It's always exciting to open up a new calendar. The pages are so blank, clean and full of promise. Nothing has been scribbled over—no one scratched out. The turn of the page marks a time to recalibrate—and to rebalance. If you were as free of the stresses and woes of the old year as an empty calendar, how would you spend your time in the new? Where would you invest precious, limited time and energy?

I've been thinking a lot about living in and out of balance lately, just as if my life were a portfolio. After the financial traumas of the past year—the most challenging of my career—I've mostly been thinking about how thrilling and frustrating work can be. I've been trying to figure out how to rebalance myself, to shed the excess frustration and invest the proceeds in the thrill, or even some quiet satisfaction.

My musings have been informed by the grace with which so many of you are serving your clients. Like you, I'm not spending enough time at home. Like you, I'm wondering how I will pursue my profession, which is under so much margin pressure, in years to come. And like you, I am working on all these big ideas while I continue to do my job, love my spouse and children, try to get some sleep, and hope that my personal investments stop shrinking very soon.

This issue is full of ideas to help you rebalance. Our annual list of Movers and Shakers offers truly stellar role models, from young tyro Michael Branham to the late, great Joan Bavaria. We have one of the best practice management pieces I've read in a long time, a survival guide for businesses under stress by Stephanie Bogan. This does not look like the best year ever for financial planners, but with Bogan's help, you can emerge from this recession stronger than you were before.

We also have some innovative ideas for outreach, ways to rebalance your communications with clients and add positive value. For instance, as Ed Slott and Martin Shenkman point out in their columns, the new estate-tax exclusion is a great reason to revisit trust documents. Senior Editor Don Korn adds another twist: If your clients' trusts give control to banks or other institutions that are under pressure or recently merged, you can really assist your client by updating the paperwork.

Contributing writer Jeanne Lee takes on a more sorrowful service, counseling clients who have lost jobs. There is so much you can do, so much you can give. Happy New Year.

—Marion Asnes, editor in chief