Tax Day!

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax" -Albert Einstein.

TODAY IS TAX DAY!!! DEADLINE IS HERE!!! UH OH!! Man, let me tell you I do not look forward to this time of year, and Mister Einstein said it right!! Taxes are soo overwhelming and intimidating, I don't care how organized I am when it comes to tax season, I never look forward to it. I sit on the edge of my seat as I turn all my paperwork into my accountant wondering if I'm going to have a refund or am I going to owe. I just cant take it!!

I submitted my taxes the other night but with today being the deadline, and some of yall filing extensions I thought I would share some resources that I found helpful so when next year comes around you and I are on top of our game.

Tax season is the only thing that keeps me on my game when it comes to collecting receipts and such, even if I dont use them for filing its always interesting to see how much I've spent on a single project. I'm still in a trial and error mode searching for a tracking system that is easy for me. Right now I have a simple excel spreadsheet that I'm checking into constantly and recording expenses. Its month 3 though, so Im praying that this is something I will keep consistent with, but so far so good. Let me tell you I will abandon a system in a second if its not working for me. Systems for record keeping really should be as easy as possible because otherwise you simply will not do it Its also smart to know how much money you are spending and what your spending it on. Personal Finance 101 right?!

So keeping along with this whole taxes thing, I simply wanted to share 2 podcasts about taxes I recently listened to. These podcasts are my one of my favorite podcasts on personal finance from Money Girl.

How to Pay Less in Taxes (Part 1)

How to Pay Less in Taxes (Part 2)

Hopefully you find these helpful, and cheers to a new year of consistent proper recordkeeping

If you have any tax tips or resources  I would love to hear about them in the comments

Welcome to the "Year of Greater"

"Cousin Nick playing dominoes" Summer, 2013

I spent my New Year's holiday praising the Lord at New Life Covenant Church. Going to church each new year has become somewhat of a tradition for me. It just makes me feel good and, you don't have to worry about overpriced events. I hit up a few house parties after and its a great low cost, spiritually fed beginning to the new year :). The service was awesome, there were tons of people there, the energy was anointed and super gospel singer Fred Hammond even performed. Everyone was excited to thank 2013 for all its blessings welcome 2014.  The night was truly special!!

I was inspired, blessed and encouraged when Pastor Hannah declared 2014 to be THE YEAR OF GREATER!  Awesome! I'm ready for it, my goals are set, I've got my mind right and I'm so excited to make 2014 exactly the way I want it to be.

I hope your as ready for 2014 as I am!!
Cheers to having a Year of Greater!

Dont Brush Me Off, Pass Me On

"Multiple Chicks", So This One Guy Series, 2011

I recently reached out to a fellow artist to ask some questions about her process for a new piece I've been working on.Visually, I knew what I wanted , but how to actually make it happen? Well this was a question that I knew could be solved with a quick conversation from my artistic colleague who worked in this medium all the time. I sent her a message asking for a few minutes of her time.

What happened next is the reason for this post, as its sort of a "oh no she didn't moment". When she replied back to me with this:

"Great to hear from you! I am out of town most of the month and enormously busy, Sorry wont be able to meet. I am sure you know how to create your vision. Best!" 

Hmmmm okay, I just stared at my computer because I wasnt asking for help with visions, mostly technical application, but more than that WAS I JUST GIVEN THE BRUSH OFF? Was I passed to the left.  Did she even read the message?

Ok fine, she cant help me, everyone is busy and although I was slightly annoyed by the tone of the response, I 100% understand. I've been on the receiving end of emails that request time and energy towards someone else goals, and as much as you want to help, if you took people up on replying to each of those emails, coffee and cocktails meetings, you could easily find yourself in a full time job of free consulting and THIS IS NOT THAT. HOWEVER, I do believe though that if someone has the courage (especially if they dont know you) to craft an email asking for help, then it is your responsibility to be as helpful as you can to them, and you can do that without them monopolizing alot of your time.

So how does one do that?

If my colleague wold have sent me the following message back, I would have felt like she cared, I would have been helped and the world would be a better place. That message would have said: "Great to hear from you! I am out of town most of the month and enormously busy, Sorry wont be able to meet, BUT CHECK OUT (INSERT A HELPFUL RESOURCE THAT COULD BE A GOOD STARTING POINT HERE) I am sure THAT COULD GIVE YOU A GOOD START.you know how to create your vision. See you soon,Best!"  

We all need boundaries, and its important that we establish them. So here are some other great ideas that I've seen others doing:

Create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Section and direct people there before sending you an email.  Fashion blogger, Gabifresh directs her readers to read her FAQ section before sending a personal email.

Include a email/contact policy on your blog or website.Art Biz Coach Alyson Stanfield has a policy for how she handles personal emails, I had a question for her once and that was squared up by doing a search in her blog. Easy for me as I didn't have to draft and email or wait for a response.

Now, What if you need advice? How does one approach people for help?

should we approach people for help? How should we respond... I have a few ideas.

FIRST THINGS FIRST LOOK AROUND TO SEE IF YOU CAN FIND THE ANSWER FOR YOURSELF.. YOU HAVE TO DO THIS ANYWAY SO THAT YOU CAN KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH. Here are my tips for being super resourceful:

#1.  Realize that you might not get the answer your are looking for!! Thats number one, where I thought ole girl was going to be open arms to me like she has been in the past. WRONG!! She simply didn't have the time, and you know what its all good, and you sometimes wont have the time either

#2. KnowEXACTLY what it is you need help with.  If your asking someone for their time you need to be as specific as possible.

#3 Run a Google search of what you need advice with and explore those outlets first. Run a twitter search, Join a LinkedIn or Facebook group around the topic your seeking advice in. **This will be super important so that when you do ask for help you've already done your homework and will know some of these resources in case they come up, that is impressive*

What do you think? Have you been asked for advice that you dont have the time to give? Has someone given you indirect advice that was helpful? How do you handle this? Would love to hear from you