Financial management is one aspect of human life that a lot of people struggle with. It is ever changing and seemingly nothing is constant. From the net income to take home to the prices of the items you need to purchase and even your mortgage payment, they seem to be a ball of unexpected surprises. It is no wonder that some consumers already feel stressed just thinking about it showing how financially unstable they are.
But on the other hand, there are people who seems to just breeze through their financial responsibilities and move from month to month seemingly unperturbed with the fact that payments will come knocking again or that their income might change in a few month’s time. They seem to handle the stress all too well making you think there is a secret they don’t want to share.
These are two very different types of people who might even be going through similar challenges in life when it comes to their finances. One is stressed out and pulling their hair all throughout the process while the other is able to approach it with a calm demeanor while sipping coffee on the side. There seems to be a stark difference between the two.
But the thing is preparation and mindset plays a big role with the way each type of person handles their situation especially when Creditcards.com shares how consumers with balances in their card has an average of almost $8,000 on it. Financial management is a must and the way to deal with this is to prepare and try to pick up as much financial lessons as possible to try to make the task a little easier. And this is where sports can come into the picture.
On the surface, sports and financial management seems to be on the opposite side of the spectrum and has nothing to do with each other. While sports has a lot to do the the physical capability and prowess of people, financial matters tend to be more on the intellectual side. But there are a lot of lessons from sports that can be used in managing finances and even in life in general.
Financial management from sports lessons
Here are few of the lessons you can pick up from engaging or even just watching sports which you can use in managing your finances a little better.
- Teamwork makes the job easier. If you notice in all the tam sports, the team that manifests camaraderie and teamwork almost always has the upper hand in winning the game. This is because the individuals are able to work as a single unit and strive to get to their goal whether it is getting a basket, shooting a goal, defending or running a play. The same concept can apply to your household when financial management comes into the picture. You need to work with your husband or wife and even kids to make sure that you always stay within budget. WIth everybody working together, the goal becomes a lot easier to achieve.
- Defense and offense work side by side. You need offense to score points and defense to prevent the opposing team from doing the same. These two work hand in hand to achieve a win and it can be used in money management at home. Your offense can be your income and defense your expenses. You need to look for ways to increase your offense or the money that is coming into your budget to help you allocate a bigger amount to different funds. At the same time, tighten your defense or expenses to prevent money from dripping out of your coffers.
- You need to have a gameplan. You play the game with a game plan in mind which you use all throughout the game just like how Washingtonpost.com puts stress on the importance of having a vision for your long term goals. This can be your household budget which should guide your financial movement in the house. It lets you know how much you can spend for a particular item and even gives you a rundown of all your expenses so you would be guided with future purchases. Your household budget can be your financial game plan as you strive to manage your money.
- Keep you eye on the prize. You always need to be reminded of your long term goals and plot out your short term goals along the way to help you get to those bigger dreams. You need to keep your focus on your long term goals as you take on financial management. Just like sports teams who are always striving to get to the championship and win the trophy. All they do from one game to another is meant to bring them closer to that ultimate goal.
- There will be problems along the way. You cannot control everything just like in sports. There could be setbacks like injuries that can really bring the team morale down. But they persevere and move on and sometimes even use those instances to rally up a win. The same thing with financial management – you will never be able to predict everything but as problems come along, you just need to persevere and move forward.
Dealing with adversities
When problems beset your financial journey, here are a few things you can look into which can greatly help you overcome these problems. It might work for some and for other it might not but the idea is to do something about it and this is a good place to start.
- Strengthen your reserve funds. Your reserve funds contains your emergency fund and your rainy day fund which can help you face unexpected financial problems. It can be as little as a busted light in the house or as big as job loss. The idea is to prepare for the worst every time so you are covered. Build up your fund and put it in a place where you can easily access them in times of emergency.
- Have the right mindset. If you already feel defeated even before the bell sounds, there is a big chance that you get knocked out in a game. The same with life – when you are already feeling down and feel that there is nothing else you can do to make it better, you might not really get out of your problem. You need to change your mindset and have a proactive thinking in seeking answers rather than compounding your problems.
- Learn from your struggles. If you have the money to pay for your debts but not the time to manage everything then consider debt consolidation. This is better rather than missing a payment because you overlooked the date. These things and more are lessons that you need to use to make your financial journey a little better and more manageable.
Financial management is a part of life and there are lessons from sports that people can look into and apply in their financial journey. There are lessons in everyday things and sports is no doubt a big part of the everyday life of people. They might be athletes themselves which would make it easier for them to understand these lessons. They might be fans and are constantly rooting for a team in a sports that they love. They might be passersby that see people in the park on weekends playing pickup games. Regardless what your exposure in sports is, you can pick out financial lessons you can use in your own journey in money management.