challenges

Aiming for Progress, Not Perfection 

What is your favorite part about the Olympics? Is it a specific event that always catches your eye, a striking outfit?

For us, it’s hard not to be blown away by the perfection among so many of those athletes.

Watching the events, we may forget how much time and effort these athletes put into their trades. We only see the polished, precise versions of the routines, or the absolute fastest times or highest heights!

We aren’t there to watch them struggle on their way to perfection. We don’t see how many hours the athletes trained, the things they had to sacrifice. Sometimes it’s good to remind ourselves that we aren’t going to get it right the first time. We are going to fall; it’s just a part of life.

The thing that sets us apart, though? What we do after we fail.

Olympic athletes don’t throw in the towel if they have a couple bad days at practice… and we shouldn’t either. We get back out there and try again!

Maybe some of us are not happy with the amount of money we have saved so far for retirement. Instead of giving up on the idea of saving all together, we can formulate a new plan. We can analyze the budget, start reallocating cash, take advantage of IRA contributions. We can take the time to invest in ourselves and our futures.

Maybe some of us have little ones at home and are starting to think about saving for their college education. We don’t have to save as much as we can, as fast as we can. There are investment options to help you contribute at your own pace, while putting the money to work to take advantage of that potential growth.

While the Olympics is a competition, saving for retirement or a life-changing event is not. We are all on different journeys, with different resources, at different points in our lives. There is not one perfect plan for all investors.

One thing we can learn from the Olympic athletes is their power of flexibility. (While of course they are physically flexible, we are talking about their mental flexibility.) If their practice routine isn’t working for them any longer, they will change it. We can do the same thing with our financial plan!

Setbacks in life are part of the journey. If we gave up when the going gets tough, we wouldn’t get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We won’t sell out when the market is low, just like we won’t sell ourselves short when we don’t stick the performance every time.

We keep our eyes on the prize and keep moving forward.

If you are going through something right now and you didn’t get it right the first time, that’s okay. You can always try again next time. We aim for progress, not perfection. Progress—that’s how we truly go for the gold.

Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.

Play the audio version of this post below:

Aiming for Progress, Not Perfection – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://228Main.com/.

Looking for Setups in the Setbacks

Time travel is a powerful way to reframe the present. The here and now will always bring its unique challenges and setbacks, but what will this moment mean to you down the road, looking back?

If you’re prone to stay mired in the moment, here’s a game of “I spy” for you: where are the setups among all these setbacks?

You’ve heard it from us before. There’s day-night, day-night. There’s up-down, up-down. Well here’s one for any challenging time: setback and setup.

Challenging times bring tradeoffs, big and small. In some moments, there is less time for work… but more time with the kids. Or less time with the gym buddies… but more time out in the sunshine. Tradeoffs.

In terms of business, our classic principles still apply during challenging times. We seek bargains. Economic activity is always shifting: some areas will slam on the brakes as demand falls off; some areas will be buzzing in a scramble to keep up with demand.

Just like the setbacks in our individual lives, the business setbacks exist alongside potential setups. Part of our job is to take a good look around to try to spot them. No guarantees, but we’re always wondering what future growth is being watered by the current storm.

We don’t ignore a storm. This approach, however, helps remind us of the bigger picture. It’s a more complete way to tell the story of a setback.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.

Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.

Play the audio version of this post below:

Setbacks and Setups – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text can be found at ⁠https://www.228Main.com/⁠.

It’s a Whole New Ball Game

picture shows sunrise behind dewy grass

Millions of us are living through new experiences. The global pandemic has affected many aspects of daily life. Sportscasters and others have used the expression “It’s a whole new ball game” to describe suddenly changed circumstances.

It seems apt now. The rate of change—and the stakes—in this pandemic can feel overwhelming and disorienting. And yet we wonder…

We humans start out knowing nothing about anything, right? Babyhood was a whole new ball game, along with getting teeth, walking, going to kindergarten, making friends (and enemies), and all the other developments in our lives.

So how is it that we have each managed to adapt and deal with this lifetime of ever-changing circumstances, coped with each and every “whole new ball game”? What lessons are there as we each deal with our current set of changes?

Some of the answers might be found in our own pasts, the things that have taught us perspective. Maybe the answers are in our goals and priorities: they could guide the way through. No matter what we each face now, the overall challenge of change remains.

We might revise the old saying and conclude, “It’s always a whole new ball game.”

Clients, if you’d like to discuss this or anything else, write or call.

Setbacks and Setups

© Can Stock Photo / yellowcrest

Time travel is a powerful way to reframe the present. Our collective present is full of challenges and setbacks, but what will this moment mean to you down the road, looking back?

If you’re prone to stay mired in the moment, here’s a game of “I spy” for you: where are the setups among all these setbacks?

You’ve heard it from us before. There’s day-night, day-night. There’s up-down, up-down. Well here’s one for these challenging times: setback and setup.

Some of our acquaintances are facing tradeoffs big and small right now. Less time for work… but more time with the kids. Less time with the gym buddies… but more time out in the sunshine.

In terms of business, our classic principles still apply here. We seek bargains. Economic activity is shifting. Some areas have slammed on the brakes as demand has fallen off; some areas are buzzing in a scramble to keep up with demand.

Just like the setbacks in our individual lives, the business setbacks exist alongside potential setups. Part of our job is to take a good look around to try to spot them. No guarantees, but we wonder what future growth is being watered by the current storm.

We’re not ignoring the storm. This approach, however, helps remind us of the bigger picture. It’s a more complete way to tell the story of a setback.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.

What Are You Looking At?

© Can Stock Photo / sanayamirza

In planning, we take a look at the world in which we operate. Our plans need to be grounded in reality to have a chance to work out. If I plan to learn to fly by flapping my arms vigorously, the laws of biology and physics are going to have an impact.

When we look at the world, two kinds of things are especially pertinent. Challenges are the obstacles to our success. The stuff in between the challenges are possibilities. The Wright brothers evidently spent no time trying the arm-flapping thing, or fussing about the challenges of physics and biology. Eventually, one of their possibilities was converted into the accomplishment of flight.

The way some people talk about challenges, fighting them or overcoming them seems to be a key element of success. In that line of thinking, challenges occupy a central role.

I have been in a situation where the challenges seemed impossible. In fact, many have failed to overcome the same kind of challenges. Reflecting later on this chapter in life, a surprising realization emerged.

Under the pressures of the situation, I had no time to think about anything but the possibilities. After the initial planning, the challenges turned out to be totally irrelevant.

The realization: when you focus on your possibilities, your challenges disappear.

Thus the question in the title. What are you looking at? Your focus, your perception, these things change the world.

We’ll be thinking about this more. There are applications to other parts of our work for you. In the meantime, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.