What being an outdoor athlete will teach you about hitting major financial goals

Besides helping my clients master their finances, being an outdoor athlete is one of my top five favorite things.

In a week you will see me…

• spending time with my parents and husband

• working with my clients

• and sweating outside with a smile on my face.

I was raised by athletes. My father and mother encouraged me to be an entrepreneur and try unique sports. They led by example.

My dad is a well-known scuba diver and martial artist, but he was also a sky diver, skier, and archer. My mom was an amazing martial artist, skier, and scuba diver.

As a result, I inherited the love of extreme and unique sports. I am an avid skier, rock climber, and runner.

Recently, I recognized some of my lessons in outdoors sports can relate to money. I thought it would be fun to share them with you.

1) The elements won't be perfect, but you should still try anyway.

I have skied in the rain and run in snow. Mother nature is not always going to be on your side. But each time I went out I made progress.

When you decide to improve your financial life there will not be a perfect time. You will be overworked at your job, your kids will be starting college and so on. There will always be something, that is how life is. It was far from perfect when I started to change my financial life and most of my clients don't start at the perfect time. Guess what? In each case, our financial lives improved.

2) The more you do it the more fun it will become

The more I run, rock climb, and ski the better I get and the more fun I have. Why? Because there is fun in mastery. With money it is the same. It is not uncommon to feel defeated in money or see it as a necessary part of life. But the more you work on it, the more fun it becomes. It turns into a hobby that leads to control and liberation.

3) It is ok to be a beginner. In fact, it might be preferred

I have been skiing since I was three years old. I don't remember what it was like to be a beginner. On the other hand, I didn't start running or rock climbing until I was in my 30s. I remember feeling weird about being a beginner. I saw others start and then stop because they didn't like being a beginner as an adult. But I decided it was a benefit.

Starting older gave me wisdom. In money, being willing to be a beginner is a part of the process. The sooner you accept this the quicker you become more advanced. It only took me a year in running and rock climbing to double my results. I see the same with my financial clients.

4) The more challenging, the more growth

If you wait to be "ready" for the next level in sports you will get stuck. I know people who are still on the beginning ski slopes five years after starting.

If you continue to do the basics in money you will be stuck in the basics. Therefore, you will get basic results. You must be willing to challenge yourself to move from basics to financial freedom and/or wealth development.

5) Maintenance is important

OK, like most people in the covid times I let myself go. I wore sweats all the time and let go of my running habit. At one time, I was running six miles in an hour and then I would run to the CVS, get a snack and walk home. Lol! I loved it. I haven't been running like that since 2020.

I started running again late this summer. Let's just say I am no longer running six miles in an hour. But I will not stop until I get back to that standard.

Money is the same way. Whatever system you put in place that gives you financial growth and improvement must be maintained. Like my running, if you take a few years off you might have to start all over. The positive is that if I focus it might only take me a couple more months to get back to six miles in an hour. My body's athletic memory is still there. That will be the same if you stop maintaining your financial system.

6) You get to choose your perfect level

As you can see, I really love my outdoor sports. I could compete in running, rock climbing, and skiing and try to be the best. I ski black diamonds (a high level), but in rock climbing I am not fascinated with doing the highest level.

In money, you too can choose the perfect level for you. But you should decide this for yourself and not let too many people influence you. That perfect money level should…

• make you happy

• promote financial health

• and move you towards financial independence eventually.

In money my perfect level was reaching financial freedom and ensuring my non-working years have the same quality of life as what I have now. I reached those goals. But as an entrepreneur it is easy to be persuaded by people that make you believe you should have a multimillion-dollar business and a big team. That would not make me happy. I would go from working 15 hours a week to over 40 with increased pressure and demand.

Choose the right money level for you as long as it is moving you toward financial independence eventually.

7) It is more fulfilling when you are not comparing yourself to others

In sports and money we tend to compare ourselves to others. Sometimes that comparison can encourage you to become better. Alot of times it makes us feel a level of lack.

The secret is you don't know the whole story.

Let's say you see someone that is making $400,000 a year. You don't know what it takes for them to maintain that income. Are they overworking? Is their debt so high they have to make that amount to keep up with appearances? Are they secured for retirement? You will never know.

In sports, you can compare yourself to a skier who beautifully glides down the mountain, but you don't know what it took to get and stay there. It might not be worth it for you.

You can't trade their results without trading all the other things it took to get there and stay there.

8) There is a difference between practice and implementation

Are you ready for this very real story, that I can laugh at now? When I started running in 2017, I learned on the treadmill. I was already athletic and could lift heavy weights, but I wanted to learn a new sport. I could run for an hour and half on the treadmill without stopping. I felt so powerful.

Then I decided to switch to outside. I couldn't run 15 minutes outside without getting winded and stopping. I was so disappointed! There is a good chance that if you only run on the

treadmill that won't translate to outside. Also, if you only climb at the rock climbing gym you won't be able to climb outside. The treadmill and gym are practice and outside is real.

In money you can continue to read books and google nonstop, but if you don't implement those money strategies then you will never learn what it really takes to make it happen. A lot of what you read won't translate when you implement it.

Implementation shows you how to sustain and pivot.

By the way, my dad had a martial arts school that still exist. You could not move up to the next belt without sparing, competing, and/or taking a test. You can punch the air as much as you want, you won't know if you can really fight until you fight someone else.

There you have it! I hope it made you think and inspired you to move forward in your financial growth.

If you want to talk to me about your financial goals and what it takes to get to financial ease and freedom, feel free to click here to schedule a consultation.