New Year, Same Principles

As everyone already knows, this is usually the time when people start following through on their New Year’s resolutions.

No more shitty food. Start waking up at 6 a.m. and hitting the gym. A reset to start the year the way you want.

This is nothing new, really.

In fact, if you subscribe to our newsletters, you’d have read that New Year’s resolutions are over 4,000 years old. The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of the year, usually about paying debts or returning borrowed items. It was less about self-improvement and more about starting the year on good terms.

Of course, those are things I fully support, as does my business partner Nick.

But we also subscribe to the philosophy that it’s super important to reflect and look back on things, wins, losses, and anything in the middle.

These experiences end up shaping us and give us knowledge that hopefully helps us as we charter down new unexplored paths.

As a financial advisor, I always try to look back and take lessons from what transpired over the course of the last year or take note of conversations I had that stood out.

More often than not, it’s a humbling reflection. These are three of the things I reflected on last year:

Stay invested, even when the world tells you to cash in

An oldie but a goodie. Maybe one of the most challenging things I’ve had to do as an advisor is talk someone off a cliff.

It’s even harder when you don’t have years of built-up trust. To be fair, relationships have to start somewhere, but it makes it that much more challenging.

Thinking back to April of 2025, the S&P 500 had taken a pretty sharp downturn (-19%ish), hitting a notable low point that had a lot of people on edge.

Headlines were splashed with fear, uncertainty, and the “new thing” that was going to pull 401(k)s down to zero: tariffs.

Sprinkled with geopolitical noise and just overall economic doom and gloom. With markets down and media cranking out fear soup every hour of the day, there were people dead set on going to cash, and some did.

But here’s the thing, while fear spreads fast, markets also tend to move in cycles.

Those who remained calm, and even looked for opportunity, were in a better place when the markets regained footing.

By the end of 2025, the S&P 500 had recovered significantly from its spring lows, finishing the year well above where it bottomed. Staying the course made a huge difference.

There’s a great Warren Buffett quote that never really gets old:

“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

If you’ve played the investment game long enough and you pay attention, you’ll realize that everything is more or less built on a cycle, growth, and contraction.

Markets historically produce more positive years than negative ones over time, even though some of those negative years can feel very uncomfortable when they happen.

I mean, you’ve got to have a little bit of skin in the game to reap the rewards.

If you think your grandpa’s strategy of “buy it and forget about it” is dumb, I’d tell you to take a look at his account balances.

Of course, that’s an oversimplification, and you can always do things to enhance returns and tax efficiency, but sometimes the best thing to do is the easiest: trust your plan.

Stick it out.

Control the controllables

One of the hardest truths about investing is how little control we actually have over markets, headlines, interest rates, politics, or short-term economic news.

But we do control things like how portfolios are structured, how much we save, how much risk is taken relative to our goals, and how consistently a plan is followed.

I was talking recently with my sister. She is all about reflection and looking forward. She even creates vision boards for her family, which look pretty cool, I might add.

But she also said she wanted to sit down with her husband and review all their financials and investment returns to make sure everything is in order.

Obviously, a good idea; celebrating wins matters.

But I pointed out that the returns themselves are only part of the picture, and out of her control for the most part. What you directly control is how much you save, whether that saving maintains pace with a changing income stream, and, more importantly, whether it supports your long-term goals.

The markets will go up, down, or sideways; nobody knows which.

But choosing a savings rate, setting up automatic contributions, and aligning your portfolio to your time horizon are decisions you can make.

Those are the actions that really drive long-term outcomes because they’re consistent, repeatable, and within your control, unlike the latest headline.

Diversification showed up

If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that diversification still matters, even when it isn’t flashy.

For the last few years, U.S. large-cap tech, especially a handful of trendier names, dominated returns and headlines.

But markets don’t always move in unison, and last year reminded investors of that.

As equities wobbled early, international stocks, commodities, and alternative exposures began to show up in performance. Commodities broadly outpaced many traditional sectors, and precious metals became a standout.

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), a widely followed gold ETF, posted a total return near 65% for the year. Uncle Gary, who is always telling you to buy gold when you see him on Thanksgiving and Christmas, his portfolio wasn’t sexy, but that gold exposure did exactly what it’s supposed to do: offset risk and deliver diversification.

Meanwhile, many individual stocks that grabbed the spotlight were far more volatile.

It’s easy to fixate on the latest trending company, but last year was a good reminder that returns aren’t just about one corner of the market.

Diversification doesn’t guarantee outperformance, but it does mean you’re not relying on a single asset class to carry the whole portfolio or your financial future.

Closing Thought

A new year is a great time to reset habits, goals, and routines.

But it’s also a valuable opportunity to reflect before rushing forward. Progress, in life and in investing, is rarely linear.

2025 reminded me that uncertainty is part of the process, and volatility isn’t a flaw or a virus; it’s a defining feature of the market.

The investors who tend to succeed over time aren’t the ones who chase trends or react to every headline. They’re the ones who stay disciplined, focus on what they can influence, and build portfolios designed to weather a wide range of outcomes.

New year. Fresh perspective. Same principles.

Have a great year.

Shane Duckworth Partner | Private Wealth Advisor ClearMind Capital