Why long-term planning always wins the race
I may have mentioned that I recently ran the London Marathon. To be be honest, it was tough, but I knew it was going to be and I’m proud to say I made it to the end. However, as the old saying goes, “self-praise is no honour”, so I’m not here to blow my own trumpet. Rather, I’d like to share some thoughts on what came next.
I got myself a running coach.
Yes, after I finished my marathon, I employed a running coach. “That’s quite an odd tactic, Jon,” you might say. Well, it may appear so at first glance, but hear me out.
You see my goal is to run the marathon again, and to keep myself fit and healthy right into my retirement years. Then it occurred to me that training for a marathon is like financial planning in many ways. And if you’ll indulge one more brief blast of the trumpet, there is one thing I do know about and that’s financial planning.
So, after I had this realisation, it made perfect sense to start working with a running coach for the long term.
Let’s dig a little deeper into why this is the case.
A plan for you
When you first start training for a marathon, and throughout the training process, there is so much information out there, on the internet, on social media, from your friends and family, that it can be overwhelming. There’s also plenty of bad advice out there. This can leave you not knowing where to start, and once you do start it’s easy to flip flop between different approaches; when to train, how often, how long for, what to eat, when to eat, and so on ad infinitum.
The problem is that such an overload of information can either lead to inaction or going in the wrong direction altogether. You may be tempted into buying expensive new trainers that give you nothing but blisters and a week off of training. Or a training fad may invade your timeline, prompting you to train on an empty stomach at 5am when what’s best for you is an evening run after a healthy dinner.
A running coach is there to cut through all this noise and create a bespoke training plan that is right for you. You sit down and methodically discuss where you are now, your goals, how you want to get there, and what obstacles you may need to overcome. Together you establish a process that works for you, put the plan into action, and the results will naturally follow.
The story, however, isn’t quite as simple as that.
Adaptability
Life will always get in the way. Your goals may change, you might get injured, work and family life can suddenly leave you with far less time to train, and winter may leave you feeling demotivated. Things change, and what at first was a sun-kissed, open highway to victory can suddenly seem like a dark, winding road to nowhere.
This is where the value of having a coach really comes into its own, because when challenges crop up, as they inevitably will, having a calming influence to keep you on track is priceless. Your coach will not only give you a clear plan, but, crucially, an adaptable mindset to go with it. This will allow you to keep working towards the overall goal but be flexible enough to overcome the obstacles that get in the way.
Changes and obstacles aren’t always doom and gloom. You may decide you want to take on an ultra-marathon instead, and your coach will be there for you to adapt the plan to make that happen.
A calm head
When you have a set amount of time to train for an upcoming marathon, mistakes can be costly. Suppose you’ve been training on your own, for nine months, and it’s been going pretty well, when you get a shock as you flip the calendar to realise the marathon is just four weeks away.
A mix of panic and determination ensues, you start training five not three times a week, you give yourself a pep talk, you’re all psyched up, you’re running faster, further, then bam, you pull a muscle.
Months of hard work are in jeopardy, and you’re dealing with a setback that’s difficult if not impossible to recover from. The issue was letting your emotions cloud your judgement, leading you to take rash action.
A coach is there to provide a calming, reassuring influence at the crucial moments. They are experts, and they’ve seen it all before. Prevention is always better than cure and having a coach to discuss things with ahead of time allows problems to be anticipated, accommodated for, and solved.
By your side
Fear not, the marathon journey to my ultimate point is nearly over.
The long-term support of a coach is vital to a long-term commitment to running marathons. And the long-term support of a financial adviser is vital to your financial and retirement plans.
No-one else in the world has the same financial goals, life circumstances, or challenges as you, so a financial adviser is there to create a bespoke plan that works for you.
As it is with training, so it is with financial planning. There will always be challenges. Family life and work can toss the most unexpected banana skins your way, and as we’ve seen recently, political and economic turmoil can be just around the corner.
This is when the cool head of an experienced adviser is worth its weight in gold as they calm you down and see you through the turbulent times, keeping any rash impulses in check, avoiding costly mistakes, and keeping the long-term goal, as well as how to get there, in mind.
Once you have a financial plan in place, it’s easy to question the value of continued advice. “Can’t I just sit back and watch the pot grow?” You can, but there’s just too much at stake to go down that risky road.
Too many things can change along the way, both in your life and the world at large, for you not to have a dedicated adviser, who knows your history and where you want to go, by your side.