News Alert:
On December 27, President Trump signed a second COVID-19 relief bill into law to provide economic relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic through September 30, 2021. The package includes $1.4 trillion to fund the government, $900 billion for coronavirus relief and other provisions. There are several updates to workplace provisions in the bill, including special health and dependent care flexible spending arrangements. The bill allows taxpayers to rollover unused amounts in their health and dependent care flexible spending accounts from 2020 to 2021 and from 2021 to 2022. This provision also permits employers to allow employees to make a 2021 mid-year prospective change in contribution amounts. Major TPA’s will release guidance on how to take advantage of these provisions. To learn about these additional workplace provisions, read more here.
Closing out 2020:
We can’t believe that 2021 is just a few days away. This year has been a whirlwind filled with challenges and uncertainty, but also hope and teachable moments with lessons that we will take with us into the future. If there is one thing we know, it’s that we have the ability to adapt, to take what we are presented with and leverage it in ways that will allow us to keep pressing on. With that said, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the past twelve months to carry us into the New Year, to pause, reflect and take what we’ve learned and apply it in a way to propel us forward.
When we say pause and reflect on the year, what we really mean is to look inward and reflect on what it is that we have done, how we handled both positive and negative situations, and how we showed up for ourselves and others. Self-reflection is an often overlooked, but necessary tool for learning, growing and reaching our potential. In our last newsletter, we talked about self-leadership and self-awareness, all of which involve self-reflection, self-evaluation and getting “real” with ourselves in a compassionate, curious and non-judgemental fashion. This gives us a chance to improve our strengths, align values and goals, and track our growth.
The New Year is a mindset for many and looked at as a “reset” button. The truth is, you will continue to get the same results you’ve been getting if you keep doing the same things you’ve been doing. If what you’re doing is working for you, keep it up! But if you’re feeling stuck, uninspired, and downright don’t have a clue what to do or where you want to take your life, your career, your side hustle, etc., self-reflection is a great exercise to start with, and to do every so often throughout the year to keep yourself accountable. Get clear on your wants, needs and goals and then determine if they are being supported by both your thoughts and actions. Next, tune into your self-limiting beliefs. Self-limiting beliefs are assumptions or perceptions that you have about yourself and about the way the world works and are considered “self-limiting” because they are in some way holding you back from achieving what you are capable of. Some times, the only thing holding us back is ourselves. Every year, I like to create an overarching theme that I want to work on for myself. One year it was boundaries, the next year it was trusting my intuition, and this year, my goal is to “keep showing up for myself”. I’ve written it down in several places already and I am manifesting it here also. I am going to make 2021 the year that I nourish my life by showing up for myself by being mindful, nurturing my creativity, breaking past my self-limiting beliefs (which I have identified!), continuing to take care of my health and by being present in my everyday interactions.
With the closing of the year, give yourself credit, learn from your mistakes, celebrate your successes, and forgive or try to free yourself of things that don’t bring you peace so that you can begin to move forward. Practice gratitude, and prioritize self-care by doing things for yourself that make you feel good and bring you joy. Finally, always remember that your vision can remain clear and the destination/goal remain the same, even though the pathway may change. If we can adapt and pivot, we can build internal resiliency that allows us to weather the unexpected.
Cheers to 2021! We are grateful and look forward to another year of working with you!
