If you want to excel in your sport, the most important thing that will help you get better is to properly train. Duh, that's no secret. What's fun is that the same training principle for sport applies if you want to excel at financial planning.
This blog will highlight four key ingredients of a good training plan and how the same principle applies to excel at financial planning:
- Consistent practice
- Hard days vs easy days
- Variety in the type of training
- A good coach
1- Consistent practice is the key to success. There is no doubt that if you want to get better at your sport whether it's martial arts or yoga, you need to practice a lot. The same applies to a financial plan. There are a number of things one can consistently do that will improve one's net worth over the long term.
2- There are hard days and easy days in training. You cannot train hard every day. Most days you train easy. You practice the movements slowly with ease. There is no straining. And then once every week or so you push the envelope and that is where the fitness improvements are made. Then you recover with a couple of easy days. In a good financial plan, the hard part is to have things set up properly and then everything becomes easy if you have a good system in place. And once in a while, you have to make a hard decision that impacts your net worth.
3- You need variety in your training. For example, a bodybuilder works different parts of the body on different days. An elite runner has different types of run in training: easy run, speed work, tempo run, long run etc. The variety in training makes the person become a complete athlete enabling him/her to become the best he/she can be in her sport. In personal financial planning, in order to be successful, one needs a plan to get rid of debt, build an emergency fund, pay the mortgage, save for the kids' education, save for retirement, give to charities, have a legacy/estate plan, and on. There is a variety of things to consider and plan for.
4- A good coach makes you better. A good coach helps you be stronger, faster or more elegant in your athletic pursuit. There is no disputing that. Similarly, a Money Coach helps you achieve your financial goal by providing the guidance and support you need to be successful.
May you have fun, be fit and excel at your sport.
Keep well and stay safe out there!