goal setting

Resolved: I Will Do Away with Resolutions

Spruce branches surrounded by a clothes clip holding a note with New year, New chances, New goals, New Start, New results all crossed out with red marker

by Mark Leibman, President

With serious planning and determination, many of us are gearing up for the next round of New Year’s resolutions. The change in the year will be the time we finally lose weight, or drink less, or exercise more, or wake up at 4 a.m. like those social media productivity thought-leading rockstars do!

As for me, I will not have a New Year’s resolution. I won’t be hustling to be the oldest participant in the hardest 5k in the state in 2026. I will not be striving to achieve or maintain a specific weight. I will not be avoiding or including certain foods in my diet. No resolutions. Not one.

Many of you have heard me say that I’m planning to work to age 92. Will any New Year’s resolution make that happen? There’s nothing magical about December 31 (except perhaps some fireworks at midnight!). I don’t measure my health by a calendar.

Instead, I measure my efforts every single day.

When you really think about it, doesn’t wealth work the same way? Even though we measure markets on an annual basis, that’s really just a long-held standard for consistency. You may have heard that in 2025, the stock market (as measured by the S&P 500) was up 12% for the year, January to December. But we have the tools to calculate the return for whatever 365 consecutive days you’re interested in. We can look at the results birthday to birthday, or any other range we’d like.

The process of becoming financially independent—of gaining the option to live on your wealth instead of your labor—uses essentially the same process as my health goals. Steady decisions, over time.

And we’re here to help anybody navigate the process. We try to offer guidance in your journey through the economic ups and downs, the noise of market pundits both on business channels and at the café. To focus on your financial health overall, instead of some calendar-year resolution.

Just like my health goals don’t change when I buy a new calendar, my wealth goals don’t need to either.

Clients, don’t think we are against all New Year’s resolutions. There’s actually one I highly recommend: in 2026, help someone learn what’s going on here at 228 Main in beautiful downtown Louisville. I know I’ll try to stick to that one too.

Thank you all, for everything.


Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.


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Play the audio version of this post below:

Resolved: I Will Do Away with Resolutions

Spruce branches surrounded by a clothes clip holding a note with New year, New chances, New goals, New Start, New results all crossed out with red marker

by Mark Leibman, President

With serious planning and determination, many of us are gearing up for the next round of New Year’s resolutions. The change in the year will be the time we finally lose weight, or drink less, or exercise more, or wake up at 4 a.m. like those social media productivity thought-leading rockstars do!

As for me, I will not have a New Year’s resolution. I won’t be hustling to be the oldest participant in the hardest 5k in the state in 2026. I will not be striving to achieve or maintain a specific weight. I will not be avoiding or including certain foods in my diet. No resolutions. Not one.

Many of you have heard me say that I’m planning to work to age 92. Will any New Year’s resolution make that happen? There’s nothing magical about December 31 (except perhaps some fireworks at midnight!). I don’t measure my health by a calendar.

Instead, I measure my efforts every single day.

When you really think about it, doesn’t wealth work the same way? Even though we measure markets on an annual basis, that’s really just a long-held standard for consistency. You may have heard that in 2025, the stock market (as measured by the S&P 500) was up 12% for the year, January to December. But we have the tools to calculate the return for whatever 365 consecutive days you’re interested in. We can look at the results birthday to birthday, or any other range we’d like.

The process of becoming financially independent—of gaining the option to live on your wealth instead of your labor—uses essentially the same process as my health goals. Steady decisions, over time.

And we’re here to help anybody navigate the process. We try to offer guidance in your journey through the economic ups and downs, the noise of market pundits both on business channels and at the café. To focus on your financial health overall, instead of some calendar-year resolution.

Just like my health goals don’t change when I buy a new calendar, my wealth goals don’t need to either.

Clients, don’t think we are against all New Year’s resolutions. There’s actually one I highly recommend: in 2026, help someone learn what’s going on here at 228 Main in beautiful downtown Louisville. I know I’ll try to stick to that one too.

Thank you all, for everything.


Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.


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

Play the audio version of this post below:

What If a Hunch Was as Good as a Plan? 🤔

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” A new school year is underway, but it’s not just children who feel like they have to have answers to the big questions.

New clients will on occasion visit our office with apologies ready: they don’t exactly know what they want or what they might need in the future.

And that’s okay. Plans and hunches and visions… It’s all welcome.


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When a Hunch Is Good Enough: Invest Wisely, Spend Well (Whenever)

It’s a new school year for so many of our children, grandchildren, and neighbors. Maybe you’ve enjoyed the flood of perennial back-to-school photos. Some families have their children hold up chalkboard signs, to record the details—their new teacher’s name, their favorite color right now, and even what they’d like to be when they grow up. 

I can’t help but imagine what surprises are in store for some of these little ones! Who among us could’ve known exactly what form of work would find us in the future? Bike courier, hotel manager, a director of photography who specializes in making food look good in commercials—did any of these folks call their shot as kindergarteners? 

It’s an interesting question, and maybe we should keep asking it. What do I want to be when I… reach my next birthday? Or the one five or ten years hence? 

What do I want to have in the next chapter of my life? 

What doors would I like to keep open? 

These might sound like daydreams, but even the hazy hunches of children can be revealing, if not instructive. Sometimes new clients visit our office with apologies ready: they don’t exactly know what their goals are, they don’t know what to ask for, or they can’t begin to imagine what will be possible down the road.  

And that’s okay. Just like the question on those little chalkboards, a hunch is good enough. Memoirist Katrina Kenison wonders, “Who knows, really, where dreams begin?” Maybe we’ve been on a certain winding path since we were children. Maybe we discover what we’re about later in life. Maybe our circumstances change, and we get dealt a hand we didn’t imagine we’d ever be playing. 

A friend of mine used to tell their children, “This is the plan… until it isn’t.” And that’s life, right? 

It’s okay to settle on a general direction, even in your financial life. Growth, an eye on sustainability: these are worthy plans all by themselves. You don’t have to know the destination of every penny. Such a privilege means that you’re buying your future self some options. Resources bring flexibility. 

You can always invest wisely, now; the “spend well” part can wait. And what a journey that will be! We’re glad to be here with you.


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Play the audio version of this post below:

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

Video

TRANSCRIPT:

[MARK LEIBMAN] They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Really, the whole journey, every inch of it, happens one step at a time. Everything you can think of is made of tiny things, tiny actions, single steps. The secret to accomplishing anything is basically to put one foot in front of the other.

The training of an Olympic swimmer happens one stroke at a time. Our quaint quarters at 228 Main were built one brick at a time. Books get written one word at a time. The 25 year history of LFS happened one day at a time. A $1 million 401(k) account gets built one fraction of a paycheck at a time. Healthy eating habits are formed one bite at a time. Relationships blossom one conversation at a time. A portfolio gets put together one opportunity at a time.

Humble, common actions within the reach of anyone are what great stuff is made of. You do this simple thing. Then you do it again. Then you do it again.

The secret to accomplishing anything great is to put one foot in front of the other, while you are aimed in the general direction of something worthwhile.


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Letting Go of When

Any worthwhile goal is not just about the finish line. And good thing: we’re investing for the long term, and a lot can happen between now and the milestones we seek!


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