What Super Bowl 49 Should Teach You About Money

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If you didn’t know, I’m a Seattle native. I’ve lived in the area my whole life. And let’s be honest, sports have mostly sucked around here.

We had the great Mariners run of ’95. I think the Sonics won some junk before I was born. And the Seahawks lost a Super Bowl a while back.

But the last 2 years have been a bit crazy.

The Seahawks have finally got this town going again and have put us back on nation’s map as a sports town.

Sure, most people hate us because we’re arrogant or something, but it’s been a fun run to be in back to back Super Bowls.

But man that last play hurt!

Watching the interception over and over can be downright depressing. Can you imagine throwing that ball? UGH!

Have You Ever Done That?

Have you ever come SOOOO close to something awesome to have it fall apart right in front of you? Have you put your heart and soul into something only to have it completely fail? Have you ever put your blood, sweat and tears into a goal only to miss it by “that much”?

I’m sure most of us can recall a moment when everything seemed to completely crumble around us. When all your hard work seemed like wasted effort, and failure was the only thing left.

If you’ve ever been there….good.

What Super Bowl 49 Should Teach You About Money

Now that we’re all thoroughly depressed thinking about our worst failures, let’s take a look at Super Bowl 49 and connect the dots to show what we can learn about our money.

1. Getting To The Super Bowl Took Long-Term Discipline. Whether or not the worst play call in football history was made in the final seconds of Super Bowl 49, it doesn’t take away from the fact that both teams worked incredibly hard for months and months to get there. They both developed a plan, executed that plan well, made adjustments throughout the season and found a way to succeed week in and week out to get there.

This is exactly how you should look at your finances. Money comes in, money goes out. That money should be connected with a well-thought-out plan (AKA a BUDGET) which should be executed week in and week out. As you work through life’s ups and downs, you should make adjustments to your game plan to continue your successful journey.

2. Each Team Had To Study Their Opponent. The Seahawks had 2 weeks to study one of (if no THE) best quarterbacks of all time. They studied him from every angle, all his receivers and offensive weapons, and studied their defense as well to build a game plan that could help them win. The Patriots did the exact same, and ended up besting their opponent.

Now here’s a fun question; What is the biggest opponent of your money? …. That’s right, it’s YOU! Your poor habits, “need to have” spending, or lack of planning (or one of a million other reasons) is what is holding you back from achieving your financial goals. All the money passes through YOUR hands. Well, just do what the Super Bowl caliber teams do! You need to understand what makes you tick, what motivates you. You also need to understand and destroy your financial temptations. You need to know all the places you are prone to fail with money and build your game plan around putting yourself in the best situation to succeed.

3. Having A Fan Base Can Actually Help You Win. Both teams in Super Bowl 49 had very dedicated (and LOUD) fan bases. I mean, they flew out to Arizona and paid $8,000+ a ticket to watch a game and cheer for their team. The Seahawks are known for having the loudest stadium in football, and the Patriots have great fans as well. Both teams would absolutely tell you that they get motivation and energy from a cheering crowd. And Seattle has even credited a lot of their home field advantage to their rowdy fan base.

When you set goals and build a game plan for your money, it can be hard to stay motivated. Having a cheerleader in your corner can really help you stick to the plan and continue to strive toward the goal. Whether it’s a friend, spouse, family or some kind of online forum (MMM Forums are a great place to check out for that), putting yourself out there for other people to cheer on (or give a swift kick in the rear when needed) is one of the best ways to hit those financial goals.

4. You Need To Visualize The Win. If you sat down with Russell Wilson (you know, before that fateful throw), he would tell you that he visualizes connecting every pass, winning every matchup on every play, and that he visualizes the win. Some call this creative visualization, and it’s used extensively in sports and other big stage events. It’s effective in building positive momentum toward a goal, especially one as big as a Super Bowl win.

When you build a game plan for your money, there has to be a reason. There has to be a “why” behind that plan, otherwise why would you even care to stick to the plan? That’s why you set goals and clearly spell out the “WHY” for your game plan. And when you do, it helps to really visualize what achieving that goal would look lie, feel like, even smell like! Especially with big goals such as Mortgage Payoff or Retirement, you need to imagine life after achieving those to help keep you focused for the long term play.

And Sometimes, You Need To Lose

I’ve talked about failure as an asset before, and I still think it holds true. As much as it hurts to lose something you’ve worked so very hard for, it should ABSOLUTELY NOT stop you from striving for bigger and better things in the future.

Failure is reality. It will happen. And it’s not about when or how, but about how will YOU respond when it does happen?

The Seahawks will be mocked for a while about losing this Super Bowl. Heck, they might even fire the Offensive Coordinator because of one bad play call. But come 6 months from now, I can guarantee you they won’t be moping around talking about the “what ifs” and the “if we only” situations. No, they’ll do what every losing Super Bowl team does and build a game plan to help them succeed the next year, one week at a time. They’ll use the motivation of failure to propel them forward in a hopefully successful follow up season.

And what will you do when your hard work dissolves right in front of you? When there’s a big financial breakdown, or you give into temptation and waste a LOT of money you worked so hard for, what will be your plan of action?

I hope you won’t get depressed and throw in the towel.

NO.

I hope you realize that setbacks are just course corrections in the long run, and that you are in this to win. You are in this to build long term financial stability. You are in this to build long term wealth. You are in this to build a legacy.

So the next time you throw a financial interception, know that it’s just the beginning of a new plan, a new chapter, a new opportunity to kick some financial butt going forward!

Oh, and don’t forget to just hand it to BEAST MODE next time!