Soto Law Group - January 2022

Soto Law Group - January 2022

January 2022 Soto’s Chronicles

R. DeDe Soto

Protecting your most valuable asset — your family

The 3 Best Business Resolutions for the New Year And How to Achieve Them

FROM THE DESK OF

DeDe Soto

As we enter 2022, many business owners are setting goals or resolutions for the new year. If you want to take your business to the next level, make sure you are committed to your goals so they don’t just become wishes. That’s the biggest problem with personal and professional New Year’s resolutions: You have to be proactive and stay committed to your ideals if you want to achieve them. Simply saying what you want to happen is not enough. You also need to be deliberate with your goal setting. Nothing is going to change if your goal is simply to grow the company or increase profits. These are vague and unobtainable without a plan. Your goals and resolutions should instead include smaller goals along the way, leading to the end result. If you work the plan, then your business should see growth and success.

Wishing You Much Joy and Happiness in 2022! I hope the New Year will be filled with lots of prosperity. As I reflect on 2022, my hope for each of us is to live life each day with no regrets. Life is filled with amazing adventures, ordinary adventures, and then the “stuff” we would prefer to bypass. Hopefully, you are able to make it through the “bypass” stuff as soon as you can. Enjoy 2022, and if we can assist with leaving a loving legacy, which I believe is the greatest gift of love you can give to your family, give us a call and we will organize your life and make sure your estate plan is an expression of your love.

Here are our three best resolutions if you want your business to grow and succeed in the upcoming year.

Hire and train the right people for your company culture. One of the best things you can do to increase business success is hire employees who buy into the company culture. Sometimes the best candidates on paper are not the best fit for your business. When you’re interviewing potential employees, tailor your questions around your company culture and what you want from this position in the future. Pay attention to their answers and make sure they align with your beliefs and what you are working toward. Hiring people who believe in the company will enhance employee morale and customer satisfaction. Your company culture should also be incorporated into training to ensure everyone is unified. If your training ties into the culture, then new employees will be more aware of what to expect when they officially start.

Many blessings,

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Market your business on social media. Successful companies get the word out! And social media has made marketing more accessible to just about everyone. Companies that were unable to afford marketing campaigns or television/radio spots can now turn to social media to market their brand and products. But the most important thing is to target your prospective clientele. You will not attract everyone with your marketing campaign, so figure out who your customers are and target them. If you’re new to the world of social media marketing, many valuable tools can help you on your way. Planning programs like Buffer allow you to draft and schedule posts in advance. Beginner graphic design apps can help if you are concerned about how your content is presented. Do your research and find the best tools for your business so it serves your larger goal to grow and increase profits.

You should also make an effort to run your current employees through training at least once a year. Everyone is more likely to stay committed to the culture you put in place. Delegate responsibilities. As a business owner, especially a small-business owner, keeping things running smoothly is vital. But it can be difficult to delegate some of your tasks and responsibilities to others. You may think they can’t meet your expectations or you may have just gotten used to doing all the tasks yourself. But this could also be preventing your business from growing. You need to trust your team and give them the opportunity to do some of the work. You can still oversee their tasks, but you do not need to do everything — this is the quickest path to burnout. Hiring the right people can make delegation a lot easier.

6 SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN WAYS TO BOOST YOUR BRAIN POWER When it comes to setting up your business for success, many smaller goals can help pave the way. Whether it’s hiring, training, marketing, or something else entirely, you can do plenty of things to take your business to the next stage. As long as you’re deliberate and committed to your goals, anything is possible. Is Neuroplasticity the Secret to Success?

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt throughout your life, forming new connections that can have a direct impact on your energy, productivity, focus, creativity, motivation, and much more. Your brain can expand and grow even after an injury. That’s why many entrepreneurs are saying the same thing: One of the smartest ways to invest in your business is to devote resources to your most important asset — your brain.

Exercise is crucial because, according to brain plasticity researchers at IOS Press, exercise “alters the synaptic structure and function in various brain regions,” promoting brain growth and even delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Promoting growth

can also be as simple (or as difficult) as focusing our attention on thoughts that bring us joy. Gratitude promotes very different brain

activity than negativity, anger, or bitterness, and studies on gratitude show that the positive effects can be lifelong. Nutrition can’t be understated either, since it can assist your body in maintaining health and fighting inflammation. The brain uses about 20% of the body’s calories, and eating plenty

But how do you keep your brain active, healthy, and functioning at a high level? Param Dedhia, MD, says six key areas are involved: sleep, exercise, joy, nutrition, internal medicine, and inflammation. All of these factors work independently, but together, they can promote neuroplasticity, which is why they all require equal attention.

of omega-3 fatty acids can strengthen brain cells, while antioxidants reduce cellular stress and inflammation, which are linked to brain aging and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

Everyone wants to stay engaged with the world around them, but you can’t do that without sleep. In fact, research published by the journal PLOS One discovered that getting six or fewer hours of sleep was associated with memory and executive function problems, i.e. problem-solving, planning, and execution. So, make sure you get enough sleep before tackling your day.

With the right habits, you can keep your brain healthy for many decades to come. You might even grow in entirely new and unexpected ways.

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How Much Are Your Favorite Pants Worth? One Man Estimated His at $54 Million

Everyone knows that the perfect pair of pants can be hard to come by, but are they worth $54 million? Administrative Judge Roy L. Pearson had a favorite pair of pants, but in 2007, he claimed that Custom Cleaners lost them and returned a completely different pair instead. It all began when Pearson took his pants to the Washington, D.C., dry cleaners for alterations worth $10.50. The pants were sent in error to the incorrect dry cleaner, so Pearson’s

more reasonable $54 million. In his suit, Pearson requested $3 million for mental distress, $90,000 for a rental car to visit another dry cleaner, and $500,000 in attorney’s fees (Pearson represented himself). At the heart of his claim, though, was the company’s failure to live up to their “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service” signs in the window. The media had a field day, joking about the case as a “pantsuit” and inspiring a “Law & Order” episode called “Bottomless.” Pearson seemed to relish the spectacle, calling his lawsuit “an awesome responsibility” in court and breaking down into tears on the stand. He also called a witness who compared the Chungs to Nazis. Even though the Chungs offered him a $12,000 settlement to make the case go away, Pearson persevered. He ultimately lost his case. At the end of the trial, the judge declared that no reasonable person would consider the signs at Custom Cleaners to be an unconditional promise — and also that Pearson had failed to prove the returned pants weren’t his. The Chungs ultimately recovered their court costs via a fundraiser, and Pearson lost his judicial appointment. Unsurprisingly, this prompted another lawsuit, which he also lost. In 2020, Pearson was suspended from practicing law for 90 days as a result of his actions in Pearson v. Chung . But for bringing new meaning to the phase “I’ll sue the pants off of you,” his place in legal history is secure.

pickup was delayed by several days. Once the pants were returned, despite bearing all the correct tags and matching his receipt, Pearson declared that the pants were not his. When the dry cleaner refused his demand for $1,000 compensation, he decided it was time for legal action. Pearson originally sued the cleaner’s owners, Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung, and Ki Y. Chung, for a whopping $67 million in damages but later reduced the claim to a far Take a Break!

Chicken With Lemon Herb Sauce

Inspired by FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup and 2 tbsp olive oil, divided • 4 boneless chicken breasts • 1 clove of garlic, minced • 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped • 1/3 cup mint, chopped • 1 1/2 tsp pepper • 1 lemon, for juice and zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. 2. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil.

3. Season chicken with salt and pepper if desired and sear it in the skillet for 3 minutes on each side. Bake chicken until its internal temperature is 165 F. 4. In a blender, add 1/3 cup olive oil, garlic, salt, parsley, mint, pepper, and lemon zest and juice and blend ingredients until coarsely mixed. 5. Top chicken with sauce and serve!

Blanket Carnation Cold Emmys

Football Garnet Janus Mittens

Parade Resolution Snow Workout

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of DeDe PAGE 1 Making the 3 Best Business Resolutions Achievable PAGE 1 Make Neuroplasticity Your Secret to Success PAGE 2 The Case of the $54 Million Pants PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Chicken With Lemon Herb Sauce PAGE 3 Stick to Your Resolutions — For Real, This Time PAGE 4

How to Keep New Year’s Resolutions

FOR REAL, THIS TIME

New Year’s Eve has come and gone, and now that the champagne is finished and the decorations are put away, it’s time to buckle down and work on those New Year’s resolutions. The only problem is ... your resolutions for this year and last year are the same. Change is tough, so you’re not alone in being unable to stick to your resolutions. This year can be different, if you want it to be. Here are some tips to keep you on track. Have a specific goal. Many resolutions are vague — along the lines of “exercise more” or “eat healthier.” That’s too ambiguous to inspire motivation, and vagueness leaves room for excuses. Make your goal more concrete, so you can measure your success. Specific goals could include going to the gym three times a week, being able to bench a certain number of pounds,

or only indulging in fast food once a month. Make your goal realistic — if it’s too drastic or difficult, it’s easier to give up. Have a plan. Bad habits are hard to break, so change won’t come about naturally. It’s important to consider how you’ll structure your day around your resolution and what obstacles you might face. When will you go to the gym, and what will you do if that time gets interrupted? How will you plan meals to avoid spontaneous drive-thru visits? Write down what you want to accomplish and all the things that might stand in your way. Then, figure out how you’ll deal with them before they happen. Start small. On Jan. 1, you’re probably enthusiastic about your resolution and ready to hit the ground running. Not so fast — doing too much too soon is a classic mistake. It’s okay to be excited, but working out until you’re sore all over or constantly eating salads you hate will turn your resolution into a chore that you’ll want to avoid. Start with light workouts or replacing some of your carbs with veggies. Once you get the hang of that, you’ll be ready to scale up slowly. Using these guidelines, you’ll make lasting changes that extend beyond February. Get 2022 started off on the right foot, and next year you’ll be ready to make a whole new resolution — and keep it.

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