Running and Financial Planning

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Running has become a popular sport among the young and old alike. This sport had seen tremendous interest for the the past few years, with droves of people participating in such number of running events in the country and other places worldwide. The running craze has hit the Philippine shores with many of our citizens had become aware with health benefits and consciousness of being healthy and the awareness of living better. Nowadays, running is trending with with almost every weekend that there are running events on Saturdays and Sundays, there are competitive also races from half marathon to triathlon events happening in Metro Manila or somewhere in the Philippines. Such events are organized by social groups to corporate entities looking on marketing their latest products and services for commercial purposes or to worthy causes that is socially and environmentally relevant and can create impact today. 

In any case how does running and financial planning have in common?

I like the analogy of running and personal finance it has simple rules to follow. Running is easy to do but going an extra mile would require a lot of trials along the way. A person intending to engage in this sport must be physically and mentally trained in this type of physical sport. Sharing my sentiments on this sport, I have been running for sometime now and participated in short distance running mostly 2.5 Kilometer to 5 kilometer runs in the past. We know for a fact they are both different in a sense but there are lot of lessons I learned from these two different disciplines.  

The preparation is the hard thing to do and it  require continual improvement process

For a would be runner this sport requires self-discipline, training, a lot of patience, perseverance, hard work and sacrifice before joining in. A runner should plan on how to become  fit and must have time for oneself for training a few months before a race intended race day. For new 5 kilometer runners (3.1 mile) it would require at least 8 weeks or more to prepare their first adventure. Same as with people who want to engage in personal finance, they should have very clear, realistic goals, objectives and approach with positive mindset on how to manage on the financial resources. They should have the time frame of saving and investing their funds and their dream of future plans after the end of the day. They should have the same qualities and mindset of a runner / athlete. A runner could be thinking these: beating one's personal best time, conquering oneself from fear and at the same time finishing a the 5 kilometers without a scratch is an great achievement.

Disciplining yourself is the key

For runners, the training regimen should be continuous in achieving your stamina, endurance and other attributes if one wants to develop including one's cardiovascular fitness. It always has a time frame and program from nutrition, exercise and distances of the running aspect. 

In personal finance, a person who really wants to achieve one's personal goal should implement a saving and investing financial program that could be used for for short to long term plans for oneself or for his / her family. This is the most hardest part any people do, the delaying tactics or sacking off  a week after your last training is not an option but for those who are determined to achieve their goals it could be possible but if you wander off or get sidetracked, try to get back quick and do it double time. Investing on Mutual Fund or a Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs) are very useful be an investment vehicles.

It's a mental game, so suck it up.

In running, the mental toughness is stronger other than the physical strength as most people thought. But I partly agree with this saying and everything should be balanced from the angles from training, nutrition and the fitness program including the psychological aspect of a would be runner that he is thinking clearly and positively in achieving their goals.  It's all in the mind for athlete who visualize themselves in the end of the race. Anyone who engages in this type of sport feel physical pain and discomfort in the process in which it is the same in personal finance minus the physical pain, what are your plans in the long run and how do you want to achieve it? Making a lot of sacrifices like living within your means, paying off debts, creating an college educational fund for a child or making an personal investment plan for oneself are just a few examples which  are already challenging enough for anyone to achieve.

Mr. Benedict Baluyut, is a certified real estate professional (PRC Real Estate Broker) a regular member of Registered Financial Planner - Philippines. He writes from time to time with Registered Financial Planner Column at Business Mirror and MoneySense, a Personal Finance Magazine in the Philippines. Catch him on Facebook page Pinoymoneyvantage | Follow me on Twitter | Add on Google+ or visit his official blog at http://www.pinoymoneyvantage.net.

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