If you want to make your startup a success, the first thing you need to do is get into the right mindset. This might be your first venture, or you may be a veteran at launching new businesses—it doesn’t matter.

The fact is this: It’s easy to become the biggest obstacle to your own success. Your thoughts and your emotions can hold you back and get the better of you. If you don’t go into the office every single day in the right frame of mind, you’re going to end up making bad decisions.

You need to focus on what really matters if you want your startup to grow fast and succeed. Here’s what you need to focus on if you want your mindset to be a strength rather than a weakness.

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Time to update: Make sure your estate plan documents fully support your interests and those of your heirs.

An estate plan is like a car or a house: It needs regular maintenance to function as intended. Yet unlike your car or home, external events can create the need for adjustments. Among such events is legislation like the tax bill Congress passed in late December.

So this is an important time to schedule a meeting with your estate planner and be certain your plan is up-to-date. Even if your estate plan won’t be affected by the new tax law, it’s smart to confer with your estate planner periodically to be certain your current wishes are reflected in your estate planning documents.

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The Value of Setting up a Trust for Your Children

The thought of your minor children growing up without you is enough to bring a lump to any parent’s throat. You plan to be with your children to see them grow and enjoy life, but what if something happens to both you and your spouse? You have hopefully planned to leave money for your children through life insurance. What about who would become their legal guardian? If you have significant life insurance and/or assets, your minor children could become wealthy overnight. How would they handle that responsibly?

The answer is that they would need help.

You can take one critical step now to empower yourself to have a say in how your children are raised, no matter what. By creating a will with a trust component, you will be able to choose who acts as a caretaker for your children, who handles their finances and how the assets should be distributed to reflect your wishes.

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