Running vs Investing

5 minute read

1. Just Start

2. Do Not Give Up

3. Endure the process

What can we learn from running, to adapt it into investing?

good question….

Well this is what I learned from it, and at the end I will explain what everyone can take from this endeavour.

What is an Ironman? No not the movie.

It is a triathlon competition.

Allow me to explain:

Ironman = 3.9 km (2.4-mile) swim, 180.2 km (112-mile) bicycle ride, 42.2 km (26.22-mile) run.

read that again.

Total of 226.3 km (140.6-miles) and must be completed in 16 hours.

So…

Just Start!

In the Middle of 2019, I heard about a documentary called “Iron Cowboy”

Now, listen to this crazy, motivational, inspirational story!

James Lawrence (Iron-cowboy) decided he is going to do ‘The Iron Man’, but not 1…

Not 2….. but 50!! YES 50 of them.

But wait…. He is going to do 50 in 50 days, yes I know it sounds impossible. But wait, there is more…. He is going to do 50, in 50 days, in 50-US states!!

To me, that has never even ran more than 5km for fun, thought this was absurd!!!

And impossible!!

Well after the documentary, I decided if he can set a goal that high, then I can do 1, at least one!!!

So I started to think how I can achieve this.

I remembered that one of my friends talked about an Ironman, and he wanted to do 1 some day. He lived in South Korea, and my wife and I were living in China at the time.

I messaged him and we got committed… We will start training, and then keep communicating to see when an Ironman event will take place in east Asia.

There I was, training to do more running and even started swimming (something I have never done for a long distance). It was hard for the first few weeks, really hard. And then I also got my first road bike.

Looking back now it sounds all crazy that I started like this, but if I did not start at that moment, then I would have postponed it, and maybe never even started.

SPEED is everything. The idea will fade if we don’t take action fast.

I eventually did my first Triathlon in October, 2019 that same year. Jippy!

From this I learned that starting is crucial to achieving any success. We all know the saying ‘a journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step’. So true!

In investing it is exactly the same… It will be hard, but slowly we will get better.

Do not Give Up!

Right after that race, we booked our first Ironman triathlon in Thailand for February, 2020.

You know what happened next… Yes it got cancelled.

Because of Covid lockdowns, they offered to give a full refund, and we took it.

The next 2 ½ years felt super long…..

With no swimming, minimal to no bike riding, and little running it was easy to slack. Really easy!

But the key is to not give up!

In investing there will be periods where nothing will happen, and you might even go backwards (like at this moment maybe), but just don't give up!

and…

You probably wondering if I stopped training all together, and if I ever got to do another race…. Well I did not do an Ironman yet, however…..

Endure The Process

I did do a full marathon, half marathon and a 10 km race in 2023, eventually.

However the process was not easy, also did not know if I would be able to handle the race comfortably.

But this is where trusting the process, paid off.

By putting in the work, and creating a road map with a training plan, it all worked out well.

There were many days that it felt like I would not be able to run a full Marathon, but I could not know that for sure, until the day come and I put myself in the situation to run the race.

Now that it is clear to me how to get to the finish line, I can with confidence tell you the process might be murky, unclear or the end result might be uncertain.

However, if you trust the process and endure through it, then the end result will be worth it.

You are probably thinking I say you need to start to run…. But what I am actually saying is you need to start investing, if you have not started yet.

If you have started yet, then I am here to motivate you to keep doing it.

No more….

“Running is boring” - ‘Investing takes long’

“My knees are not good” - ‘I don't have money to invest’

“I don't like to run” - ‘I don't know how to invest’

Thank you for reading, Enjoy the journey and keep buying assets

Until next week.

Stefan

The guy bellow, in the red shirt was from Denmark, and also his birthday. Guy in the yellow is me :)

But crazy story…

It was his 499th Marathon, that day. AMAZING memory for my 1st marathon!