motivation

On Getting a Tattoo
graphic shows the word "REMEMBER" etched into a stacked stone wall

Friends, maybe you could have guessed this about me… but I don’t have any body art. (I seriously doubt this topic has ever crossed your mind, but here we are.) 

I’m considering the idea of a tattoo—just the idea. A tattoo is a somewhat permanent endeavor: that ink becomes a part of your human body, so it’s as permanent as any other part of these mortal vessels we have. 

To some, it’s a huge commitment. It’s etching a message that travels with you, for the rest of your life! I suppose it’s not something to take too lightly. 

But I can appreciate what a powerful tool it might be across someone’s lifetime. A tattoo may not be for everyone, but we certainly understand the impact that a phrase or image or saying can have on a person. 

As an alternative, you could also consider getting yourself a “mind tattoo.” This idea appears in Jennifer Pastiloff’s book On Being Human, and it was important to her as she worked to change her life. She chose guiding words—anything that helped open her up, when she felt like shutting down.  

So what would you pick, if you could get a key idea inked into your mind, a reminder that was always there when you needed it? 

The nice thing about a “mind tattoo” is that it can be your own little source of strength. No need to shout it from the rooftops or fight about it on the internet, huh? 

So may something helpful become etched in your mind. Keep an ear open for that mantra, any words that help you breathe more deeply when you’re feeling overwhelmed. 

Who knows what might stick with you?

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Play the audio version of this post below:

On Getting a Tattoo – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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

The Plan that Grows with You
photo shows a desert highway with

Maybe the idea of “the finish line” is overrated. You know about my long-time goal of working until I’m age 92, so this sentiment shouldn’t be a shocker.

But we’re thinking about other ways this idea applies. A lot of investment wisdom suggests finding strategies that work with your current life stage. What milestones are coming up? What are you working toward right now? What can you prepare for? Even in this approach, though, life shouldn’t be treated like a checklist.

It’s definitely a journey—and you can’t plan for all the stops along the way. Our approach has to reflect that reality.

Psychologist Carol Dweck studies motivation and mindset. Her take? If things feel fixed or set in stone, look out: that attitude may be a signal that you’ve shut down in the face of change.

We’re not saying that flip-flopping or changing for its own sake is the way to be, but we can’t grow unless we’re willing to change.

“Opening yourself up to growth makes you more yourself, not less,” Dweck explains in her book Mindset. Dweck encourages us to continue to “learn and help learn,” and that’s an idea we can get behind.

You can be a whole person every day you live, but that doesn’t mean your living is ever finished. That’s how we feel about our work, too: a strong financial advisor isn’t a teacher or guide necessarily. An advisor can be a partner on that path. We can map an approach that is complete, robust, and comprehensive—but you better believe that the plan should be able to grow right along with you.

Clients, write or call when you’d like to talk about this, or anything else.

Play the audio version of this post below:

The Plan that Grows with You – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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

COMPLETELY UNFINISHED
photo shows a desert highway with

Maybe the idea of “the finish line” is overrated. You know about my long-time goal of working until I’m age 92, so this sentiment shouldn’t be a shocker.

But we’re thinking about other ways this idea applies. A lot of investment wisdom suggests finding strategies that work with your current life stage. What milestones are coming up? What are you working toward right now? What can you prepare for? Even in this approach, though, life shouldn’t be treated like a checklist.

It’s definitely a journey—and you can’t plan for all the stops along the way. Our approach has to reflect that reality.

Psychologist Carol Dweck studies motivation and mindset. Her take? If things feel fixed or set in stone, look out: that attitude may be a signal that you’ve shut down in the face of change.

We’re not saying that flip-flopping or changing for its own sake is the way to be, but we can’t grow unless we’re willing to change.

“Opening yourself up to growth makes you more yourself, not less,” Dweck explains in her book Mindset. Dweck encourages us to continue to “learn and help learn,” and that’s an idea we can get behind.

You can be a whole person every day you live, but that doesn’t mean your living is ever finished. That’s how we feel about our work, too: a strong financial advisor isn’t a teacher or guide necessarily. An advisor can be a partner on that path. We can map an approach that is complete, robust, and comprehensive—but you better believe that the plan should be able to grow right along with you.

Clients, write or call when you’d like to talk about this, or anything else.

Knowing and Doing

© Can Stock Photo / yarruta

Knowing and doing are two different things. We were reminded of this recently, during a Financial Literacy Month discussion. A colleague surprised us with a contrarian opinion on financial literacy.

Conventional thinking is that the presence of so many people who fail to save for retirement and make costly mistakes is proof that more and better financial education is needed. Our colleague asked us whether the issue was one of knowing, or one of doing?

“Consider what we know about health and what we do about health,” he said. By some estimates, lack of exercise and poor eating habits lead to millions of deaths each year, not to mention deaths from tobacco use and alcohol abuse. Haven’t we all heard about these things?

Likewise, most people may have heard that investing for the future is a good idea, and spending within one’s means. But surveys show that many are ill-prepared for retirement.

Whoever first said “knowledge is power” perhaps was only partly right. Wall Street pioneer Roger Babson wrote a century ago:

“Experience has taught me that there is one chief reason why some people succeed and others fail. The difference is not one of knowing, but of doing. So far as success can be reduced to a formula, it consists of this: doing what you know you should do.”

Our view at 228 Main is that ‘knowledge in action is power.’ We will continue to promote knowledge and awareness of financial and investment concepts and ideas. But we will also work to motivate and persuade on the merits of taking worthwhile action.

Knowing. And doing. We need both in order to get where we want to go. Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.