a couple of days to cram, he found some flashcards in a drawer and got to work. He plowed through addition, subtraction, multiplication, and a few easy division problems. After just a couple of days, he was confident and ready.
Sadly, his class is not divided into math groups this year, but his effort still paid off because math is now his best subject! He breezes through his homework and, more importantly, his confidence in his mathematical ability is through the roof!
His improvement in math just confirms an age-old concept: give something your attention and it blossoms.
So, with 2020 in full swing, what will you give your attention to this year?
2020 PROFESSIONAL GOALS
We have clients that cover the professional spectrum, from residents to retirees. But as a physician, what will receive your attention this year? Is it your goal to get matched with a particular program? Begin a fellowship? Acquire a specialization or new skill? Get a promotion? Move to private practice?
Career-wise, it’s easy to limit ourselves to what’s expected. People expect that you will go through medical school and residency, take a job at a good clinic or hospital, and serve patients in some capacity until you retire.
And that’s a great career.
But if you could build your career from the ground up and do what you really want to do with your knowledge, what would your career look like? What training would you need? Where would you need to live? What connections would you need to make? What experience would you need to have? What sacrifices would be required?
The world needs people who see problems with few or no solutions and are brave enough to tackle them. We need physicians and dentists who reimagine systems and get people the care they need in a way that raises the overall quality of public health.
Maybe that’s you, and maybe it’s not. But don’t limit yourself to the prescribed path just because it’s available. As you look ahead to a new year and decade, let your imagination play a part in navigating your career path.
2020 FINANCIAL GOALS
What will receive your attention this year financially?
Many clients focus on debt reduction and paying down student loans. Paying down debt is a critical part of any financial plan, but, as we’ve written before, it isn’t always wise to dedicate all of your financial attention to debt repayment without also considering living expenses and investments.
No one can control the rate of returns or market volatility, but we can control our priorities. As a firm, we consistently encourage clients and readers to build charitable giving into their financial plans. This takes lots of different forms depending on your values, the causes and organizations you support, and the vehicle by which you want to make your donations. Regardless of how you give, make sure it’s among your 2020 financial goals.
A Donor Advised Fund may be a great addition if you give each year but take the normal standard deduction instead of itemizing, which means you aren't getting the tax deduction for those gifts. In order to maximize both, some have found it helpful to take the standard deduction one year and hold all typical charitable contributions for that year until the following year. If you give those contributions for the prior year as a lump sum in the following year, along with your normal giving for that year and itemize deductions instead of taking the standard deduction, you'll ensure the contributions you're giving are always deductible. However, this strategy only makes sense in certain situations and completely depends on the amount you normally give and how that compares with the standard deduction.
One of the main reasons we encourage clients to give charitably is not simply for the sake of being generous, but because it keeps money in perspective. When we hold our portfolio with a tight fist and guard our money defensively, it develops a certain power over us. But when we hold it loosely, when we realize we have more than enough, and when we see money as nothing more than a tool to acquire what we need, our imaginations are free to dream up creative ways to improve the world around us through our financial contributions.
As with your 2020 professional goals, let your imagination participate in your 2020 financial goals, especially when it comes to charitable giving. What organizations do you find valuable and worthwhile? Who is doing work that flies under the radar yet needs more financial backing? How might your financial contributions help?
No matter what you choose, give attention to charitable giving in 2020 and keep money in its proper place.
2020 PERSONAL GOALS
We all want to lose weight, run a marathon, or otherwise become more physically fit.
Over the next few weeks, local gyms will be filled with people hanging onto their New Year’s resolutions. But by the end of January, everything will be back to business as usual.
We like physical training because we can see the results. We get Instagram-worthy before-and-after pictures. The numbers on the scale go down. Our waist shrinks. It feels good to see the physical, tangible evidence of our work.
This year, don’t stop with the outward. There’s a verse in the New Testament that says, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” In other words, it’s good to be in shape, but there’s something more important: who you are as a person.
Over the next year and decade, who do you want to be? Sure, your professional and financial goals matter, but that’s not who you are.
Do you want to be a person who is more generous and less stressed? Do you want to focus more on your family than your career? Do you want to make amends and heal broken relationships? Do you want to be resilient and emotionally balanced? Do you want to have a clear conscience and live at peace with the people around you? Do you want to live with a steady joy as your baseline?
Maybe you want to be some of those things, and maybe you don’t. But as you look ahead to 2020, don’t forget that all of your professional and financial goals are for naught if you yourself are miserable. Money and status are fleeting - the new eventually wears off - but you as a person are still there.
It’s good to ask, “What do I want to accomplish in 2020?”
It’s better to ask, “Who do I want to become?”
