The Stock Market of Fitness

The Stock Market of Fitness
Written by Invictus Athlete Josh Littauer

I may be a little nerdy, but I am really fascinated by watching the Stock Market. I enjoy watching trends, seeing who is moving in what industry, and tracking the outside influences that govern how a day of trading will end. It’s really all a numbers game, and for those who know me, I like tracking the numbers.

I was listening the the Increase Your Impact podcast with Justin Su’a this morning and he made the reference that life is very much like the Stock Market. For those invested, the everyday high and lows can be very different and come throughout the day. Tuesday morning (4/3/18), the Dow Jones opened about 400 pts lower than its previous close (that’s a huge drop), and through the course of the day had climbed 800 pts to finish with a record single day growth! If you have been tracking the market at all over the past few years you would note that it has been incredibly optimistic with 18 months of recorded gains, all until January of 2018. The market hit a correction (loss of 10% or more) in late February and has been highly volatile since.

Life & Fitness are Like the Stock Market Too
With that said, this is just how life and fitness are. Life is not always going to hand you gains, and sometimes it hands you many losses in a row, but it is not those who take the hits who get hurt. Those who take hits and decide to get out, or stop investing at all are the ones who get burned. Tony Robbins is a very popular financial expert right now and one of his big principles lies in just being invested. You can’t make progress if you are not in the market. Now I understand some of you reading this are recalling to a time when you were invested and the market crashed and you sold out, leaving you with less money than you started. But what if you had stayed in the market? Would you not have already gained back you losses from 10 years ago?

So let’s make this fitness related. Your fitness is like investing in the stock market. On average, you may see around a 7-10% return year to year, but very few of those results will be gained over a short period of time. The fact is, those who are consistent, continue to keep pushing, and take a few risks are those who end up being the most profitable.

Here’s What NOT Being Invested Looks Like
As a new year starts there are tons of new gym goers who come out of the gates hot and are strong for a few months. But by the time that summer rolls around, they taper off, and before you know it they’re back in the next January. This is very short-term way of thinking. Same case is seen when I hear athletes talk about wanting to get their first pull-up. We set up a plan, they agree to it, and all they have to do is the progression that’s been laid out for them. Six months later, still no pull up. I ask “have you been doing the progressions?” “I just forget”, “I don’t have time,” etc, etc. That person is not invested.

Being in it for the Long Haul = Massive Returns
It is the athletes who are in fitness for the long haul who really end up benefiting and seeing massive returns. These athletes are the ones who take it off the chin week by week and still continue to come back. It’s not always pretty, sometimes there’s injury, sometimes there’s sluggish days; but at least they continue to stay in the market. Fitness in this way is all about longevity. It comes down to your vision for long term success vs short term gains. The short term gains may come for a short period of time, and some may stick around, but you may lose others. Regardless, just don’t sell out when things get tough.

Here’s the Payoff
So what’s the reward anyway? Sometimes it’s hard to see the reward in the longevity of health and fitness because it is not tangible now. But let’s frame it up a little. You’re now 80 years old, you worked out when you were young and trying to pick up a spouse, but now that life took its toll you have stopped exercise and eating well. You have heart disease, are bound to a walker or wheelchair, and need assistance getting to the bathroom. Flip side to this story: you’re 80 years old, still mobile, enjoy sitting on the floor and playing with grandkids knowing full well you can stand up on your own, and you can still go to the gym or exercise throughout the week, just like Larry the Legend. I’ll let you decide.

Regardless of where you are in your fitness journey now, just stay invested. Keep after it even though it feels like you’re not making progress. Don’t give up early just because you had a setback. Be consistent, be resilient, and stay in the market.

Also, please go subscribe to Justin Sua’s podcast or start listening every morning. It will really brighten your day and broaden your perspective on handling life’s ups and downs.

As always: Stay Humble, Stay Hungry

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