Writing for Your Wealth

I don’t usually watch sports on television (I’d rather participate myself), but the Olympics are different, and I find myself brushing the dust off the remote and turning on the TV to watch them. The stories of these athletes are so inspiring, and many of the lessons we can learn from such successful people go far beyond sports.

A lot of the “secrets” of success are applicable whether you’re swimming for gold or you’re trying to build long-lasting wealth and create financial independence.

Here are a few “lessons” I jotted down while watching the games last night, and I would love to hear any others that come to your mind.

There’s No Such Thing as an “Overnight Success”

In the Olympics, it’s clear that there are no overnight success stories. All the athletes who compete have spent years, and maybe even decades, of mental and physical training to master their sports and get into the shape necessary to win.

For some reason, though, people think it’s possible to be an overnight success in other venues in life, whether that be succeeding at business, building financial independence, or becoming a best-selling author.

The truth is that we merely perceive of people as instant successes because we hadn’t heard of them until they seemingly came out of nowhere to leap into the public eye. Look into the histories of those “overnight successes” and you’ll find that they spent years learning their trade before they got that lucky break (and you know what they say about luck: the harder you work, the luckier you are!).

When you’re building wealth, this is especially true: success comes to those who invest time in educating themselves and who repeatedly take purposeful action.

Great Athletes Have Great Coaches

In sports, it’s a given that you’ll have a coach, whether you’re striving for Olympic gold or playing in the peewees. And when you listen to interviews with successful entrepreneurs, you’ll always hear them speak of great mentors in their lives. Even in the world of writing, you’ll find most authors have lists of people in their acknowledgements, often those who helped or mentored them along the way.

And if your goal is to build long-term wealth-generating assets, rather than simply working in a job for the rest of your life, you too will find it advantageous to have a coach.

Does that mean hiring some guru for hundreds of dollars an hour? I suppose it could, but it could also mean something as inexpensive as reading books, blogs, and forum posts from folks who are where you want to be. Let me emphasize the last part: only take advice from people who are where you want to be. (There are a lot of broke people out there who are perfectly willing to give–or even sell–you advice on how to make money.)

Winners Take Risks

If you watch the sports like gymnastics, you’ll probably find yourself gawking at the incredible maneuvers these people can do–all while risking falling off their chosen apparatus. Every Olympics, the bar is raised, and athletes have to push themselves to new extremes, risking absolute failure in order to achieve the greatest heights. If they don’t take those risks, there’s no chance of ending up on the medal stand (or even making the Olympic team).

In the world of finance, it’s easy to play it safe, by working for someone else, getting paid a steady and “secure” salary, and investing in retirement accounts, but anyone who has built true wealth will tell you that’s not the way to ensure golden years without lack. People who play it safe with their careers and their investments are unlikely to even beat out inflation; people who focus on building assets–whether through real estate, starting a business, or creating bodies of work that earn royalties and advertising dollars–have no limits on what sort of wealth they can accumulate.

It’s the difference between playing not to lose and playing to win. One path involves more risks, but the rewards are worth it, for that’s the route that can earn you the gold medal in the form of the financially secure and independent lifestyle you want.

What do you think? Are there any other lessons we should take away from the Olympics?