“Peace has cost you your strength, victory has defeated you!” — Bane, The Dark Knight Rises
***
I started exercising regularly when I was 18.
Back then, running was all the rage so I worked up to a 9 minute mile and could run 3 miles in about 27 minutes, give or take 30 seconds. Not world-class by any means, but better than your average bear.
Then, I started lifting weights probably 5-6 years ago.
Before I started lifting weights, I had this vision in my mind of what I was supposed to end up like.
Just like when I started running.
There was this ultimate end I had in mind… a vision of what it would feel like when I finally “got fit” or “got strong.”
But, as it turns out, I had a few setbacks. I had to stop running because it started to hurt my knees and ankles. No biggie. I was in very good aerobic condition. But… figured I probably needed to get stronger.
So I started strength-training and… I “peaked”. I thought I had gotten pretty strong for my size and I wasn’t making any more gainzZz so… I stopped going to the gym.
I stopped jogging, stopped lifting. I just “cruised” on my previous accomplishments.
After a year and a half out of the gym, I went back and… I could barely lift 1/3rd of what I used to be capable of.
I had “gotten strong” and then stopped…
“Victory” had made me weak and cost me my strength AND my aerobic conditioning.
And then I realized something: I had made the same type of mistake that I tell my clients not to make with their finances.
I was looking at the end, and not the journey.
Exercising never ends. It’s a life-long pursuit.
Most people say they don’t have time for that kind of thing. But, I suppose it’s important to me because I want to be healthy for as long as humanly possible.
People tend to age better when they work out regularly, have fewer health problems over the long-term, and they tend to recover faster when they do get sick or injured.
Likewise, people who have savings tend to recover from financial problems faster and are less stressed out about money in general.
And the more savings a person has, the more secure they feel… especially if that savings is guaranteed against loss.
More:
Saving money is not an event. It’s a process.
And if you stop that process, “victory” will defeat you, like it defeated me.
Like exercise, you keep saving money… basically forever. And in my experience, the folks who view “wealth” or “retirement” or even “financial independence” as some kind of static event to be achieved, never really get there or they end up a bit neurotic about money.
And the first time the financial markets turn against them… they’re TOAST.
Which is why, many moons ago, I chose to focus my business on designing guaranteed insurance contracts which encourage constant savings through regular premium payments.
And my most successful clients are folks who view savings as a long-term process. They’re motivated to keep paying those premiums and keep seeing their savings grow each and every month.
Is that something you want?
I have no Earthly idea, but if that sort of thing appeals to you, then check out my life insurance buyer’s guide. It will tell you everything you ever wanted to know (and probably things you didn’t want to know) about life insurance: https://www.monegenix.com/life-insurance-buyers-guide/