NFL football season is upon us. I am a fan of watching NFL games.
It is one of the bright lights heading into the cold, snowy, dreary winter season here in the North East.
Why am I mentioning football on a personal finance blog? I believe there are a lot of similarities between sports and personal finance, especially the game of football to personal finance.
To the observant reader, this shouldn’t be a surprise to you since I named the blog Sport of Money.
They both have a lot of specialized players, strategy and planning, people trying to win, and a way to keep score.
There are many lessons we can learn from the game of football that we can apply to personal finance to achieve success.
With that in mind, who better to learn from than the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) himself, Tom Brady?
Tom is the greatest winner in the game of football. He quarterbacked 7 Super Bowl-winning teams and made 10 Super Bowl appearances. Tom is ranked on the top of the list for all the major quarterback categories including most career passing yards, passing completions, passing touchdowns, and wins.
He holds a plethora of football records and is still going strong at age 45.
I’ve gleaned lessons from Tom Brady and his approach to football that can be very useful when applied to personal finance.
Do you want to be a winner and as successful in personal finance as Tom Brady is at football? I’m sure you do!
Then, let’s internalize these 7 lessons from the football GOAT.
Here Are The 7 Lessons From Tom Brady That You Can Apply To Personal Finance For Success
Lesson #1: Be In The Arena
Tom Brady has a documentary that came out in 2021 titled “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady.”
That documentary title isn’t by accident. It is easy for sportscasters, reporters, and sports pundits to analyze, criticize, offer suggestions, and dissect his every move behind a computer. However, Tom is the one that is actually in the arena playing – no talk, only action.
Personal finance is not a spectator activity.
You can’t build wealth or improve your financial position just by reading about it or dreaming about it. In order to improve your financial situation, you have to take action. You need to “be in it to win it.”
Take the construction of my rental portfolio for instance. My rental portfolio provides me with enough cash flow to cover my expenses.
It took me over a decade to construct my rental portfolio. I am reaping a lot of the benefits of being financially free from my rental properties.
The most important action I took in building my rental portfolio was 15 years back when I purchased my first rental property. Then, the next most important action I took happened a few years later when I purchased my second rental property.
I’ve come across people who are high earners wanting to build their rental portfolio as well. And I have seen firsthand how many of them never start because of analysis paralysis.
I believe they had good intentions to start, but then they looked at all the things that can go wrong and never took the step to buy their first property.
To achieve financial success, you have to be in the arena and play the game. You need to take action!
Lesson #2: “Push The Edge” On Your Income
Episode #3 in the Man In the Arena documentary is titled “The Edge.” Tom Brady won 6 Super Bowls with the New England Patriots football team.
That episode featured a few former Patriots players talking about how they keep on pushing the edge.
The edge is a metaphoric term for hard work. The players would try to outwork each other.
They try to push the edge out further and further to see who can work the hardest among them.
That helped build a culture of personal responsibility and healthy competition amongst the players.
This mentality of constantly pushing the edge is an important one to achieve financial success. We all want to be in a better financial situation. Those that work hard at it will surely be able to succeed.
Start by working hard on increasing your income. Work harder to get that promotion at your job. Put in the effort to start that side hustle. Start an online business while juggling your day job.
Keep up the hard work and it will pay off in the long run.
Lesson #3: Believe In The Process
Tom Brady’s achievement as a quarterback in the NFL is unmatched. We can fill this whole page with all his accomplishments.
He’s been an NFL quarterback for 22 years and has played in another 2 seasons’ worth of playoff games. He led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns last year at the age of 44. And he is still going strong this year at the age of 45.
He overhauled his diet and exercise routine a few years into his NFL playing career. He tailored his life with the goal of sustained peak performance into his 40s.
Tom didn’t get to this point in his professional career without methodical planning and adhering religiously to a system that works.
With such a long career, he’s had some extraordinary years and some down years.
One thing Tom didn’t do was waver from the process. He figured out a formula that led to many years of success and stuck with that formula even in challenging years.
He trusted the process he had put in place and continued to execute believing it will all work out in the end.
This is a great lesson for investing.
I’ve had a history of investing success by dollar cost averaging into the S&P 500 index. My investment performance has done well over the past 2 decades. That process works for me.
Just because the equity market is diving doesn’t mean I should stop dollar cost averaging into the S&P 500. Believe in the system that resulted in success and know that over time, things will work out.
Lesson #4: There Are No Guarantees
The New England Patriots went undefeated during the regular season back in 2007 with Tom Brady at the helm as the quarterback. That year, he broke the then-current passing touchdown record in a single season. The Patriots were an offensive juggernaut.
The next season, everyone expected the Patriots to be world-beaters again. Then, in the opening game of the 2008 season, Tom Brady suffered a season-ending injury. The Patriots ended up missing the playoffs.
There are no guarantees. Just because you’ve had success the previous year doesn’t mean you will have success the next year.
In 2018, Tom Brady had his best statistical performance in Super Bowl LII against the Eagles. He threw for a playoff record of 505 years, with 3 touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a QB rating of 115.4. The Patriots lost that game to the Eagles.
Once again, there are no guarantees. Even if you do everything right, you might still fall short.
It is important for us to know that there are no guarantees. We need to be mentally resilient if we want to succeed in building wealth.
There will be bad years. Things will seemingly go wrong despite the level of work and the right moves we make.
Learn from your failures. Be better prepared next time.
Lesson #5: Don’t Surrender
One of the most exciting Super Bowls is Super Bowl LI when New England Patriots faced the Atlanta Falcons.
The Patriots were trailing by a score of 28 to 3 in the third quarter. To many, that is an insurmountable lead to overcome with less than 2 quarters of play.
Game analytics had the Falcons with a win probability for that game of over 99.5%. That means the Patriots had less than a 0.5% chance to win.
Despite the dire situation, the Patriots led by Tom Brady came roaring back. They ultimately won the game in overtime.
It was a crazy game. The Falcons dominated the first 2.5 quarters and the Patriots took over in the last 1.5 quarters plus overtime. The Patriots ended up winning despite the odds.
There will undoubtedly be ups and downs in your financial journey.
One day, your job, business, and investments are firing on all cylinders. And the next, everything that could go wrong does go wrong.
But through it all, never surrender, no matter the odds – until your goal is achieved.
Lesson #6: Don’t Be Afraid To Leave For A Better Situation
Tom Brady spent 20 years with the New England Patriots. He achieved unprecedented success with New England, going to 9 Super Bowls and winning a record 6.
However, after 20 years with one team, he thought it was best to move on.
He arrived at Tampa Bay and immediately won a Super Bowl in his first year with the Buccaneers. Then, in year 2, he led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns. He is still going strong in year 3 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While it was probably hard for Tom Brady to move away from the only NFL team he has ever known, he took that leap and it paid off for him.
He enhanced his legacy even further now having won a Super Bowl without being part of the Patriots.
It can be daunting to leave a situation in which you have been there for a long time and feel comfortable with what you know.
I know it was difficult for me to leave a company I’ve been with for over 10 years to join another one. But I took that leap because it was a better situation and better pay for me.
Never be afraid to leave for a better or different situation. Taking the dive might be hard, but can pay dividends in the future.
Lesson #7: No Matter How Successful You Are, It Is Still Hard
Tom Brady has kept his health and body in such good condition that he can still play at an elite level at the age of 45.
He holds numerous NFL quarterback records, made over $300 million from his NFL contracts and millions more in endorsements, and has numerous other business ventures.
He is widely respected in his profession, has the looks of a male model, and is world-famous. Tom is a father of 3 kids, 2 boys, and a girl. Did I mention he is also married to a wealthy supermodel?
On the surface, one will be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with his life. It just looks so perfect from the outside.
But we live in the real world. And in the real world, no life is perfect, not even Tom Brady’s.
He has been experiencing trouble in his marriage. His wife wants him to retire from football but Tom still has the passion to keep playing. This difference caused a reported rift in their marriage.
It goes to show no matter how successful you might be, life can still be hard.
Focus on the top 3 things that matter most to you and try to get them right. It is impossible to be perfect with everything. Don’t expect the same with your personal finance.
Do the best you can and know that it will be hard no matter how much success you have.
To The Audience: Are you a sports fan? Do you believe there are similarities between personal finance and sports? Are there lessons you have gleaned from your favorite sports star that you have applied in your financial journey?
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Many people work hard to better their physical and mental health. What about their financial health?
I started this blog back in 2019 to help people better their financial health as well.
My financial journey began with tens of thousands in student loan debt. Over the span of 20 years, I am close to achieving financial independence.
I truly believe anyone can get to strong financial health. Hopefully, this blog can help you on your financial journey to greater wealth and financial independence.
You can read more about me here.
Thank you for visiting. Come again soon!
